Spread over several acres by the waterside, Redcliffe Quay is probably the best place to start your tour of the city. Named in honour of the church of St Mary Redcliffe in the English port city of Bristol, this is one of the oldest parts of St John's, and incorporates many old warehouses - now attractively restored as small boutiques, restaurants and bars - and a wooden boardwalk that runs alongside the water. There's not a huge amount to see, but it's a pleasant place to wander and soak up some of the city's history.

Many of the waterfront warehouses once housed supplies - barrels of sugar and rum, lumber for ship repairs, cotton and sheepskins - for the British navy and local merchant ships that traded between Antigua and the mother country during the eighteenth century. Behind the quay around the western end of Nevis Street there once stood a number of barracoons, compounds where slaves were held upon their arrival in the island, before they were sent to the plantations or shipped to other Caribbean islands.

Back at the front of the quay, a short stroll north takes you up to Heritage Quay at the foot of High Street. This modern concrete quay is given over to cruise-ship arrivals and dozens of duty-free shops designed to catch their tourist dollars, along with a few roadside stalls where local vendors flog T-shirts and distinctive Haitian art. Take a quick look at the cenotaph , which is a memorial to Antiguans who died during World War I, a monument to V.C. Bird , first prime minister of the independent country, and the Westerby Memorial , which commemorates a Moravian missionary who dedicated his life to helping Antiguans in the decades after emancipation from slavery in 1834.

 St John's

St. John's
  St John’s
  Getting around
  Eating and drinking
  Nightlife, casino, karaoke
  Airlines, embassies

Exploring St. John's
  Fort Bay
  Fort James
  Long Street
  National Museum
  Redcliffe Quay
  St. John's Cathedral

Antiqua guide

Antiqua
Where to go
When to go
Getting there
Money and costs
Getting around
Food and drink
Phones and post
Best of Antiqua
Holidays and festivals
Tours
Diving and snorkeling
Dive operators
Boats and catamarans
Boat operators
Economy, natural hazards
Antiqua brief history

Exploring Antiqua
- Barbuda:
  Getting there
  Beyond Cordrington
  Great Fort George
  Falmouth Harbour
  River Fort
  Cordrington

- Falmouth and English
  Harbour
  Eating, drinking, nightlife
  Falmouth
  Nelson's Dockyard, Shirley
  Heights, Pigeon Beach

- From Runaway Bay to
   Half Moon Bay
  Eating, drinking, nightlife
  Betty's Hope to Long Bay
  Half Moon Bay
  Runaway & Dickenson Bay

- West coast