According to wholevehicles, Trinidad is the largest island of Trinidad and Tobago. This small country in the Caribbean is one of the most visited places to relax on the white sandy beach and see exotic nature reserves with your own eyes.
Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover this island in 1498. The Spaniards quickly enslaved the aboriginal Indians, but they could not figure out what to do next – cocoa and tobacco did not grow on local soil. Three centuries later, the colony passed to Britain, since 1830 thousands of workers from all over the world began to come here to earn money – from India, France, China, Portugal. Since then, people of various nationalities have lived side by side in Trinidad, and local attractions are a mixture of many cultural traditions.
How to get to Trinidad
The only way to get to Trinidad is by plane. From Russia to the capital of the state, Port of Spain, you can only fly with a transfer. The most convenient connection is offered by British Airways: 4 hours from Moscow to London, 4 hours in the capital of Great Britain and 11 hours to Port of Spain.
When flying through London, you must apply for a British transit visa in advance: you will have to move from one airport to another, which means leaving the sterile zone.
A flight via Amsterdam or Frankfurt will take longer – from 17 hours, excluding connections. In Amsterdam, you can spend the night at the airport or hotel with a Schengen visa.
Hotels
The tourist infrastructure on the island is well developed, this also applies to hotels. At the same time, the prices for accommodation for this level of service are quite affordable. Trinidad hotels are usually large resort complexes with a full range of services: swimming pools, children’s and sports grounds, private beaches and a buffet. For budget tourists, there are European-style bed and breakfast hotels, usually located at some distance from the beaches. In Port of Spain, you can stay in hotels of large international chains – Hilton, Hyatt, Holiday Inn, etc.
A night in a five-star hotel in Trinidad costs an average of 1000 TTD per day for a double room, in 4 * – 400-675 TTD per night, about the same amount a room in a good “treshka” will cost (but you can find cheaper – from 270 TTD). In terms of service level, there is practically no difference between 3 * and 4 * hotels.
From January to May, hotel prices rise by 20-30%: firstly, this is the time of the high beach season, and secondly, in February, a carnival takes place here.
Trinidad beaches
For a beach holiday, the northern coast of Trinidad is ideal, as if separated by a high mountain range. All beaches have white sand and a gentle entrance to the sea. Almost all of them are free, but some belong to hotels and are fenced. You will have to pay a small amount for renting a sunbed and an umbrella – like on European beaches or less).
The most famous beaches on the island are Tyrico Bay and Las Cuelvas, it is very calm there. But on the longest beach on the coast, Maracas Bay, there are many entertainment centers, bars and beach discos.
- Trinidad map
Entertainment and attractions in Trinidad
The main attraction of the island is its unusual nature. First of all, this is the Caroni Bird swampy reserve near Port of Spain, where a unique bird is found – the scarlet lapwing, the symbol of Trinidad. Another sanctuary is Asa Wright, a former coconut plantation in the north of Trinidad, home to many exotic birds, butterflies and reptiles.
In the southwest of the island, not far from the village of La Brea, there is Peach Lake, filled not with water, but with liquid asphalt. Europeans learned about this unusual substance at the end of the 16th century, and at the end of the 19th century, an American businessman bought a temporary monopoly on the right to use the lake. It was from here that the material for the first paved roads in New York, Washington and other eastern US cities was taken.
Peach Lake is the world’s largest natural asphalt deposit.
In the capital, it is worth visiting the Savannah Royal Park – this is a city park where locals and tourists gather to watch street theatrical performances, walk along the alleys and shops, and sit in a cafe. Across the road from it is the Imperial Valley Zoo, named after not some ruler, but a special kind of morph butterflies – imperial (off. site in English). A popular place for walking is Brian Lara Boulevard (Brian Lara Promenade), meetings are scheduled here and people come to listen to concerts in open areas.
Weather
There is practically no difference between the seasons on the island. The average air temperature is +25…+29 °С all year round. It rains here from April to November (the rainiest time is from May to September), and in December, sunny and hot weather sets in, which lasts until the end of March. Humidity is always high, so it is better to spend time on the coasts – it is easier to endure the heat there.
