St Vincent and the Grenadines

Cost of living

What a month costs

Almost everything is imported, so groceries, fuel and cars cost more than the sleepy setting suggests. Local fish and ground provisions from the market are the cheap exceptions.

The scores

How it rates for a moving family

See and do

Top 10 in Kingstown

1. St George's Anglican CathedralA cool Georgian nave on Grenville Street known for its stained glass.
2. Cathedral of the AssumptionThe Roman Catholic cathedral, a wild mash of Romanesque, Gothic and Moorish arches.
3. St Vincent Botanical GardensFounded in 1765 and reckoned the oldest tropical garden in the Western Hemisphere, with breadfruit descended from Bligh's cargo.
4. Fort CharlotteA ridge-top British fort above the harbour with old cannon, cells and the best view over town.
5. Kingstown MarketThe multi-storey central market where farmers bring ground provisions and Friday mornings get loud.
6. Little TokyoThe waterfront bus and fish-market quarter, named for the Japanese-funded fisheries complex.
7. Grenadines WharfThe jetty where the island ferries load up for Bequia and the run south.

Where to go

Weekend escapes

1. BequiaA 60-minute ferry south to the friendliest Grenadine, all boatbuilding heritage and the calm sand of Princess Margaret Beach.
2. Tobago CaysA cluster of uninhabited islets ringed by reef, the finest snorkelling and turtle swimming in the whole chain.
3. MustiqueThe famously private island of villas and Basil's Bar, reached by small plane or charter boat.
4. La SoufriereThe island's brooding active volcano, a stiff guided hike to a crater rim that erupted as recently as 2021.
5. Union IslandThe kite-surf and sailing hub at the southern end of the Grenadines, gateway to Palm and Mayreau.

Restaurants

Where to eat

1. Basil's BarA long-running bar and restaurant in a cut-stone cellar on Bay Street, the town cousin of the Mustique original.
2. Veejay's RestaurantA Vincentian institution on Upper Bay Street for callaloo, stewed fish and rotis.
3. Cobblestone Rooftop RestaurantLunch and drinks on the roof of a 19th-century arrowroot warehouse in the old trading front.
4. Sapodilla RoomThe dining room of the colonial-era Grenadine House hotel above town, the smartest table in Kingstown.

Morning

Best breakfast

1. Cobblestone Rooftop RestaurantRooftop coffee and a cooked breakfast among the old stone arches before the port gets busy.
2. Grenadine HouseA proper hotel breakfast on the veranda of the Sapodilla Room, up the hill from the noise.