Windwardside
Saba's storybook mountain village of white gingerbread cottages and red roofs
Why Go
Perched at 1,800 feet on the flank of Mount Scenery, Windwardside is the heart of Saba — a pocket-sized village where narrow lanes wind past white clapboard cottages with green shutters, red galvanized roofs, and hand-tended flower gardens. It's the island's cultural crossroads: museums, dive shops, artists' studios, and cafés all within a five-minute walk, with the rainforest starting where the pavement ends.
The Experience
Windwardside doesn't try to impress you — it just quietly does. Cloud shadows drift across pastel walls, roosters answer each other from garden to garden, and everyone you pass says hello. Wander the main lane and you'll stumble onto Jobean's Glass Art Studio, the Saba Museum tucked inside an 1840s sea captain's cottage, and the tiny square where a Simón Bolívar bust nods to the village's seafaring past. Fog rolls in and out of the elfin forest above, and by late afternoon the whole village smells faintly of frangipani and someone's dinner. It's the kind of place where two nights turn into five.
What to Try
Start the morning with a coffee and warm pastry at Bizzy B, then take the 1,064-step climb up Mount Scenery ΓÇö the trailhead is a short walk from the village center. Duck into the Saba Museum for a feel of 19th-century island life, browse handmade glass jewelry and local-seed necklaces at the artists' studios, and book an afternoon dive or snorkel trip with one of the two dive centers based here. Come back for sunset on a west-facing terrace with the ocean 1,800 feet below you.
Insider Tip
Do the village first, the mountain second. Most visitors bolt straight for the Mount Scenery steps and never really see Windwardside ΓÇö but the light on the gingerbread cottages is best in the first hour after sunrise, when locals are out watering plants and the fog hasn't yet swallowed the peak. Save the hike for mid-morning once the clouds have lifted off the summit; otherwise you'll climb 1,064 steps for a view of solid white.
The Practical Stuff
Windwardside sits on Saba's windward flank about a 10-minute taxi ride from the airport or Fort Bay harbor ΓÇö there's no public bus, so arrange a taxi in advance or rent a car. The village is entirely walkable but genuinely steep in places; sturdy shoes matter more than they look like they should. Most shops and museums keep short island hours (roughly 9ΓÇô4, closed Sundays), and cash in dollars is widely accepted alongside cards. Bring a light layer even in high season ΓÇö at this elevation it can be 10┬░F cooler and mistier than the coast.
Pair It With
- Bizzy B — The village's go-to bakery for fresh bread, pastries, and strong coffee ΓÇö the classic fuel stop before a Mount Scenery hike or a lazy morning on a cottage porch.
- Brigadoon — A long-running Windwardside dinner favorite right in the heart of the village, perfect for winding down after a day of trails and museum-hopping.
- Angelina's Saba By OwAiChie — Casual local food and drinks a short stroll from the village center, great for a relaxed lunch between the museum and the artists' studios.