Kingstown, St. Vincent: The City of Arches
A working harbour capital with covered pavements, a market and the ferry to Bequia.
Why Go
Kingstown is a compact, steep, busy port town wrapped around a harbour, and its signature is the arches — stone arcades over the pavements along the older streets, built to keep sun and rain off the people underneath and still doing it. It is a working capital rather than a resort one: a market that takes over the middle of town, ships loading at the wharf, and traffic that does not care that you are on holiday. Come for a morning, the market, the cathedral and Fort Charlotte above, then take the ferry out to Bequia, which leaves from here.
The Experience
The town sits in a tight bowl between the harbour and the hills, so almost every street either climbs or runs along the water. The market is the centre of gravity, spilling out of its building and along the surrounding streets, loudest on Saturday morning and worth planning around. The arcaded streets nearby are the town at its most characteristic, and St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral is the building people photograph — an unusual mix of styles piled together over decades that should not work and does. Above the town, Fort Charlotte looks back down over the harbour and the whole southern coast. Just outside the centre, the Botanic Gardens are the oldest in the western hemisphere. The town empties in the late afternoon and there is not much of an evening here. That is worth knowing before you book a room in the middle of it: Kingstown is a place to spend a morning and catch a boat from, and the south coast around Calliaqua is where the country actually puts its visitors up.
What to Try
Start at the market, early, and eat from it. Vee Jay's is the long-standing local restaurant, Bully's Bar and Maz-I Bar cover the informal end, Sky Lounge is the drink with a view and Westside Karaoke And Bar is the late one. St. Vincent Brewery Limited makes the local beer and is part of the furniture here. Coreas Food Mart and Gonsalves Liquors are where you stock a boat or a villa before heading down the chain. Fort Charlotte and the Botanical Gardens are the two fixtures above town and can be done in one morning; Victoria Park is the green space in the middle of it. For getting out, Vincycation Adventures and Epic Island Excursions run the island trips — the volcano, the leeward coast and the waterfalls — and River Rock Farm is the agricultural side of a country that lives on it.
Insider Tip
Do the market on a Saturday morning and do it before nine. It is the best hour in Kingstown and by mid-morning the good produce has gone and the heat has arrived. The other timing that matters is the ferry: check the Bequia sailings before you plan your day, because they set the shape of it, and the crossing is about an hour from the wharf in the middle of town.
The Practical Stuff
Argyle International is about twenty to thirty minutes from Kingstown and opened in 2017, which is why the country is far easier to reach than its older reputation suggests. The town centre is walkable but steep, and driving in it is unrewarding — traffic is heavy, streets are narrow and parking is scarce. Minibuses run from the terminal near the market to the rest of the island, cheaply and frequently. Ferries to Bequia and onward down the Grenadines leave from the harbour here. Driving is on the LEFT and a temporary local permit is required. The East Caribbean dollar is the currency with US dollars widely accepted, and English is the everyday language. St. Vincent is in the hurricane belt, roughly June to November, and La Soufrière at the north of the island is genuinely active.
Common Questions
Is Kingstown worth visiting?
For a morning — the market, the arcaded streets, the cathedral and Fort Charlotte above. It is a working port capital rather than a resort town, and most visitors pass through on the way to the Grenadines.
Why is Kingstown called the city of arches?
For the stone arcades built over the pavements along its older streets, which shelter pedestrians from sun and rain. They are the town's most distinctive feature and still in daily use.
How do you get from Kingstown to Bequia?
By ferry from the harbour in the middle of town, taking about an hour, with several sailings a day. Onward boats and small aircraft continue down the Grenadines from there.
How far is Kingstown from the airport?
Twenty to thirty minutes from Argyle International, which opened in 2017 and gave the country direct long-haul connections for the first time.
When is the Kingstown market?
Daily, with Saturday morning by far the largest. Go before nine — the produce is better, the crowd is the local one, and the heat has not arrived yet.
What is there to do in Kingstown in the evening?
Not a great deal. The town empties after the working day and the country's evenings happen on the south coast around Calliaqua or, for most visitors, out in the Grenadines.
Pair It With
- Fort Charlotte — The view that explains the harbour below.
- Botanical Gardens — The oldest in the western hemisphere, just outside town.
- Vee Jay's — Lunch in the capital, where the capital eats.
