We enjoyed a well informed visit to the Abbey. There’s lots to see here. Our tour guide was excellent and the run tasting unexpected. Simon the owner was very friendly and welcoming. The price seemed high before we arrived but once we left we changed our opinion. Make sure you go to see the view from the top of the mahogany tree drive

Great historic site of island plantations and rum. Good train ride up to overlook. Get a look at the island besides the beaches. Good food at the Cafe restraunt in plantation.

Not an abbey, an old Rum distillery with the original house (you are guided around the ground floor). The guided tour is very informative and the staff seem to genuinely enjoy working there. There is also a steam train station (and trains) on the site that runs for a few miles cross-country, but check running times as not always in operation.

We enjoyed our visit to St. Nicholas Abbey-and really wish that we had had more time to have been able to enjoy it more fully. The railway ride was definitely the highlight up to Cherry Tree Hill for the wonderful views. Tyrone the fireman was terrific-and he took some great videos of us blowing the whistle. The staff was mixed. One lady was not very friendly as we started the walk up the hill to the house-but the rest were very good. We were there for sugar cane crushing, and that was very cool to watch. Bought some Barbados Brown Sugar-which has a very different consistency that what we usually have, but it is delicious!! 2-3 hours would be the optimum time for this place to enjoy it all.

In addition to this beautiful place, we were on one of the cruise ships take a selfie tours that covered this scenic old plantation islands. From the big boats and yachts downtown to the historic bldg to the crashing waves on the beautiful beach area of St Lucy and St Joseph. A lot of open countryside travel to Mount Stepney and the Heritage railroad. Wish we had done a private tour to learn more about the rich interesting history of this island

We stopped in here on a day trip drive around the island. The distillery was not working the day we were there. Lovely host, nice grounds. Only the lower floor is accessible. Entrance fees on the pricey side. Extremely disappointed to see the birds that are being held in captivity in cages. Not good! Wouldn’t necessarily recommend . Maybe it’s a better stop when we distillery is operating and part of the tour.

We visited one afternoon, the attraction completely surpassed my expectations. The Train ride was lovely and the stop at the top of the hill gave a beautiful view of the east coast of the island. We then visited the house and were guided by the amazing Virginia who told us the entire history of the house. We were shown the incredible Rum distillery and met Lady Warren. One then went to the Rum tasting and met Simon. It was such an amazing experience at The Abbey and well worth the visit. The cafe is well worth a visit as the view in the woods was absolutely tranquil

Well run attraction. Staff were very helpful and friendly and knowledgeable. Fascinating history of the plantation, with the video. Good cafe. Say hi to Harley.

This is a well paced fun and informative tour. The tour guide (wish I remembered her name) was very funny, honest about the history of slavery & well educated. Her presentation & pace was perfect. The rum tasting a little long and slow. We bought a beautiful bottle of 8 year old and had the bottle engraved with our names and dates. My husband is a collector. So well worth it for him. We missed the train ride. Our tour operator ran out of time. Had to get going to see the Monkeys at the Wildlife Park. Hopefully you will get to take the train ride and have a few minutes to enjoy the home & gardens on your own. Too bad we could not go upstairs.

We visited St. Nicholas Abbey since it was a "must see" in the Eyewitness travel guide. We were not disappointed. It is a fascinating estate and my only regret is that we didn't have more time to explore all the buildings and hear the history of each part of the plantation. The short film was very enlightening about plantation life in the mid 1900s with actual photographs from the family that owned the plantation for hundreds of years. The train ride was fun, but somewhat disappointing. It only travels .8 mile and stops for about 20 minutes at a breathtaking view of the Atlantic side of the island. Numerous vendors were there, but not much in the way of local items. I would not recommend the train portion of the plantation. I would recommend at least a couple of hours to be able to enjoy this venue in its entirety. It is immaculately preserved.

A fantastic day out, suitable for everyone. Operated with great taste and a personable atmosphere.

We did the train ride first ( see separate review ). The only good thing about that was actually arriving in front of the Great House by train the way people would have done in the past. Upon arrival, you are given a brief guided tour of the first floor, but unfortunately, fire code does not allow visitors on the 2nd floor. You would think they could at least allow a few people upstairs at a time, so those interested in antiques could see the majority of the mansion. You will have plenty of time later to browse on your own and take pictures on the way out. I am a lover of history and believe in preserving as much of it as possible. I was appalled when our guide first allowed a visitor to sit on a living room sofa, and just as shocked that the guest didn't have enough sense not to do so, but I was really aghast when a kitten wandered in and jumped on the sofa, and then proceeded to claw at it. Our guide, Asha, did NOTHING to try to shoo the kitten away. She just laughed and said, " It not my furniture." Well, you may not be the owner, but as an employee and the owner's representative should have some pride in preserving your place of employment. She also, without gloves, roughly maneuvered a very rare antique multi-functional chair. It was very sad that a visitor cared much more about preserving a historic site than the employees did. If this is allowed to continue the artifacts may not be around much longer. Next, we went to see the rum distillery. For the best experience, you will need to come on a weekday as there is no production on the weekends. Still, you wouldn't get to see a whole lot, as it is a very small facility that only produces small batches at a time. Then, you are given the opportunity to watch a home movie made by the owner's grandfather, in the 1930's, of his trip to Barbados. The film was quite fascinating. You got to see what travel by ship was like, and see what the main town, plantation, and abbey looked like back in the day. It is a true treasure. Lastly, you are given a small sampling of their 5 year old rum, and we also got a tasting of their lemoncello, which we found quite delicious. I will also say that I did prefer the taste of their rum compared to both Four Square and Mt. Gay. The tasting was overseen by the owner's son, Simon. Unfortunately, we could barely understand a word he was saying and he appeared to have been sampling too much of his product. We thought we would buy a bottle of the lemoncello, but the bottle was huge and quite heavy to transport by plane and also rather expensive. I would suggest that I believe they would sell more product if they used smaller bottles that they could sell for half the price of the larger bottles. The terrace cafe looked to be a very peaceful and tranquil spot to relax, but you'll only get to partake in it if you are on a morning tour, as there is no time and it is too late for lunch following an afternoon tour. They also have a lovely courtyard with seating behind the house which would make a nice spot to sit and relax with a drink following your tour. Unfortunately, the employees and owners need to learn how to properly care for antiques and how to have a more professional attitude and demeanor.

Took the tour on a Monday and came back on Wednesday to buy more product and was charged the entry fee again just for purchasing rum…

This sugar plantation dates from the 17th century. The mansion has changed hands numerous times, but the tour not only shows you a glimpse of the life of the owners, but shows how sugar cane was/is made into rum.

St Nicholas Abbey is a stunning property and distillery, and you really need to do the guided tour to understand its history and operation. Our guide Asha was an absolute star, and so funny. The main reason we went was for the steam train, which is marvellous! It takes you from the station by the house up to Cherry Tree Hill, where we had 20 minutes for photos of the view and with the train. I even got to help turn it around on the turntable and had a go at blowing the whistle! The conductor, driver and fireman were so lovely and spent time getting lots of photos and videos for everyone who wanted them while we were stopped. A highlight of our visit to the island!