Kingston
Whether you approach by air or by land, Kingston will impresses you with its setting and overwhelms you with its sheer size, noise and traffic. Kingston is the island’s cultural and economic heart, where political deals are made, musicians come to follow in the footsteps of the greats, and you can be exposed to squalor and luxury within footsteps of each other.
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National Gallery of Jamaica
The superlative collection of Jamaican art housed by the National Gallery (http://www.natgalja.org.jm/) is the finest on the island and should on no account be missed. As well as offering a distinctly Jamaican take on international artistic trends, the collection attests to the vitality of the country’s artistic heritage as well as its present.

Trench Town Culture Yard
Trench Town, which began life as a much-prized housing project erected by the British in the 1930s, is widely credited as the birthplace of ska, rocksteady and reggae music. It has been immortalized in numerous reggae songs, not least Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman No Cry,’ the poignant anthem penned by Marley’s mentor, Vincent ‘Tata’ Ford, in a tiny bedroom at what is now the Trench Town Museum (http://www.trenchtowncultureyard.com/).

Bob Marley Museum
The large, creaky, colonial-era wooden house on Hope Rd, where Bob Marley lived and recorded from 1975 until his death in 1981, is the city’s most-visited site. Today the house functions as a tourist attraction, museum and shrine, and much remains as it was in Marley’s day.

Devon House
This beautiful colonial house was built in 1881 by George Stiebel, the first black millionaire in Jamaica. Antique lovers will enjoy the visit, whose highlights include some very ornate porcelain chandeliers. Note the trompe l’œil of palms in the entrance foyer and the roundabout chairs, designed to accommodate a man wearing a sword. Amid the grand surroundings, Stiebel even managed to discreetly tuck a gambling room away in the attic. Admission includes a mandatory guided tour.

Blue Mountain Peak
Looming over Kingston, the crags and fern forests of the Blue Mountains seem light years from the capital’s gritty streetscape. Here you can hike old Maroon trails, search for the streamertail hummingbird (Jamaica’s national bird) or simply perch on a mountaintop, watching the valleys unfold out of the mist below.
By far the most popular hike is the steep, well-maintained trail to Blue Mountain Peak. From Penlyne Castle to the summit (2256m) is a 950m ascent and a three- or four-hour hike one way. It’s not a serious challenge, but you need to be reasonably fit.
The area is part of the Blue Mountains and John Crown National Park, administered by the Jamaica Conservation & Development Trust (http://www.jcdt.org.jm/).
From Kingston, head to Papine, from where Gordon Town Rd (B1) leads into the mountains. Follow the road past Mavis Bank (served by minibuses) and Hagley Gap. Penlyne Castle is reached via a 5km dirt road that ascends precipitously from Hagley Gap. Only 4WD vehicles with low-gear option can handle the dauntingly narrow and rugged road.
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Port Antonio
Cupping an unruffled bay and backing into the sleepy Rio Grande valley, Port Antonio is the perfect capital for Portland. The parish’s only sizable town is largely untarnished by the duty-free, tourist-overfriendliness of Ocho Rios or Montego Bay.
Port Antonio’s heart is the main square at the junction of West and Harbour Sts. It’s centered on a clock tower and backed by a handsome red-brick Georgian courthouse. On the west side of the square is the clamorous and colourful Musgrave Market. Fort George St leads to the Titchfield Peninsula, where you’ll find several dozen Victorian-style gingerbread houses.
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Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande rushes down from the Blue Mountains through a deeply cut gorge to the sea. The region is popular for hiking, but trails are confusing and demanding and should not be attempted without a guide.
Rafting is also a big draw. Passengers make the three-hour, 9.5km journey on poled bamboo rafts from Grant’s Level or Rafter’s Village, just east of Berridale, all the way to St Margaret’s Bay. En route you’ll pass through Lovers Lane, a moss-covered narrow stream where you’re supposed to kiss and make a wish.
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Blue Lagoon (Blue Hole)
Blue Lagoon, 11km east of Port Antonio, is by any measure one of the most beautiful spots in Jamaica. The 55m-deep ‘Blue Hole’ opens to the sea through a narrow funnel, but is fed by freshwater springs that come in at a depth of about 40m. Its colour changes through every shade of jade and emerald during the day.
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Boston Bay
Known as the birthplace, and exemplar, of the art of jerk. Heavenly smelling chicken and pork sizzle away on smoky barbecue pits along the roadside.

Reach Falls
All of Jamaica’s tumbling cascades are refreshing, but this waterfall is downright rejuvenating. This peaceful spot is surrounded by virgin rainforest and features a series of cascades tumbling over limestone tiers from one hollowed, jade-coloured pool to another.
Once you enter the falls (adult/child US$10/5) a guide will offer his services. This is actually pretty crucial if you want to climb to the top pools.

Ocho Rios
Although cruise ships constantly disgorge hordes of passengers here, the area around the third-largest town in Jamaica features some of the most beautiful natural attractions on the island. Along the north coast you will find pleasant white-sand beaches, clear waters, spectacular waterfalls and lush mountainous terrain.
The main beach of Ocho Rios, popular with tourists, is the long crescent known variously as **Turtle Beach** and **Ocho Rios Bay** (J$200 pp), stretching east from the Turtle Towers condominiums to the Renaissance Jamaica Grande Resort, fenced off and topped with barbed wire. There are changing rooms and palms for shade. Fisherman’s Beach has colourful fishing boats and eateries with fresh fish.
**Dunn’s River Falls Waterfall** are Jamaica’s top-grossing tourist attraction. Throngs of people can sometimes make it seem more like a theme park than a natural wonder, but this doesn’t make the climb up the falls any less exhilarating. You clamber up great tiers of limestone that step down 180m in a series of beautiful cascades and pools. The water is refreshingly cool, with everything shaded by tall rainforest. It's an expensive stop at US20 though! Details here: http://www.dunnsriverfallsja.com/
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Montego Bay
Montego has made an interesting progression from local port to tourist-packaged commodity to an intriguing, if not terribly attractive, blend of both.
**Doctors Cave Beach** is easily Montego Bay’s most famous beach. A pretty arc of sugary sand fronts a deep-blue gem studded with floating dive platforms and speckled with tourists sighing happily. Er, lots of tourists – and a fair few Jamaicans as well. The upside of the steep admission admission charge is that it keeps out most of the beach hustlers. (http://www.doctorscavebathingclub.com)
**Cornwall Beach** has the most coolness cred out of Montego’s beaches and is half the price of Doctors Cave – if you’re looking for a beach that feels like the spot where the cool locals hang out There’s a nice shallow shelf for snorkelling, clear water for swimming and white sand for you to look good on. (http://www.cornwallbeachja.com/)

Falmouth
Few other towns in Jamaica have retained their original architecture to the same degree as Falmouth, which has a faded Georgian splendour – now somewhat overshadowed by its huge cruise-ship dock.
The best place to orient yourself is **Water Square**, at the east end of Duke St. Named for an old stone fountain that pumped freshwater before New York City had any such luxury. Many of the wooden shop fronts in this area are attractively dishevelled relics. The Victorian market structure on the east side of Water Square, which dominates central Falmouth, was once the site of slave auctions. One block east of Water Square is Seaboard St and the grandiose Georgian courthouse in Palladian style, fronted by a double curling staircase and Doric columns, with cannons to the side. The town council presides here.
On **Cornwall St** one of the most stately edifices is the restored Baptist Manse (cnr Market & Cornwall), formerly the residence of nonconformist Baptist preacher William Knibb, who was instrumental in lobbying for passage of the Abolition Bill that ended slavery. On July 31, 1838, slaves gathered outside William Knibb Memorial Church (cnr King & George Sts) for an all-night vigil, awaiting midnight and then the dawn of full freedom (to quote Knibbs: ‘The monster is dead’), when slave shackles, a whip and an iron collar were symbolically buried in a coffin.

Glistening Waters
The waters of Glistening Waters glow an eerie green when disturbed at night, due to the presence of microorganisms that produce photochemical reactions when disturbed. Needless to say, the swimming here is awesome, especially on starry nights, when it’s hard to tell where the water ends and the sky begins. Half-hour boat trips are offered from Glistening Waters Marina.

Negril
If the popular tourist image of Jamaica is sun, beach life, rum, sun, sea, sun, diving and sunsets, chances are the popular tourist is thinking of Negril – or thinking in particular of Jamaica’s longest swath of sugary white-sand beach at Long Bay.
The gorgeous, 11km-long swath of sand that is Long Bay is still kissed by serene waters into which the sun melts evening after evening in a riot of colour and easily accessible coral reefs offer some of the best diving in the Caribbean. Yet these undeniable attractions have done just that: attract. In the last three decades Negril has exploded as a tourist venue - and hustle..

Long Beach
This blindingly white, world-famous, 11km-long beach is Negril’s claim to fame. No matter how cynical you are, you will have to admit: this is one beautiful beach. It’s a hell of a show: naked Europeans, tattooed Americans, gigolos and hustlers. Water-sports concessions line the beach. By night, music pumps from reggae bars and discos.

Treasure Beach
You will be hard-pressed to find a more authentically charming and relaxing place in Jamaica than Treasure Beach..The sense of remoteness, the easy pace and the graciousness of the local farmers and fisherfolk attract travellers seeking an away-from-it-all, cares-to-the-wind lifestyle. A bicycle is a good means of getting around quiet Treasure Beach as there is one main road connecting all of the beaches, plus many smaller cow paths and dirt trails.
At the eastern ‘bottom’ of Treasure Beach you’ll find Great Bay, a pretty, rural patchwork of fields and beach; Jack Spratt Beach, at the western edge of Jake’s Place, is next along as you head north and west; here brightly painted wooden fishing boats are pulled up on the sand and there is invariably a fisherman or two on hand tending the nets. This is the safest beach for swimming.
The next beach to the west is Frenchman’s Beach, watched over by a landmark ‘buttonwood’ tree that has long attracted the attention of poets, painters and woodcarvers who ply their wares. It’s a great place to arrange trips to the Pelican Bar or Black River.
In the opposite direction from Jake’s there’s Calabash Bay Beach, with a few cook and rum shops and a sandy beach.

Black River
The waters of Black River’s Great Morass, stained by tannins and dark as molasses, are a complex ecosystem and a vital preserve for more than 100 bird species. The morass also forms Jamaica’s most significant refuge for crocodiles. Locals take to the waters in dugout canoes, tending funnel-shaped shrimp pots made of bamboo in the traditional manner of their West African forebears.
Tours are offered wharf side from a jetty just east of the bus station.