Fodor's Expert Review St. Nicholas Abbey

The island's oldest greathouse (circa 1650) was named after the original British owner's hometown, St. Nicholas Parish, near Bristol, and Bath Abbey nearby. Its stone-and-wood architecture makes it one of only three original Jacobean-style houses still standing in the western hemisphere. Behind the greathouse and its lush tropical garden is a rum distillery that produces award-winning rum with a 19th-century steam press; rum-tasting tours are available. It is the only estate-distilled rum in the world (this is the process of growing cane, distilling, and bottling, all done on the same premises). The St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway, introduced in 2018, takes visitors on an hour-long steam train ride through the property. Unfortunately, this well-curated attraction doesn't fully acknowledge or memorialize the tragedy of slavery and the lives of the enslaved people that would have also called this site home.