Section: Travel:Beach holidays

THIS Caribbean island has it all, plenty of sunshine and beautiful beaches with soft sand – not to mention January is the perfect month to visit.

With highs of almost 30C and nine hours of sunshine each day, Barbados is a great place to start the New Year.

The island sits in the eastern Caribbean Sea close to St Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and has around 285,000 residents.

For tourists, there’s a great mix of beaches and busy towns like Bridgetown, the island’s capital – it has pretty architecture, shops, vibrant markets and National Heroes Square.

Generally visitors will head to the West Coast for luxury stays and calm waters or the South Coast for vibrant nightlife.

Wherever you go, you don’t have to look far for beautiful beaches as they’re all across Barbados, from Sandy Bay Beach to Dover Beach.

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Another is Carlisle Bay on the southwest coast which is popular for spotting turtles and diving among shipwrecks.

Barbados even has a beach with pink sand, called Crane Beach, which is found on the southeast coast.

It’s well-known for having soft, pink sand which is made finely from crushed coral and shells that create a pinkish hue.

One visitor wrote on Tripadvisor: “It has beautiful pink and white sand and very, very few tourists. Magnificent crashing waves and warm shallow water – perfection!”

Another described it as having “incomparable views with pink sugar sand”.

A different part of the island however, was revealed to be one of the ‘Best Places to Go in 2026’.

The East Coast of Barbados was mentioned by Condé Nast Traveller thanks to its “dramatic scenery, world-class surfing, and colourful fishing villages preserve the island’s unspoiled character.”

For those visiting, it suggested starting in Bathsheba, a village with a popular surfing beach often referred to as ‘The Soup Bowl’.

Another spot on the East Coast is Martin’s Bay, and on Thursdays head to Bay Tavern Fish Fry for some red snapper or macaroni pie (essentially baked mac and cheese).

Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey visited the Caribbean island last January. She said: “Rum alcohol is in the fabric of this beautiful island.

“And Barbados certainly isn’t short of rum bars — there are about 1,500 of them, with one next to every church on the island. (That’s a lot of booze stops for the world’s 13th smallest country).

“It’s home to the oldest rum distillery in the world, Mount Gay. So it would be rude to deny myself a rum punch after a trip to Harrison’s Cave, one of the island’s most popular attractions.

Kara continued: “After a quick tram tour underground, above ground is where you can find Mount Gay taster sessions. That rambunctiousness was why we ended up in a KFC after being told that it’s much better in the Caribbean.“

Unlike January in the UK, you’re guaranteed to have sun in Barbados and temperatures for the first month of the year sit between 23C and 28C.

In January, there are direct flights from London Gatwick and London Heathrow which take 9 hours.

The cheapest flight according to Skyscanner is on January 8, 2026 from £311 with TUI.

For more on the Caribbean, check out this lesser-visited island where one writer discovered zip lines, lobster bars and volcano hiking.

And this Caribbean island that’s the closest to the UK with Maldives-like overwater villas.

ONE of the UK’s prettiest English seaside towns is getting new direct trains to the capital city

Eastbourne was once connected to London Bridge, but these direct routes were scrapped during the Covid.

The new direct route launched earlier this week, running from London Bridge to the Sussex coastal town.

The new route as part of the December timetable will run two trains, with one in each direction.

The Eastbourne train will leave at 6:47am, arriving in London Bridge at 8:25am.

The return London Bridge train will be at 5:03pm, arriving in Eastbourne at 6:35pm.

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The trains will run Monday to Thursday so is mainly a commuter route, and it will sadly not run in the school holidays.

However, a day trip mid week means it can easily be visited with the new route.

Josh Babarinde MP said: “I am delighted that our campaign to restore the direct train service between Eastbourne and London Bridge has been successful – this is a massive win for our town.”

It will also stop at Lewes, another seaside town previously without a direct London route.

It was also backed by Jenny Saunders, Southern’s Customer Services Director, who said: “I am delighted that we’ve been able to introduce this direct service from the coast to the capital.”

Tickets start from around £25.

Of course, you can still travel to Eastbourne from London Victoria.

Eastbourne was a popular seaside destination during the Victorian times, but became run down over the years.

Yet a resurgence in popularity has even seen it named one of the UK’s best seaside towns.

CN Traveller said it was the “quintessential, old-fashioned seaside resort”.

And back in 2023, Time Out named it one of the best places for a British day out.

It was praised for being a “hub for creatives,” with the Towner Eastbourne art gallery.

One of the most popular spots of Eastbourne is Beachy Head, the beautiful cliffs overlooking the sea.

Otherwise there is Eastbourne Pier, with arcades and live music.