Where to go
The Blue Mountains
The highest peak in the Caribbean at over two thousand metres, a World Heritage site, and the source of one of the world's most expensive coffees. The hike to the summit starts at two in the morning to reach the top for sunrise — and on a clear day you can see Cuba. Two days, and the part of Jamaica visitors miss.
Port Antonio and the east
The quiet, green, unresorted side of the island: the Blue Lagoon, Frenchman's Cove, Reach Falls, and rafting on the Rio Grande on a bamboo raft. This is where Jamaicans go. Three days.
Kingston
The Bob Marley Museum in his own house, the National Gallery, Devon House, and the music that is still made here. Trench Town Culture Yard for the history of reggae. Take local advice on neighbourhoods and go with a guide. Two days.
Negril
Seven Mile Beach and the West End cliffs, with the best sunsets on the island and a long tradition of doing nothing. More developed than it was, still less formal than the north coast.
Ocho Rios and the north coast
Dunn's River Falls — climbed in a human chain, touristic and genuinely enjoyable — the Green Grotto caves, and Dolphin Cove. The most packaged part of the island and the easiest for a first visit.
Treasure Beach and the south
The south coast is dry, rural and almost unvisited: black sand, community tourism, and the Pelican Bar standing on stilts a kilometre out to sea. The antidote to the resorts.
Building the itinerary
- Three stops a week, no more. Every move costs half a day at minimum, often a whole one, and you see nothing of a place where you sleep one night.
- Alternate the pace. A dense city, then two quiet days: that is what makes travelling as a couple sustainable, especially if one of you lives there and works.
- Keep a buffer day before the flight home, in the departure city. Domestic transport delays are the leading cause of missed flights.
- Ask the person who lives there what they want to show you. Guidebook itineraries and the places that matter to them rarely overlap — and the second list is the better one.
Two reflexes that change a trip
Distances deceive. On a map two points look close; on the ground, road conditions, checkpoints and terrain double or triple the time. Plan fewer stops and more time at each.
Ask before photographing anyone, and never insist. Official buildings, soldiers, airports and bridges are best avoided almost everywhere — the most banal and most avoidable source of trouble.