Belmont Estate

Belmont has farmed the same northern valley for three centuries, and today it shows the full journey of Grenada's most celebrated crop: cocoa pods split open in the receiving shed, beans fermenting under banana leaves, drying trays rolled out into the sun and shuffled by foot in the traditional 'walking the cocoa', and the estate's own tree-to-bar chocolate finishing the story with tastings. Around the cocoa work sit gardens of spice and flowers, a goat dairy making cheese, a heritage museum in the old buildings and a farm restaurant whose buffet lunch is a destination in itself.

What you actually see

• The cocoa process - fermenting, sun-drying and walking the beans.
• Tree-to-bar tastings - the estate's own chocolate line.
• The goat dairy and gardens - cheese, spices and flowers around the yard.
• The farm lunch - the buffet that anchors north-island day trips.

When to go

The dry season from January to May is most comfortable; cocoa works year round with harvest peaks bringing the most action in the yards. Sundays the estate largely rests - weekdays show the working version. Book lunch ahead in high season.

Honest expectations

It is a polished agritourism operation and priced as one - tours, chocolate and lunch add up, though quality justifies it. The drive north is winding and slow; combine with Sauteurs and the north coast rather than making it a lone out-and-back. Rain moves the drying trays indoors and dampens the theatre.

Nearby

Sauteurs and Leapers Hill, the River Antoine rum distillery and Levera beach.