Castries Market

The Castries market opened in 1894 in an iron-framed building with a red roof shipped out from Britain, built by Bruce & Still of Liverpool and opened on 2 July 1894, and it has traded on the same site since, with over three hundred regular vendors. Produce fills the main hall and the streets around it: dasheen, breadfruit, green figs, mangoes by the crate, cocoa sticks for making tea, bundles of bush for medicine, hot pepper sauce in reused bottles. A craft market and a vendors' arcade, opened as an annex in 1996, sit alongside, aimed more at cruise passengers. Saturday morning is when the whole island seems to be in it and the vendors come down from the villages.

What's there

• The 1894 iron building - shipped from Britain and standing since.
• The produce hall - dasheen, breadfruit, green fig and mango.
• Cocoa sticks - solid cocoa for making tea, sold in rolls.
• Saturday morning - the market at full pitch.

When to go

Saturday morning is the market proper and by far the best time. Weekdays are quieter and the craft side dominates. Cruise days fill the arcade and the craft market. It closes on Sundays.

Practical notes

The craft and vendor arcades are aggressively touted and are largely aimed at cruise passengers, with a good deal of imported goods; the produce hall is the real market. Prices for visitors are quoted high and haggling is expected. It is crowded and hot. Ordinary caution with bags applies.

Nearby

Derek Walcott Square is a few streets away; the cruise berth is on the waterfront.

Key facts