Attractions

Most of Nassau can be explored on foot, beginning at Rawson Square in the center. Here is where Bahamian fishers unload a variety of produce and fish -- crates of mangoes, oranges, tomatoes, and limes, plus lots of crimson-lipped conch. To experience this slice of Bahamian life, go any morning Monday through Saturday before noon.

The best way to see some of the major public buildings of Nassau is to take our walking tour , which will give you not only an overview of the historic highlights, but also a feel for the city as a whole. Then you can concentrate on specific sights you'd like to take in, notably Ardastra Gardens and Coral Island Bahamas.

Hanging Out at Potter's Cay

One of the liveliest places in Nassau during the day is Potter's Cay, a native market that thrives beneath the Paradise Island Bridge. From the Out Islands, fishing boats and heavily laden sloops arrive early in the morning to unload the day's catch. Spiny lobster is the most expensive seafood, but grouper remains king along with fresh crab, jack, mackerel, and other fish,

If grouper is king, then "sweet, sexy conch," as the locals say, is queen. Conch is arguably the Bahamian's favorite dish. At dozens of stands, you can watch the conch being extracted from its shell. These shells are later dried out (they're really smelly for days) and sold as highly polished souvenirs. Vendors make the freshest conch salad right on the spot here; if you haven't eaten the delicacy before, this is the place to try it.

You'll see chefs eagerly buying the best of the day's catch to inspire their menus for the day. Fish is sold dead or alive and, in some cases, dried or filleted. What we don't like to see are fishmongers chopping up sea turtles, an endangered species. The vendors are not of the politically correct sort, and they're more likely interested in catering to the Bahamian life-long love of turtle flesh than they are in preserving the species for future generations.

Not just fish is sold here. Sloops from the Out Islands also bring in cartons of freshly harvested vegetables, including the fiery hot peppers so beloved by locals, along with paw-paws (papaya), stalks of bananas, fresh herbs, various root vegetables, tomatoes, and squash along with an array of luscious exotic fruits. Here's a tip: Many of these vendors have a wicked sense of humor and will offer you a taste of the tamarind fruit, claiming it's the "sweetest taste on God's earth." Invariably, tricked visitors spit it out. The taste is horrendously offensive.

You can also see mail boats leaving and coming to this quay. Watching the frenetic departure or arrival of a mail boat is one of the more amusing scenes to be viewed on New Providence.

The Secret Garden

The Retreat, Village Road (tel. 242/393-1317), on the southern outskirts of downtown Nassau, is the home of the Bahamas National Trust. A clapboard-sided green-and-white building, it was originally conceived as the homestead of the Langlois family and purchased from them by the National Trust in 1925. Whereas there's nothing of particular interest inside the house (it contains mostly rather workaday offices), its gardens are worth a visit. They consist of 4.4 hectares (11 acres) of the most unspoiled gardens on New Providence, home to about 200 species of exotic palm trees. The grounds, which are, for the most part, flat, can be navigated with a map available on-site. A gift shop sells books and memorabilia that's approved and associated with the National Trust. The grounds can be visited Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm for a $2 (£1.05) admission for adults and $1 (55p) for children and students.

Meet the Bahamians

The People-To-People Program, established by The Ministry of Tourism, provides an opportunity for visitors to learn more about the culture of The Bahamas by interacting with the Bahamians themselves. The program "matches" visitors, often entire families, with more than 1,500 Bahamian volunteers of similar ages and interests for a day or evening activity, which could include boating, fishing, shopping at the local outdoor market, enjoying a "back-street tour," or, more often, visiting Bahamians in their home for a traditional meal of peas 'n' rice, fried fish, and guava duff. The People-To-People encounters also have resulted in lasting friendships between visitors and locals. Philip Archer, a program volunteer for more than 18 years, has received hundreds of invitations to visit families from different countries through his participation in People-To-People. Celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in 2007, The People-To-People Program has expanded beyond Nassau to Abaco, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island, and San Salvador. To participate in People-To-People in Nassau/Paradise Island and The Out islands, e-mail peopletopeople@bahamas.com. To participate in the program on Grand Bahama Island, email peopletopeople@gbmot.com.

Going Over-the-Hill

Few visitors make the trip anymore, but it used to be a tradition to go "Over-the-Hill" to Nassau's most colorful area. "Over-the-Hill" is the actual name of this poor residential district, where the descendants of former slaves built compact, rainbow-hued houses, leaving the most desirable lands around the harbor to the rich folks. This, not the historic core of Nassau around Rawson Square, is truly the heart of Bahamian-African culture.

The thump of the Junkanoo-Goombay drum can be heard here almost any time of the day or night. The area never sleeps, or so it is said. Certainly not on Sunday morning, when you can drive by the churches and hear hell and damnation promised to all sinners and backsliders.

This fascinating part of Nassau begins .5km (1/4 mile) south of Blue Hill Road, which starts at the exclusive Graycliff hotel. But once you're "Over-the-Hill," you're a long way from the vintage wine and expensive Cuban cigars of Graycliff. Some people -- usually savvy store owners from abroad -- come here to buy local handicrafts from individual vendors. The area can be explored on foot (during the day only), but many visitors prefer to drive. Note: This area is well worth a visit, but keep your eyes open; most criminal incidents in Nassau take place in this part of town.

Voluptuous Vixen as Tourist Attraction

Blonde, busty, and hell-bent on becoming the next Marilyn Monroe, Anna Nicole Smith never came even close to equaling the '50s sex goddess. But one thing she had in common with Marilyn, besides clone looks, is that both beauties died in their 30s. Anna Nicole died in a Florida hotel room in February 2007 but was living in The Bahamas at the time. After a long legal battle, she was buried on New Providence Island next to her 20-year-old son, Daniel, who died from a lethal combination of methadone and two antidepressants in the hospital room where his mother had given birth to Dannielynn, a daughter.

Her gravesite, at least temporarily in 2007, became the number-one tourist attraction in The Bahamas, luring more visitors, especially cruise-ship passengers, than the Paradise Island resort of Atlantis itself. How long this phenomenon will last is anyone's guess.

Her death launched a tourist bonanza for many Bahamians. Even the minister of tourism, Francina Clerke, said that all the worldwide media attention had been positive for the island chain. Mostly the taxi drivers benefited, as hundreds of tourists asked to be taken to sites related to Anna Nicole, including the home where she lived, the church where her funeral was held, but mainly the cemetery where she is buried with her son.

At the funeral, Bahamians sold food and drink to visitors, and one shopkeeper wanted to charge camera crews $5,000 to occupy a lookout spot to broadcast the funeral live. A tattoo shop in Nassau offered Anna Nicole tattoos.

For as long as interest lasts, any tour operator in Nassau will book excursions to Anna Nicole "spots."