Things To Do in Kingston

Even if you're staying at Ocho Rios or Port Antonio, you may want to visit Kingston, Port Royal, and Spanish Town to sightsee.

New Music Museum for Kingston

As of this writing, the Institute of Jamaica was planning to open the Jamaica Music Museum. Exhibits will feature rare pieces from the island's music history, including the solo album the late Bob Marley produced before he gained international fame.

Other artifacts will also include a cassette tape in which another reggae great, Peter Tosh, jams a blues song with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. The tape was recorded in New York in the late spring of 1977.

The museum represents a major attempt to preserve and protect the island's musical heritage. In 2008, the island's musical heritage took a major hit when a massive collection of 1970s music, including original recordings by Tosh and Marley, was stolen from the archives of former Jamaica Broadcasting Corp. The collection was never recovered.

In Town

The most important art collection in Jamaica is housed at the National Gallery, Roy West Building, Kingston Mall (tel. 876/922-1561). This gallery is a showcase for the nation's most talented artists. On the ground floor you're greeted with the controversial bronze statue of the late Bob Marley, the reggae great. A work by Christopher Gonzalez, the statue originally was meant to stand in Celebrity Park, but aroused opposition among Marley fans, who felt it portrayed their hero in an unflattering light. You be the art critic here.

The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts is best highlighted by Edna Manley, a well-known sculptor who was married to Norman Manley, the former prime minister. She was also the mother of another prime minister, Michael Manley. Locals refer to her as the "Barbara Bush of Jamaica." She died in 1976 at the age of 86. One of her most celebrated sculptures is Ghetto Mother, located in the main lobby.

Also attracting a lot of attention locally are the mahogany figurines and other works by Mallica Reynolds, better known as Kapo. His religious themes have made him a household word in Kingston. Some art critics have called his sculpture "the work of a modern genius."

Entrance is US$2 for adults and free for children. Hours are Tuesday to Thursday 10am to 4:30pm, Friday 10am to 4pm, and Saturday 10am to 3pm. You'll better understand what you're seeing if you hire a guide, costing US$13 for a tour.

One of the major attractions, Devon House, 26 Hope Rd. (tel. 876/929-6602), was built in 1881 by George Stiebel, a Jamaican who made his fortune mining in Latin America -- becoming one of the first black millionaires in the Caribbean. A striking classical building, the house has been restored to its original beauty by the Jamaican National Trust. The grounds contain crafts shops, boutiques, two restaurants, shops that sell the best ice cream in Jamaica (in exotic fruit flavors), and a bakery and pastry shop with Jamaican puddings and desserts. Admission to the main house is US$5; hours are Monday to Saturday from 9:30am to 4:30pm. Admission to shops and restaurants is free.

At the Hope Botanical Gardens & Zoo, Hope Road (tel. 876/927-1257), you can visit a Jamaican Shangri-La, a 93-hectare (230-acre) plot of beauty and the largest botanical garden in the West Indies. It is adjacent to the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies. The "Hope" in the name comes from Richard Hope, a British Army commander who lived here in the mid-17th century. After the grime of downtown Kingston, it's a lovely place for a tranquil stroll; attractions include a cactus garden, sago palms, an orchid house, various greenhouses, an ornamental pond, and a "forest garden," with an aviary for the "birdie" in you. There's also a little zoo on-site.

Admission to the gardens themselves is free, and they are open daily from 6am to 6pm. Admission to the zoo, however, costs J$20 for adults and J$10 for children aged 4 to 12. The zoo is open Monday to Thursday 10am to 5pm, Friday 10am to 4pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 6pm. On-site is the Ashanti restaurant, a strictly vegetarian restaurant, serving lunch and dinner daily, using only organically grown ingredients. To reach these gardens from the commercial center of Kingston, take bus nos. 61, 66, or 78.

Between Old Hope and Mona roads, on the eastern outskirts, a short distance from the Botanical Gardens, is the University of the West Indies (tel. 876/927-1660), built in 1948 on the Mona Sugar Estate. Ruins of old mills, storehouses, and aqueducts are juxtaposed with modern buildings on what must be the most beautifully situated campus in the world. The chapel, an old sugar-factory building, was transported stone by stone from Trelawny and rebuilt. The remains of the original sugar factory here are well preserved and give a good idea of how sugar was made in slave days. Organized tours are available. You are also allowed to stroll around the campus Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm. You must see the Public Relations office first.

The National Library of Jamaica at the Institute of Jamaica, 12 East St. (tel. 876/967-1526), a storehouse of the history, culture, and traditions of Jamaica and the Caribbean, is the finest working library for West Indian studies in the world. It has the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and balanced collection of materials on the region, including books, newspapers, photographs, maps, and prints. It's open Monday to Thursday from 9am to 5pm, Friday from 9am to 4pm.

Bob Marley Museum, 56 Hope Rd. (tel. 876/927-9152; www.bobmarley-foundation.com), is the most-visited sight in Kingston, but if you're not a Marley fan, it may not mean much to you. The clapboard house with its garden and high surrounding wall was the famous reggae singer's home and recording studio until his death on May 11, 1981, in a Miami hospital. You can tour the house and view assorted Marley memorabilia, and you may even catch a glimpse of his children, who often visit the grounds. Hours are Monday to Saturday from 9:30am to 5pm (last tour at 4pm). Admission is US$20 or US$10 for ages 4 to 12.

To protect you from the sun, covered arcades lead off King Street, but everywhere many people go about their business, including beggars and the inevitable peddlers who sidle up and offer "hot stuff, mon" -- which frequently means highly polished brass lightly dipped in gold and fraudulently offered at high prices as real gold.

There is no more typical or evocative city market in all of Jamaica than Jubilee Market, overflowing onto Orange Street on the west side of the Parade (Sir William Grant Park), under a roof and in the heart of Kingston. This market was named to honor Queen Victoria's Jubilee. A haven for pickpockets, it is nonetheless filled with all the flamboyant color and drama of Jamaica. Virtually "everything is for sale," one vendor told us, "from Jamaican babies to the most exotic fruits to possessions of Bob Marley." All the Marley mementos are fake, of course.

Kingston Crafts Market, at the west end of Harbour Street (reached via Straw Ave., Drummer's Lane, or Cheapside), is a large, covered area of small stalls, selling all kinds of island crafts: wooden plates and bowls; pepper pots made from mahoe (the national wood of the island); straw hats, mats, and baskets; batik shirts; banners for wall decoration, inscribed with the Jamaican coat of arms; and wood masks with elaborately carved faces. You should bargain a bit and vendors will take something off the price, but not very much.

One of the most modern shopping centers in Jamaica, the New Kingston Shopping Centre, 30 Dominica Dr., is known for the range of merchandise rather than for a particular merchant. It's sleek and contemporary, centered around a Maya-style pyramid. This is where to head if you're looking for the highest quality goods, including local items that might not readily be available in your hometown.

The Shops at Devon House, 26 Hope Rd. (tel. 876/929-6602), ring the borders of a 200-year-old courtyard once used by slaves and servants. It's one of the most beautiful and historic mansions on Jamaica. Four of the shops are operated by Things Jamaican, a nationwide emporium dedicated to the enhancement of the country's handicrafts. Shops include the Cookery, offering island-made sauces and spices, and the Pottery, selling crockery and stoneware.

Things Jamaican, 26 Hope Rd. (tel. 876/926-1961), is affiliated with the government and was set up to encourage the development of Jamaican Arts and Crafts. There is an array of products, including rums, liqueurs, jerk seasonings, and jellies such as orange pepper. Look for Busha Brown's fine Jamaica sauces, especially their spicy chutneys such as banana, and their spicy "love apple" sauce (it's actually tomato). Many items are carved from wood -- not only sculptures, but salad bowls and trays as well. You'll also find hand-woven baskets and women's handbags made of bark (in Jamaica, these are known, unflatteringly, as "old lady bags").

Wassi Art Gallery and Collectibles, 26 Hope Rd. (tel. 876/906-5016), is one of the most interesting shops in Devon House. All the merchandise is made by Wassi Art, a labor-intensive, low-tech Jamaican method. Look for functional, durable kitchenware prized by Jamaican homeowners for its eco-sensitive, earthy appeal. Anything you buy can be shipped home via FedEx.

Frame Centre Gallery, 10 Tangerine Place (tel. 876/926-4644; http://franecentregallery.com), is one of the most important art galleries in Jamaica. Its founder and guiding force, Guy McIntosh, is widely respected as a patron of the Jamaican arts. There are three viewing areas and more than 300 works.

The Mutual Life Gallery, Mutual Life Centre, 2 Oxford Rd. (tel. 876/929-4302), is one of Jamaica's most prominent art galleries. This center offers an insight into the changing face of Jamaican art. The gallery's exhibitions are organized by Gilou Bauer, who encourages unknowns as well as showcasing established artists with flair. Exhibitions change once a month, but there are usually long-term exhibits as well. The gallery is a not-for-profit institution.

Tuff Gong Recording Studios, 220 Marcus Garvey Dr. (tel. 876/923-9383), can be both a shopping expedition and an attraction. South of Denham Town, this is the headquarters of the late Bob Marley's family business. You might even run into his son, Ziggy Marley, coming out of a recording session; his Melody Makers have their headquarters here. Sometimes you can persuade someone to let you in for a tour. If not, settle for a visit to their gift shop, filled with reggae CDs and tapes, records, T-shirts, handicrafts, and other mementos. The studios can be visited as part of a brief and extremely informal tour that's conducted Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm for a cost of US$3.50 per person.

Loaded with a wider variety of medications than any other pharmacy in Kingston, the Dick Kinkead Pharmacy, Ltd., 72-76 Harbour St. (tel. 876/922-6525), has been compared to a civic institution. Local residents sometimes head here for advice before seeing a doctor. All substances are made on the premises, including a medicinal toothpaste made from tropical roots and herbs called Chew Dent; it's made from chew stick (gouania lupuliodes), in the tradition of West Africans.

Kingston offers a variety of nighttime entertainment. Most events are listed in the daily press, along with a host of other attractions, including colorful carnivals and festivals that are held island-wide throughout the year. In nearly all the after-dark establishments of Kingston, foreign visitors are only about 3% of those in attendance. Most Kingston places, except for the bars in first-class hotels, are patronized mainly by locals.

Caution: The city is very unsafe at night. Take taxis everywhere.

The Performing Arts

Kingston is a leading cultural center of the West Indies. Notable theaters include Ward Theatre on North Parade Road (tel. 876/922-0453), and the Little Theatre on Tom Redcam Drive near the National Stadium (tel. 876/926-6129). Both stage local and imported plays and musicals, light opera, revues, Jamaican dance and choral groups, and pop concerts. Ticket prices vary. From downtown Kingston (Parade and Cross roads), buses 90A and 90B run here.

The Club & Bar Scene

Within the relatively sedate premises of one of Kingston's best-established hotels, Mingles (in the Courtleigh Hotel, 85 Knutsford Blvd.; tel. 876/929-9000) is a rich-looking -- and richly popular -- bar and disco. Sheathed with full-grained mahogany panels, with uniformed bartenders whose look might remind you of Jamaica during the era of Noël Coward, it's a clubby-looking but often rocking site known for a revolving combination of reggae, pop, soca (a danceable form of reggae), and Latino meringue. Folk here tend to flirt, talk, and gossip on Friday night, and dance, dance, dance on Saturday night. The bar is open Monday to Friday 5pm to midnight and Saturday 5pm to 3am. There is no cover charge except on Saturday, when it's J$400.

One of the hottest new venues after dark is Asylum, 69 Knutsford Blvd. (tel. 876/929-4386), where the program changes nightly. Some nights are devoted only to reggae music, other nights to various contests, sometimes to the old hits of the 1970s and 1980s. A crowd, mainly of locals in their 20s or 30s, flocks here to enjoy the music, the dance, the entertainment, and even karaoke. It's very tropical and very happening, Tuesday to Sunday from 10pm to 4am, charging a cover ranging from J$300 to J$600.

The open-air Carlos Café, 22 Belmont Rd. (tel. 876/926-4186), is all the rage with its flamingo-colored tones and Caribbean decor. There's a whimsical feel here, attracting a crowd of men and women in their 20s and 30s. You can also dine here -- on Monday, crab is featured on the menu. On Friday it's a fish fry and karaoke. On any night something is happening, perhaps a show by Cuban salsa dancers. There's no cover, with a Red Stripe beer costing J$350. Hours are Monday to Friday 5pm to 2am, Saturday 3pm to 2am.