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Cluster · Castries

Derek Walcott Square and the cathedral

Morning cluster: the square, the cathedral and the streets around it; go before the heat and before the cruise crowds, and skip it on Sunday.

Key facts

28″ bags
painful
Time budget
half
Rescue coverage
100% ≤7′
max p90 4.6′
Places
2
2 sleep areas in reach
Derek Walcott Square
Derek Walcott SquarePhoto: Gene93k, CC BY-SA 3.0
Rules in force · 9Several islands (Turks and Caicos above all, also the Bah…Morne Fortune is steep and has no pavement in places
  • Caribbean ↗Several islands (Turks and Caicos above all, also the Bahamas and Jamaica) jail visitors for a single stray bullet or cartridge in their luggage; empty every bag and pocket before you pack.
  • Caribbean ↗From August to October keep a free last day before your flight home and check the national hurricane centre daily; airports close when a named storm approaches.
  • Caribbean ↗Wearing camouflage clothing is illegal for civilians in several islands, including Barbados, Antigua, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenada, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica; leave it at home, children's clothes included.
  • Saint Lucia ↗Check entry rules for your passport on official Saint Lucia government sources before you fly.
  • Saint Lucia ↗Camouflage-pattern clothing is illegal for civilians: leave it at home.
  • Saint Lucia ↗Check which airport your flight uses: long-haul flights land at Hewanorra (UVF) in the south, regional ones at George F. L. Charles (SLU) in Castries.
  • The north (Rodney Bay, Gros Islet, Castries) ↗June to November is hurricane season with the peak in August to October: buy flexible fares and insurance that covers storm cancellations.
  • Castries ↗Castries is very quiet on Sunday: the market and most shops are closed. Do the town on Saturday morning, or Monday to Friday.
  • Castries ↗Morne Fortune is steep and has no pavement in places: go by taxi, not on foot.
More
Map to the centre
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Directions
From where I am

Add your hotel to get directions from it. · stays in this browser; shared with the pocket card.

Derek Walcott Square
Derek Walcott SquarePhoto: giggel, CC BY 3.0

Walking weather, next 5 days

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Forecast: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), model data for this point.

Plan

How the ground walks, and what is here

Bound and physics

Derek Walcott Square and the streets around the cathedral.

Slope
flat
Stairs
Few
Shade
low
Surface
paved streets, narrow pavements
Sleep here or visit
visit

Eat and drink here

Café Olé

A local coffee and light-breakfast stop just off Derek Walcott Square: a fast, air-conditioned break for coffee, juice or a sandwich before or after the square and the cathedral.

On the ground

Where to rest, how to leave, where to sleep nearby

Rescue anchors

6 places to rest · checked on a 40 m (130 ft) grid

A rescue anchor is a spot where you can stop and recover if the walk goes wrong: a bench, a café, a toilet. Every letter on the map is one anchor, and each has a card below. We check that any point in the cluster is within about 7 minutes’ walk of one, so you are never far from somewhere to sit down.

ABCDEF
Map © OpenStreetMap contributors. Lettered circles: rescue anchors (green works in any conditions, amber only on hot days). Dashed outline: the cluster. Red dots: spots more than 7 min from any anchor (none if you see no red). North is up; not for navigation.

Derek Walcott Square benches

Place to sit · Shade · works in any conditions

Cathedral steps

Place to sit · Shade · works in any conditions

Laborie Street café

Food & drink · Place to sit · Toilet · works in any conditions

Bank arcade

ac · Shelter from rain · works in any conditions

Micoud Street shop row

Food & drink · ac · works in any conditions

Library courtyard

Shade · Place to sit · works in any conditions

100% of the cluster is within 7 min of an anchor in any conditions (slowest walker, worst cell 4.6 min) · 100% on hot days

Nodes in this cluster

  1. Derek Walcott Square

    The main town square, named for the Nobel-winning poet, with a huge saman tree and the cathedral on one side: 15–25 minutes in the morning, before the heat and before cruise crowds fill it.

  2. Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

    The island's main Catholic cathedral, on the east side of Derek Walcott Square, with a brightly painted interior: 20–30 minutes if it is open; step in quietly and skip it during a service unless you plan to stay for mass.

Edges out

directed
ToHowp50Climb
Central Market and the harbour frontWalk north~10 minflat
Morne Fortune and Fort CharlotteTaxi south~10 minflat
Vigie Beach and Vigie CoveTaxi north~10 minflat

Sleep within reach

Red lines here

  • Cover up in the cathedral; no photos during services.

Deep dive

Around this cluster

Straight-line distance; walk time adds 30% for streets.