Renato and I got married in Florida on President’s Day weekend, 2006. We knew that we wanted to go on an epic adventure for our honeymoon, so we chose Australia and New Zealand. The season was all wrong for the trip we wanted, so we decided to put it on hold until Christmas time. Meanwhile, we needed a destination for right after our wedding. We picked Saint Barthélemy and fell in love with this little French Island. Too far and too expensive for regular visits, we made a pact to return every five years. A little late thanks to COVID, we finally made our way back when Nina and Alex were 11 in March, 2022. Here’s a glimpse of Our Week in St. Barth With Kids.
Traveling to St. Barth’s
It is not easy getting to St. Barth. Assuming you don’t have your own private yacht, jet or helicopter, the most common mode of travel is a small commuter flight from St. Maarten. What no one mentions when you are planning your dream vacation to the idyllic island of St. Barth’s is the mess that is the Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten. It is SO disorganized and chaotic there that it could ALMOST crush your spirits and cause you to turn back to where you came from. Don’t! The headache is WORTH IT! Grit your teeth and hold your head high. You WILL eventually get to St. Barths and so will your luggage. I promise.
Where we stayed for Our Week in St. Barth With Kids
Breathe a sign of relief when you climb down the steps of your tiny aircraft onto the land of happiness. There are so many choices of lodgings on St. Barths. For our honeymoon, we stayed at Le Carl Gustaf, a beautiful hotel with amazing service, but a little too formal for our taste. For our fifth anniversary, the one and only vacation we ever took without the kids, we chose Le Sereno. This hotel was more our speed…on the beach and laid back. When the kids were five, we decided to try a villa for the first time. We rented through Wimco and were pleasantly surprised, so we did it again for this trip. We were not disappointed.
Modern and clean, our villa had two bedrooms and three baths on the first floor. The master bedroom was on the second story and had a separate, outside entrance. It was weird and took a minute to get used to, but since our kids are older, this configuration was do-able. The outside space was large, plush and beautiful. Our pool was heated and the view was SPECTACULAR! Paradise found.
This time around, our house was on the quiet, dry side of the island. We had lots of fun visitors like wild goats who enjoyed a daily drink at our pool, a bird who wanted to join us while we dined in one night, and a stray cat in need of affection. My city kids LOVED these chance encounters!
What we did during Our Week in St. Barth With Kids
The thing about a vacation in St. Barth’s is that there is nothing to do, so there is no agenda to follow and no rush to go anywhere. It is SO relaxing! Of course there is a jumble of main streets in the city area filled with boutiques and cafes, but the beaches all around the island are the main attraction. Each beach has its own character and most have a delicious restaurant as well. New day…new beach!
NOTE: You will need to rent a car (or a scooter) and they have many cool possibilities like sherbet-colored jeeps and smart cars. We opted for a convertible for this trip.
Day 1: Gustavia and La Petite Plage
The capital of St. Barth’s, Gustavia, is the main shopping and dining area on the island. Exhausted, starving and without a reservation, we drove into town on our very first night of vacation. It was before 7, so of course no restaurants were serving yet. We walked around a bit and settled on La Petite Plage for a few reasons. First and foremost, there was space and they were opening shortly. Also, the menu is diverse enough to satisfy all of us and the view is amazing.
Day 2: Jojo Burger and Lorient Beach
One of our favorite things to do when traveling is visit the local bakeries and supermarkets. Since we stayed at a villa, and because St. Barth’s is French, Renato ventured out early each morning to purchase freshly baked baguette, cheeses and fruit for breakfast (YUM!). The kids and I slept in on the first day of our Week in St. Barth with kids, and were really happy to find all of the goodies that he brought for us.
After hanging in the pool and relaxing for a while, we ventured out for a late lunch. Most places were already closed for siesta, but we found Jojo Burger, a mostly locals beach shack next door to a school. They offered many kid friendly options, played good music, and were right across the street from Lorient Beach. Lorient is a small, narrow strip of sand with a kinda steep slope down to the water. On the day we were there, the waves and the undertow were both pretty mellow.
Day 3: Shellona, Shell Beach, Le Fouquet’s
Ready for another beautiful day, we packed our towels and sunscreen and set out for Shell Beach. As the name implies, there is no sand at this beach…just shells…so don’t forget your flip flops to prevent ouchies.
We were extremely lucky that our concierge was able to snag a last minute table for us at Shellona. Everything there is delicious and the service is impeccable. For entertainment while you wait for your food, you can enjoy model watching. Women draped in resort wear (from the shop next to the restaurant) meander through the diners to strike a pose all day. It was also fun to watch the servers display the selection of live lobsters.
For old time’s sake, we selected Le Fouquet’s at the Carl Gustav Hotel for dinner. Fancy and delicious, we really enjoyed our meal.
The highlight was watching our server flambe our crepes suzette table side.
Day 4: Grand Cul de Sac, Le Barthelemy, Creperie
Yep…you guessed it…another day another beach with really good food. Today we went to the Le Barthelemy for lunch. The hotel (and restaurant) are on the Grand Cul de Sac beach, which we had never visited before. It was a peaceful scene and as we waited for our meal (again entertained by models dressed in beachwear from the hotel gift shop.) IMHO, it’s quite an odd way to display goods, but I imagine it makes them money or they wouldn’t do it, right? Our lunch, though beautifully presented, was a bit too nouveau for my taste.
The hotel staff was nice enough to allow us to rent some beach chairs by the hour, so we settled in and got comfy. Renato and the kids quickly cooled off in the water which was calm and shallow. They swam pretty far to get a sandbar in the distance, and returned exhausted from their exertion lol.
Since lunch was early today, we went into town for some shopping and a snack after the beach. The treats at Creperie St. Barth in Gustavia surely hit the spot!
Day 5: Le Grain de Sel, Saline and L’isoletta
For lunch today, we went for Creole food at Le Grain de Sel. It was as yummy as we remembered and they still offer homemade vanilla rum to finish off your meal.
Our beach of the day is a family favorite called Saline, which has a short but moderate hike over the sand dunes from the restaurant. It’s well with the trip because you wind up here:
NOTE: The waves at Saline Beach can be pretty fierce and, as all beaches on the island, it is lifeguard free.
For dinner, we felt we should bring it down a notch and just have pizza. L’isoletta was PACKED when we got there, despite (or maybe due to) the relatively early hour. The food (especially Nutella Pizza) was REALLY good and the portions were huge, but the backless stools were uncomfortable and the place was TEAMING with loud kids. I definitely recommend eating here, but not before 8pm for sure.
Day 6: Sand Bar, St. Jean Beach, Le Creperie
Alex has been talking about the chicken nuggets at The Sand Bar at The Eden Rock Hotel since the last time we were in St. Barth in 2015. We were happy to see that not only did the restaurant still exist, but the menu still had the special nuggets (LOL!). They did not disappoint!
After lunch we tried to rent chairs on St. Jean’s beach, but apparently that is not an option for those not staying in the hotel. Instead, we sat on our towels like peasants and watched as the planes took off from the airport nearby. I felt sad for the people who had to leave this lovely island on this gorgeous day…then again, no day is a good day to leave St. Barth!
The waves at St. Jean are gentle, but this is probably the most popular (read: CROWDED) beach on the island. One of the reasons may be the water activities that are available. It was at St. Jean that we first learned about the Seabob, a handheld electric water craft that can travel above AND below the water surface. Renato decided to rent one for each kid (he wouldn’t tell me the cost, so there’s that…). They were SO MUCH FUN! I highly recommend trying this sometime.
In the evening, we returned Gustavia for a bit of shopping and dinner at the casual, easy and delicious Le Creperie.
Day 7: Hotel Le Toiny
On the last day of our week in St. Barth with kids, we went to Hotel Le Toiny for lunch. You need to take a shuttle down the side of a cliff to get to the restaurant and beach (fun times!). Despite the plethora of pretentious guests, the staff here is lovely and the landscaping is incredible. Because of the wind, we could not enter the water on the day we went, but we did find some really cool shells while we waited for our food to arrive.
For dinner, we chose a local joint called Le Bouchon. It was loud and crowded with after work bar goers, and, in hindsight, not the best choice we could’ve made, but Renato really did enjoy his tuna dish.
Au Revoir to our Week in St. Barth With Kids
We are already looking forward to our return in five years.
Thanks so much for reading!
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