Basic facts

Time difference: GMT - 4.
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar (although US Dollars are widely accepted).
Language: English
Population: Approximately 110000
Visa information: Holders of a British passport can stay for 6 months without a visa.

Travel arrangements

There are twice-weekly flights to Grenada from London Gatwick with both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic (flight time approximately 10 hours). All flights to Grenada touch down in St Lucia but passengers do not change planes. Outbound flights leave the UK in the morning and land in Grenada early afternoon, while return flights leave Grenada in the evening and land in the UK the following morning.

Visitors to Grenada can easily get around by taxi or local bus. It is also possible to hire a car but it is necessary to buy a temporary driving permit. Driving is on the left and roads might be narrow and bendy with few street signs.

History

Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover Grenada in 1498, at which time the island was already inhabited by Carib Indians. Spaniards named the island Granada after the Andalusian city, but the name was later changed to Grenada by the British. Europeans were unable to settle on the island until the mid 1600s, when the French secured the island which led to five years of fighting with the indigenous population until the Caribs were finally chased off the island. The French grew crops of tobacco, cocoa, sugar and coffee using slaves, and the island remained in French control until the late 1700's. Grenada was then given to the British and later became a Crown Colony in the 1870's. The late 1960's saw the island become part of the British Commonwealth only to gain independence in 1974.