Kingston

Arawak Museum

Taino Museum

A small museum with artifacts and information about the original inhabitants of the island, the Arawak (or Taino) Indians.

Bob Marley Museum

Filled with tons of memorabilia and Bob Marley's personal belongings, this museum was Bob Marley's recording studio and was his home until his death in 1981. The house is a preserved historical site; even the bullet holes from the attempted murder of Bob Marley remain. Every visitor will be added to a tour upon entry.

Mon-Sat, tours last 1 hr, including a 20-min film. The first tour begins at 9:30AM and the last tour at 4PM·residents J$500, non-residents US$25 (credit cards accepted)

Currency Museum

Coin and Notes Museum

In the Bank of Jamaica Building there's a museum showcasing the history of Jamaican money. There's a collection of old coins in banknotes on display.

Mon–Fri 9AM–2PM

Devon House

One of the best example of Jamaican architecture, the Devon House was built by George Stiebel, the nation's first black millionaire. Much of the interior furniture is not original, but it upholds the 19th century mansion style. The courtyard has craft shops, a few restaurants, and the most famous ice cream shop on the island.

The Mansion is open Mon-Sat 9:30AM-5PM, the courtyard 10AM-6PM, and the gardens are open daily 9:30AM-10PM·US$24 for a tour of the mansion. Entry to garden and shops is free

Emancipation Park

Offers free concerts occasionally in the summer and during the Christmas. The six-acre park includes fountains and public art. The park is known for the large sculpture Redemption Song at the park's main entrance.Redemption Song, which takes its name from Bob Marley's song of the same name, is an 11-ft-high (approximately 3 m) bronze sculpture by Jamaican artist Laura Facey. The sculpture features a male and female figure gazing to the skies – symbolic of their triumphant rise from the horrors of slavery. The statue was unveiled in July 2003, in time for the park's first anniversary. The park is in New Kingston, opened on 31 July 2002, the day before Emancipation Day. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson's address to open the park he acknowledged that the park is a commemoration of the end of slavery. Even though the park doesn't provide food and drink, except ice-cream, restaurants and cafés are nearby.

Gordon House

The seat of the Jamaican upper and lower houses, parliament and legislature. This modest building was finished in 1960 and named after the national hero George William Gordon, elected as a member of the island administration in the mid-18th century. The building can be visited by prior appointment.

Headquarter House

Hibbert House, Headquarter House

First built as a residence for Thomas Hibbert, a wealthy merchant and later the Speaker of the House of Assembly. The War Office of the West Indies Regiment bought the house in 1814, and it served as an army headquarters and residence for the commanding general. In 1872 it was sold to the colonial administration, whereafter the parliament functioned here until 1960 when it moved to the new Gordon House across the street. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) office has been in the house since 1983, and visitors are welcome.

Hope Botanical Gardens

The second largest Botanical Garden in the Caribbean after the one in Santo Domingo. The garden gets its name from the man Richard Hope who helped capture Jamaica for Great Britain and was given the property to reward him for his faithfulness to the Crown. Hope established a sugar plantation here. In 1758 the first stone aqueducts were built here, channeling the water of the Hope River and still part of the city's water supply system. In 1881 the government bought a part of the plantation and set up the botanical garden, much of which was first used as an experimental farm. Here new species of sugarcane, coffee, cocoa and pineapple was grown. Until the 1907 earthquake it was possible to travel here by tram from the city centre. Queen Elizabeth II visited the park in 1953 and since that "Royal" has been part of its name. There's a small zoo and a restaurant in the park. The garden has seen better days, but the zoo has been renovated and expanded.

Open now · closes 6:30 pm·Free

Hope Zoo

See animals from many parts of the world; mammals, birds and reptiles from iguanas to emus and lions to bobcats.

10AM-5PM·J$1500 adults, J$1000 children

Lime Cay

Beach off the coast of Port Royale must take a boat from Port Royal fisherman or the hotel to island. Island is famous as the location for final scene in The Harder they Come. Crowded party spot on the weekends with food and drink available for purchase, much more sedate and often deserted on weekdays. You can camp overnight if you arrange a next-day pickup time, but be careful, as you can't exactly swim to shore!

National Gallery of Jamaica

The museum features artwork by Jamaicans from throughout its history, from the native Taino Indians through the colonial period to works by modern artists. The gallery hosts its annual National Visual Arts Exhibition, which began in 1963 as a way to promote post-colonial art and to showcase the works of rising artists from Jamaica. Entrance fees are waved during the exhibition period.

Tue-Thu 10AM-4:30PM, Fri 10AM-4PM, Sat 10AM-3PM·J$100, students and senior citizens over 65 may enter for J$50

National Heroes Park

Originally this was the horse race track of Kingston and as such also goes by the names Racecourse or George VI Memorial Park. In the southern end of the park, there's a big memorial stone, and it's the burial place of the national heroes Marcus Garvey, Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley. There are statues of Paul Bogle, Simon Bolivar, and the Cuban general Antoneo Maceo. On the southern end of the park there are the ministries of finance and education.

Port Royal

Once known as the "Richest and wickedest city in the world", Port Royal was a notorious pirate haven in the 17th century. The most famous privateer (basically a pirate, but licensed by the British crown) who operated from Port Royal was Sir Henry Morgan who plundered Spanish vessels travelling in the Caribbean and even sacked Panama City. The city prospered as the pirates gathered riches, but a strong earthquake struck the area in 1692 sinking many ships in the harbour, killing many people, and leaving much of the city under the sea. Some claimed the quake was God's punishment for the evildoers of Port Royal. This disaster helped to establish Kingston as the new capital, and many of the survivors moved to Kingston. Although most of the buildings at the port today are not the original buildings, the walls of Fort Charles have been preserved since the rebuilding two years after the earthquake, Saint Peter's Church built in the early 18th century, and the ruins of Fort Rocky remain. There is also a museum to learn more about the history and see artifacts from its heyday. The site was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2025.

Rock Fort

Three centuries ago, this was the eastern end of the harbour. Rock Fort was established in 1694 as a protection against the French, and it was enlarged over the course of the 18th century. Now the ruins of it stand along the highway. Next to the ruins there's a mineral bath (Rockfort Mineral Bath) in a source that emerged in the 1907 earthquake.

Trenchtown Culture Yard Museum

In the southern corner of Kingston's most (in)famous neighbourhood there's a museum where you can learn about the district, and the musicians behind the style of music that was born there in the 1960s – reggae.

University of the West Indies (UWI)

This university was established in 1948 on the grounds of the former Mona and Papine sugar plantations. Sights on the campus are the Hope plantage aqueduct build in 1758 and the university's chapel built from stones from the Gayle plantation in Falmouth.

Ward Theatre

The massive white and blue theatre building north of the William Grant Park is definitely an eyecatcher. The neoclassical building is the third theater building standing on this place and was gifted to the city by rum magnate Colonel Charles J. Ward in 1912. The theatre is a national heritage site and has more than 800 seats with its interior hardly changed since its inauguration. However, not much else has been renovated either, and the building is in a quite bad condition. The population of downtown do not really have a relationship to the cultural side of this building whereas the richer inhabitants avoid the surroundings at nighttime.

William Grant Park

Former parade ground with a colourful history. In 1694 a fortification was built on this place, with the guns aimed at the harbour. It was torn down in 1870 and the place was turned into a parade ground, named Victoria Park after the queen. A statue of Queen Victoria was placed here, in addition to a gallows. In 1977 the park got its current name, and the queen's statue was joined by statues of Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley. In the end of the 1980s the parade grounds were remodelled into a park.

People's Museum of Craft and Technology

A small museum with pottery, instruments, and farming tools used in Jamaica.

J$D100