St. Kitts Railway or Royston island tour?

1st timer in St. Kitts - Have heard much good about both. Which should I select? Here are the Royston tour details:

you would circle the island clockwise starting on the Caribbean side touring Basseterre then working around to the Atlantic stopping at Romney Manor, Caribelle Batik, Brimstone Hill Fortress, Dieppe Bay point, Black Rocks, Timothy hill and a few other scenic places. the island tour is about 5 hours then have lunch at a beach (south friars) on the peninsula where you can then have some beach / snorkel time if you like before heading back.

We did the tour with Royston in December and it was fantastic. It's very personalized and he takes you places you won't get to on the railway.

thanks

I really enjoyed the train the two times I did it, but if you want to see things like Caribelle Batik, Romney Gardens, and Brimstone Hill, you might want to do the Royston tour rather than trying to do a morning tour including those things and the afternoon on the train. When I did both in one day, we were REALLY rushed at Brimstone Hill (I'm an archaeology/history buff so while the stop wasn't long enough for me, it might have been enough for others) and we had such a short time at Caribelle/Romney that you pretty much had to do one or the other. Not enough time to do the batik shop justice AND see the gardens. AND I had to run...literally...through Basseterre after the morning tour to get to my favorite shop there and make it back in time for the train trip.

You might also look into doing a tour with Clay Villa Plantation.

We enjoyed the heck out of our Royston tour and never felt rushed. At one point, we saw the train going by on the track and thought, "How boring!" From our windowless van with 6 passengers and a cooler full or Caribe beer and local sodas, the train seemed very tame.

royston without a doubt!!! we had a blast with him! with his tour you see things you wouldn't see otherwise from the train and you get to get out and stretch your legs.

Be sure you have enough time to do everything on Royston's tour. We were in port from 7:00 - 3:00. We met at 8:00, toured the island and got to the last stop at the beach and had lunch. One couple wanted to go back to port for a little shopping, so he took them back and then came back to the beach for the rest of the people on the tour. On the way back, we got stuck behind a semi trying to go down a steep grade with sharp turns. It really slowed us down. Royston ended up cutting through neighborhoods to get us back to the pier on time. We were back on the ship at 2:40 with a 2:45 deadline. Needless to say, the ride back was tense. In hind sight, we should have started earlier and/or skipped the beach.

We've done both. As CntPAcruiser said, the train we pretty tame. It was an enjoyable ride around the island. All you do is just sit and watch the scenery. You do get a complimentary cd at the end.

Royston will take you off the beaten track. We stopped by the black cliffs and he drove in a field by some donkeys and handed us sugar cane where we feed the donkeys. We went WAY up Timothy Hill and thought we were going to fall off the edge. But the views were outstanding. It is an all day tour and we got back to the port with little time to spare for shopping. The port area is very nice and I wanted to spend some time browsing in the shops.

We are planning on going back on the Valor next Feb and I just want to go back up to the Fort and the Batik store and then have some time to browse the stores.

You will not be disappointed if you book with Royston. We even stopped by his house to say hi to his dad.

Royston...no question. You will see SO MUCH more! He's GREAT!

Be sure you have enough time to do everything on Royston's tour. We were in port from 7:00 - 3:00. We met at 8:00, toured the island and got to the last stop at the beach and had lunch. One couple wanted to go back to port for a little shopping, so he took them back and then came back to the beach for the rest of the people on the tour. On the way back, we got stuck behind a semi trying to go down a steep grade with sharp turns. It really slowed us down. Royston ended up cutting through neighborhoods to get us back to the pier on time. We were back on the ship at 2:40 with a 2:45 deadline. Needless to say, the ride back was tense. In hind sight, we should have started earlier and/or skipped the beach.

This is exactly why I am terrified to do a tour not ship sponsored.:o

Kerri