What does an Antigua all-inclusive holiday include, and what does it cost?
Seven nights at the Royalton Antigua Resort & Spa or similar with all-inclusive dining, premium drinks and activities and return UK flights. ATOL protection under licence 10713 applies and a £99 per person deposit holds it. September is the cheapest month and February the dearest. Transfers, excursions, spa treatments and travel insurance are not included. British passport holders need no visa and get up to 90 days, but an onward or return ticket is required at the border and your passport must be valid for six months.
Why is September the cheapest month?
Because it sits inside hurricane season, and that is the honest reason rather than a discount we negotiated.
GOV.UK states that the hurricane season in the Caribbean normally runs from June to November. September is the cheapest month on the holiday and falls in the middle of that window; October is second cheapest and also inside it.
That is not a reason to rule September out. Most September holidays in Antigua pass without incident and the island is quieter for it. It is a reason to know what the low price represents before you book it.
May is the month we would put you in. It is the cheapest month on the holiday outside hurricane season entirely, and it lands in Antigua’s dry season. Everything cheaper is inside the season; everything else outside it costs more.
Antigua is also drier than most of its neighbours year-round, which slightly softens the seasonal argument — but it does not move the island out of the Atlantic basin.
What star rating is the hotel?
The package names the Royalton Antigua Resort & Spa at 5★. Both cannot be right.
We confirm the rating, and the resort, in writing before you pay anything beyond the deposit. Ask when you enquire. We would rather show you a contradiction we have not yet resolved than quietly pick the more flattering number.
What is Antigua actually like?
The beaches are the product, and unlike some islands the reputation holds up. Antigua claims a beach for every day of the year, and while nobody has counted them, the point stands — they are white, numerous and genuinely among the best in the Caribbean.
Dickenson Bay on the north-west coast is the busiest and most developed of them, with watersports and beach bars, and it is the one most resort guests will spend their week on.
Nelson’s Dockyard and English Harbour in the south are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most interesting thing on the island that is not a beach — a restored Georgian naval dockyard still in use as a working marina.
Sailing is the island’s real culture. Antigua Sailing Week is one of the significant regattas in the Caribbean calendar, and the harbours are full of boats year-round in a way its neighbours are not.
The interior is modest. Antigua is comparatively flat and dry, without St Lucia’s rainforest or mountains. That is precisely why the beaches are what they are, but it means less to do inland.
Shirley Heights above English Harbour is the one view everyone photographs, looking down over the two harbours, and its Sunday evening barbecue with steel band and reggae is an island institution rather than a tourist invention.
St John’s, the capital, is a working port city with a cathedral, a market and cruise berths. It is busiest when ships are in, and quiet and fairly ordinary when they are not.
Barbuda, the smaller sister island, is reachable by boat and has pink sand beaches that are emptier than anything on Antigua itself. It was badly damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and has been rebuilding since. Day trips are arranged separately and are not part of the package.
Is all-inclusive the right choice here?
For most people on a week’s holiday, yes — with one caveat worth stating.
The board on the holiday is confirmed as all-inclusive covering dining, premium drinks and activities. The package also specifies non-motorised water sports among its highlights.
The caveat is that Antigua has a genuinely good eating-out scene around English Harbour and Jolly Harbour, built around the sailing crowd rather than around tourists. An all-inclusive board plus a flat island with cheap taxis makes leaving the resort easy, and it is worth doing at least twice.
Antigua is small enough to circle in a day, roughly fourteen miles across, so no beach is more than about an hour from your resort. A hire car for one day opens up the whole island in a way it would not on a larger one.
Sunday at Shirley Heights is the island’s fixed social event — a barbecue with steel band and reggae above English Harbour, looking down over both bays at sunset. It is an institution locals attend rather than a staged attraction.
What changes your price?
- The month. September at its cheapest against February at its dearest.
- Travelling inside or outside hurricane season, which accounts for most of that spread.
- Departure airport. The package lists return UK flights; any supplement for a regional departure is confirmed at enquiry.
- Room category. The lead-in is a standard room; sea-view, swim-up and suite categories are quoted separately.
- Cabin. A long transatlantic sector, where premium cabins change the total substantially.
Who this holiday suits
- Anyone whose priority is the beach itself — Antigua’s are as good as the Caribbean gets.
- Couples and families who want a straightforward week of sun rather than an itinerary.
- Sailors, or anyone who enjoys being around boats and harbours.
- Travellers who want history within reach — Nelson’s Dockyard is a genuine one.
- People who can travel in May, when price and weather both work.
Travelling in January? Our Caribbean in January guide compares Antigua with Barbados, St Lucia and Jamaica on official January weather averages and January prices.
Who might prefer something else
- Want mountains, rainforest and dramatic scenery? St Lucia has all of it and runs the same seven nights.
- If budget decides, our Jamaica all-inclusive starts at £1,599 per person and gives you eight nights rather than seven.
- Want a lively resort strip and nightlife? Antigua is quieter than Jamaica’s resort towns.
- If hurricane season is a dealbreaker and May and December do not work, consider somewhere outside the Atlantic basin.
- If none of these is quite right, start from our wider selection of beach holidays.
- Something similar? Our 7 Nights Barbados All-Inclusive Escape is the closest thing we sell to this one.
Ways to upgrade
All quoted at enquiry against your dates.
- A sea-view, swim-up or suite room category
- Premium economy or business class on the transatlantic sector
- Airport transfers, which are not included
- A honeymoon or anniversary arrangement, requested with the hotel
- A day’s sailing or a catamaran circumnavigation of the island
- Extra nights, or a night in the English Harbour area
What is not included?
- Airport transfers, though Antigua is small and flat so the drive is rarely long.
- Excursions, including boat trips, Nelson’s Dockyard and any island tour.
- Motorised water sports, where the package specifies non-motorised only.
- Spa treatments, which no all-inclusive board covers.
- Travel insurance, which on these dates should cover weather disruption specifically.
How do you get there?
The package lists return UK flights, and any supplement for a regional departure is confirmed at enquiry rather than promised here.
Transfers are not included, but Antigua is small and comparatively flat, so the drive from the airport to most resorts is short by Caribbean standards — considerably easier than St Lucia’s mountain roads.
Antigua is four hours behind the UK in winter and five during British Summer Time. The outbound is a long day and the return is usually overnight, which is the standard transatlantic pattern.
Entry requirements for UK travellers
Checked against GOV.UK foreign travel advice on 17 September 2026.
British passport holders need no visa and are granted up to 90 days. Your passport must be valid for six months beyond arrival, which is stricter than St Lucia’s rule.
An onward or return ticket is required — this is stated explicitly rather than left to discretion, so have your return booking accessible at the border.
ArriveAntigua.com is optional, not mandatory. It only works on a phone or tablet and only within 72 hours of travel. Plenty of sources describe it as required; GOV.UK does not.
Practicalities worth knowing
Hurricane season means monitoring, not avoiding. Between June and November, follow local news and weather reports and know your resort’s procedure.
Antigua is dry. It has less rainfall than most of its neighbours, which is why the vegetation is scrubbier and the beaches better. Water conservation is a real local issue rather than a token one.
The currency is the East Caribbean dollar, pegged to the US dollar, and US dollars are widely accepted. Cards work in resorts; smaller places are cash.
Driving is on the left, and the island is small enough that a hire car for a day or two genuinely opens it up — flat roads and short distances, unlike the mountainous islands.
Sunday is quiet. Antigua is a churchgoing island and much of it closes. Build a Sunday around a beach rather than around shops.
Booking and protection
Your booking is covered by our ATOL licence 10713 and we hold IATA accreditation 91285611. It is held with a deposit of £99 per person, with the balance due before travel.
Prices are per person, based on two people sharing. September is the cheapest month and it is inside hurricane season. May is the cheapest month outside it. Ask us to confirm the hotel’s star rating in writing when you enquire.
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