3 Best Sights in Fort George, Belize City

This small but fascinating museum, under the aegis of the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH), was Her (or His) Majesty's Prison from 1857 to 1993. Permanent displays include ancient jade and other Maya artifacts; medicinal, ink, and alcoholic-beverage bottles dating from the 17th century; Belize and British Honduran coins and colorful postage stamps; and an actual prison cell. Temporary exhibitions change periodically.

Your stop for snapping a “Look where I am!” photo to post on Facebook or Instagram could be these large block letters by the shore that spell out BELIZE. Each colorful letter is a painted mural unto itself. Early morning sees the fewest visitors and the best opportunity for you and/or your traveling companions to get the shot you want. (You'll see people stand atop the two Es. We don’t recommend that.)

Towering 49 feet (15 m) over the entrance to Belize Harbor, the lighthouse stands guard on the tip of Fort George Point. It was designed and funded by one of the country's greatest benefactors, Baron Henry Edward Ernest Victor Bliss. The English nobleman never actually set foot on the Belizean mainland, though in his yacht he visited the waters offshore. In his will he bequeathed most of his fortune to the people of British Honduras, and the date of his death, March 9, is celebrated as a national holiday, now officially called National Heroes and Benefactors Day. Bliss is buried here, in a small, low mausoleum perched on the seawall, up a short run of limestone steps. The lighthouse and mausoleum are for photo ops only—you can't enter.