St Kitts
Few Caribbean islands manage to feel as unspoiled as St Kitts. The smaller and quieter of the two-island federation it shares with neighbouring Nevis, it has so far escaped the mass-market development that has reshaped much of the region, and is all the better for it.
The island is dominated by the brooding, cloud-wreathed peak of Mount Liamuiga, a dormant volcano whose slopes are clothed in lush rainforest. A scenic railway, once built to carry sugar cane, now loops around the coast and offers one of the most relaxed ways to take in the scenery, while the beaches range from golden stretches on the south-east peninsula to dramatic black volcanic sand on the Caribbean side.
History is never far away here. Brimstone Hill Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Gibraltar of the West Indies, rises high above the sea and rewards the climb with sweeping views across to St Eustatius and Saba. Down in the capital, Basseterre, the colonial architecture around The Circus and Independence Square is a pleasure to wander, and the welcome from Kittitians is as warm as the sunshine.
For all its history and natural drama, St Kitts remains beautifully laid-back. This is an island for slowing down, swimming in calm turquoise water, and remembering what the Caribbean was like before the crowds arrived.
