St Lucia

With its idyllic Caribbean setting, St Lucia has long been the playground of the jet set. But it’s not all plush villas, luxury yachts and swanky restaurants, it’s also an unpretentious place of tropical rainforests, unspoilt beaches, blue waters and a great international music festival. A tiny volcanic island, St Lucia is noted for its natural beauty and green swathes of rainforest (particularly to the centre and the south) are home to countless rare tropical plants and wildlife, meaning ecotourism tours and schemes have begun to take off in recent years.

Beautiful beaches are everywhere (although the warm western side is generally preferred). As a result of the strong Tradewinds that lick its coastline, there’s some great windsurfing and kite surfing, too. Despite being the port of call for the many cruise ships that visit the island, the capital, Castries, is mostly a pleasantly sleepy place, but not during the month of May, when the St Lucia Jazz Festival , which is steadily gaining an international reputation, erupts into life. With gorgeous sun-kissed beaches, marvellous diving, friendly people, an embarrassment of natural riches, music it’s not hard to see why St Lucia has for so long been the playground of the rich and famous, it’s one of the definitive Caribbean paradise islands.

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