Qué hacer en Santa Lucía

St Lucia's twin peaks, Gros Piton and Petit Piton, rise straight from the sea near Soufrière and are listed by UNESCO. Nearby are the Sulphur Springs, a volcanic crater with bubbling pools, and the Diamond Falls gardens. Castries, the capital, sits around a deep harbour in the north-west, with a cathedral, Derek Walcott Square and a central market.

In the north, Rodney Bay has a marina and beach, Gros Islet hosts a weekly Friday-night street party, and Pigeon Island National Landmark has old forts on a hilltop joined to the shore. Cap Estate is a quiet headland, Choc Bay a beach north of Castries, and Marigot Bay a sheltered, palm-fringed cove, while Vieux Fort at the southern tip has a long beach popular with kitesurfers.

Green fig and saltfish, boiled green bananas with salted cod, is the national dish, and bakes, callaloo soup and fresh fish are common. Cacao is grown on estates, and local chocolate and rum are made. Two Nobel laureates, the poet Derek Walcott and the economist Arthur Lewis, were born here. Carnival comes in July, and the dry season runs from January to April.