Experience the best of Kingstown

Kingstown lies on a curved bay on the south-west coast of St Vincent, with green mountains rising behind it and a harbour where inter-island ferries and cargo boats dock. Fort Charlotte, a British fort of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, stands on a ridge above the town with old cannon facing the sea and views along the coast to the Grenadines. In the centre, St George's Anglican cathedral and St Mary's Roman Catholic cathedral, in a mix of styles, stand close together.

The Botanic Gardens, among the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, grow breadfruit trees from the plants Captain Bligh delivered in 1793. La Soufrière, an active volcano, rises at the island's northern end. The Falls of Baleine, a waterfall on the north coast reached by boat, and the black-sand beaches of the leeward coast show the island's volcanic character, and ferries cross to Bequia and the Grenadines.

Roast breadfruit with fried jackfish is the national dish, with callaloo soup, fresh fish from the market and biscuits made from arrowroot, a crop the island is known for. The dry months run from January to May, and the Vincy Mas carnival fills the streets from late June into July.