Experience the best of Suva

Suva spreads across a peninsula on the south-east coast of Viti Levu, between Suva Harbour and Laucala Bay. It became the capital in the 1880s, and its centre still has white Edwardian buildings, the Government Buildings and the green sweep of Albert Park, where Charles Kingsford Smith landed the Southern Cross on his Pacific flight in 1928.

The Fiji Museum in Thurston Gardens holds war canoes, carvings and the story of the islands' peoples. The Municipal Market is the city's heart, piled high with root crops, fruit and bundles of kava roots. In the hills above, Colo-i-Suva Forest Park has rainforest paths and swimming holes, and the Rewa River delta lies to the east. The University of the South Pacific has its main campus here, giving the city a student feel.

Suva is wetter than the west of Viti Levu, with rain in any month, so the hills stay green. Curry houses and cafés line Victoria Parade, alongside restaurants serving fresh fish, kokoda and roti. Strolling is easiest in the drier months of the middle of the year.