The perfect blend of beauty and majesty, Saint Lucia enchants anyone lucky enough to venture onto her sun-kissed shores. Her welcoming waves, beautiful beaches and hospitable locals are what make people eager to visit, and reluctant to leave. The island embodies an adventurous spirit that excites and inspires.

Culturally, Saint Lucia is an intoxicating melange of English, French and African influences, tangible in everything from the exotic markets in the capital, Castries, to the lilting rhythms of Kweyol, the French creole spoken by the locals. Reminders of Saint Lucia’s colonial past can be found in the fortifications at Pigeon Island, while the ‘drive-in’ volcano at Soufrière in the south offers up clues to a more ancient history, when Saint Lucia’s otherworldly landscape, dominated by the towering Piton mountains, was hewn from molten rock. The volcanic nature of the island also means that some of the beaches on Saint Lucia are darker in colour than the classic Caribbean picture postcard, so make sure you let us know if you want to stay somewhere with guaranteed white sand.

Eating and drinking here is a real treat, whether you’re sampling haute cuisine at the hotel restaurants, tucking into tasty street food or enjoying a rum and coke at a local bar. Saint Lucians love to party too – for a slightly sanitised experience, try the Jazz & Arts Festival in May, or for the real deal, head down to Gros Islet on a Friday night and dance with the locals and the yachties to the thundering sound systems set up on the street corner. A word of warning, go easy on the rum punches - they’re strong!