St. Kitts and Nevis, like no other islands in the Caribbean, seem to embody a kind of lush tropical paradise usually associated with the South Pacific. The atmosphere here is palpably luxuriant, an intoxicating blend of sunlight, sea air and fantastically abundant vegetation. At the center of St. Kitts stands the spectacular, cloud-fringed peak of Mount Liamuiga (pronounced Lee-a-mweega), a dormant volcano covered by dense tropical forest. And on Nevis, too, the ground rises upward into a cloud forest filled with elusive green vervet monkeys and brilliant tropical flowers. For ecotourists, or simply anyone who enjoys stunning natural beauty, St. Kitts and Nevis cannot fail to exceed expectations. And yet nature is only a small part of the wonder of these small, relatively undiscovered destinations. Long ago, St. Kitts and Nevis were the pearls of the British Caribbean, rich and enormously important islands that were celebrated throughout Europe. Nevis, the "Queen of the Caribbees," possessed unimaginable wealth from its super-productive sugar industry, while on St. Kitts the impregnable fortress of Brimstone Hill stood as the Gibraltar of the West Indies. In this venerable history is plenty of romance as well, for it was on Nevis that the dashing young Horatio Nelson met, courted, and wedded Fanny Nisbet, all the while attending to the whirling social life of the island's prosperous plantation estates.
Today these islands are esteemed more for their long stretches of sugary sand than for their sugar cane. Basseterre and Charlestown, the islands' capitals, are among the most captivating and picturesque of the Caribbean's colonial harbour towns. The law here holds that no building here may be taller than the surrounding palm trees, and on both St. Kitts and Nevis natural preservation is a major value. Activities include outstanding hiking through the islands' rain forests, golfing on internationally ranked golf courses, fishing, boating and diving or snorkeling through underwater reefs and unexplored wrecks. There is also an exceptional wealth of historic points of interest, including restored fortresses, haunted plantations, and ancient petroglyphs. In the midst of all of these attractions are many of the finest and most welcoming plantation inns in the Caribbean. Still largely undiscovered, despite their extraordinary beauty, their remarkable history, and their unmatched charm, St. Kitts & Nevis offer a rare opportunity to visit the "Secret Caribbean."
Its French name simply means "lowland," a description that must have been scratched onto a French sea chart sometime during the late 1620s. In the 375 ensuing years there have been many Basseterres, for earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, fires, and invasions have all swept through this modest community. Set before the dramatic backdrop of St. Kitts' lush green hills, Basseterre today retains much of the elegant Georgian character of Nelson's days. The Treasury Building The domed colonial building that stands right on the waterfront is a reminder of the value of these islands as sugar colonies. It is the Treasury Building, or customs house, and through its arches passed virtually everything that arrived at or departed from St. Kitts, including until recently all visitors.
The Circus Today Basseterre's French heritage is not nearly so prominent as its British colonial past. The centerpiece of the city's evocative Georgian architecture is its Circus, a diminutive roundabout modeled in proper Victorian patriotism after Piccadilly, in London. In the middle of the Circus stands the bright green bronze of the Berkeley Memorial Clock, an ornate, cast iron tower with four clock faces and more than a little architectural decoration.
St. George's Anglican Church St. George's, though christened Notre Dame in 1670 by the French, was destroyed four times before it adopted its present, Georgian style in 1869. In the graveyard, however, are stones dating from as far back as the early 18th century.
Independence Square Built in 1790 for slave auctions and council meetings, this public square was officially named in 1983 to commemorate the independence of the island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis from Great Britain.
Old Road Bay It was here at Old Road Bay that Sir Thomas Warner, along with his family and 14 others, began the first permanent European settlement in the Leeward Islands. The settlers were at first on good terms with the island's Carib inhabitants, though such friendship lasted only a very few years. Rather than cultivating sugar, it was tobacco that had drawn Warner to the island, and it was the island's tobacco crop that first supported the settlement.
The Warner family estate served as the capital of St. Kitts until 1727, when it was moved to Basseterre. Outside of Old Road bay are found a number of interesting Carib petroglyphs.
Sandy Point
This second largest of St. Kitts' towns occupies the very spot on which Thomas Warner and his small party made landfall in 1623. During the 17th century Sandy Point was the center of the island's tobacco trade, and among Sandy Point's most fascinating sights are the large tobacco warehouses constructed during that time by the Dutch West India Company.
Frigate Bay Peninsula
Frigate Bay Peninsula stretches like the neck of an upturned wine bottle, connecting the main body of St. Kitts to the widened tip of the bottle's mouth at the Southeast Peninsula. One side of that neck--the dramatic windward beach at North Frigate Bay, is battered dramatically by the Atlantic surf. On the leeward side, the beach is met by the calm Caribbean waters of Frigate Bay.
For hundreds of years before European navigators arrived in the Caribbean, the island's Carib community lived on this beautiful site. Three years after the first European settlers arrived, the Caribs were all but annihilated at Bloody Point. At the edge of the estate, standing as mute witness to the island's ancient, pre-Columbian history, is a cluster of large boulders marked heavily with petroglyphic symbols and human figures. Liamuiga, or 'fertile land,' was the Carib name for the island; in the 1980s, that name was given to St. Kitts' central mountain, a lush, 3792-ft volcanic peak known during the colonial period as Mount Misery.
Southeast Peninsula
At the Southeast Peninsula the narrow neck of Frigate Bay Peninsula broadens to a wide, undulating plain that contains some of the island's most stunning natural features. There are nine unspoiled beaches and lagoons here, as well as the eye-popping pink salt pond--its color comes from its innumerable, miniscule krill shrimp. This protected wilderness area is also populated abundantly by tropical birds, as well as by white-tailed deer and black-faced vervet monkeys.
St. Thomas Church
In the yard of this modest church is the tomb of Sir Thomas Warner, the leading figure in the island's colonial history. The memorial itself is a fascinating object, replete with a finely engraved Elizabethan epitaph to the 'much lamented gent.' Warner, who earned his knighthood as a colonizer of St. Kitts and a number of other islands, died in 1648. St. Thomas is located in Middle Island, which followed upon the establishment of the island's plantations as St. Kitts' first European village.
A town with a colorful history, Charlestown was built on an area which could be protected by Fort Charles and Fort Black Rocks. It was the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, whose family home has been painstakingly reconstructed as a museum. The original, built in 1680, was destroyed during an earthquake in 1840. Most of the 18th century stone houses were destroyed during the relatively common earthquakes of the 1800's, which led to a practice of building wooden upper floors over a ground floor made of stone.
Charlestown is also the site of the oldest synagogue in the Caribbean. During the 1700's, 25% of the population were Sephardic Jews, who brought the latest in sugar cane growing and processing techniques to Nevis and the Leeward Islands, after being expelled from Brazil during the 17th century.
Charlestown's Market Place is the hub of activity on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, and the Cotton Ginnery close by, is active during cotton harvest time (March and April).
The Alexander Hamilton House Birthplace of the great American statesman Alexander Hamilton. The original house, built in 1680, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1840. There now stands on the site a carefully constructed replica. Inside is a fine museum, dedicated not only to Hamiltonian memorabilia but also to Nevisian history.
Hamilton, born on January 11, 1757, was the illegitimate son of Scotsman James Hamilton and Nevisian Rachael Fawcett Levine. Bright and enterprising, he was at seventeen sent to the North American colonies for education at King's College (now Columbia University) in New York. The young man soon became involved in politics, and with the outbreak of the Revolution he became a captain of artillery. In that capacity he attracted the attention of George Washington, whom he served as secretary and aide-de-camp. Hamilton was one of the original members of the continental congress in Philadelphia, and he was chosen as the first Secretary of the United States Treasury. A brilliant economist, Hamilton was largely responsible for the federalist financial policies of the new nation. His opposition to Aaron Burr during the Presidential contest of 1800 undoubtedly contributed to the election of Burr's rival, Thomas Jefferson; his renewed opposition to Burr in the 1804 campaign for the governorship of New York undoubtedly contributed to Burr's issuance of a challenge to duel. Hamilton accepted: the two met at Weehawken Heights, NJ, on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River, and Hamilton was fatally wounded.
Memorial Square This central civic space honors those Nevisians who served in World Wars I & II.
The Jewish Cemetery The Jewish Cemetery in Charlestown is a tangible reminder of a once vibrant community that existed on the island of Nevis. The cemetery contains gravestones that are engraved in English, Hebrew and Portuguese, dating from 1679 to 1768. Once constituting 25% of the island's population, the Sephardic Jews of Nevis brought to the island the secret of how to crystallize sugar, a technique that had been discovered and protected by the Portuguese and the Spanish. Expelled from Brazil during the 17th century, their arrival in Nevis helped to make the island the 'Queen of the Caribbees,' a title that referred primarily to its remarkable sugar production. A stone-walled path, known as the 'Jews Walk,' leads from the cemetery to the supposed site of the community's synagogue, which is believed to have been built in 1684.
Horatio Nelson Museum This captivating museum contains the largest collection of Nelson memorabilia in the West, and it offers a fascinating introduction to the island's Nelson heritage.
The beaches of the Southeast Peninsula were not reachable until very recently, with the construction of a small road. The area was previously accessible only to those with yachts--or very strong legs. Currently, there is carefully planned, low-key development of the area, continuing the St. Kitts and Nevis tradition of protecting and enhancing the environment, and of using natural assets wisely. These beaches have beautiful white sand, are exceptionally clean, and offer really phenomenal vistas of the tropical splendour of sister island Nevis. These undeveloped beaches include Turtle Beach, Sand Bank Bay, Friar's Bay South and many more. Travelling from Basseterre towards the South East Peninsula, Frigate Bay offers both calm Caribbean beaches ideal for swimming as well as Atlantic beaches perfect for body surfing.
On the northern end of St. Kitts are numerous gray volcanic sand beaches, worn from the black igneous rock which makes up the island. They are definitely worth a look, especially if you are used to more common white-sand beaches.
St. Kitts sister island Nevis is famous the world over for its miles-long, picture-perfect Pinney's Beach. Smooth, soft, sugar-fine white sands are punctuated by coconut palms; just behind the beach lies a uniquely South Pacific-like lagoon. Pinney's is never crowded, and the water, calm and shallow, is perfect for swimming or wading. Other Nevisian beaches include Oualie Beach in a sheltered cove perfect for swimming, windsurfing, sailing and kayaking, Cades Bay Beach, Nisbet beach and the intimate Lovers' Beach.
Tipping/Gratuities: Same as in the US--10% to 15%, depending on the service. Some restaurants and hotels will automatically add a 10% gratuity. If you are in doubt, do not feel uncomfortable asking. Usually, porters and bellhops receive 50 cents per bag, taxi drivers 10-15% of the fare.
Telephones: Calling the U.S. is easy from St. Kitts & Nevis. Most hotels offer USA Direct calling service, or they can connect you with a U.S. operator.
Taxes: St. Kitts & Nevis has a US$17.00 airport departure tax, an additional US$1.50 Environmental Levy and a room tax of 7% and service charge of 10%.
Television: Most hotels have 22 cable channels, including CNN, ESPN, the Disney Channel, premium movie channels and local stations.
Electricity: 230 volts, 60 cycles. Most hotels have 110 volts, and converters are available.
Drinking Water: Safe spring water comes from numerous volcanic springs.
Appropriate Attire: Beach attire is appropriate for the beach but not the town, shops or restaurants. Please refrain from short shorts, bikinis and bare chests in these places. Informal, but conservative, clothing is the standard.
Time Zone: Atlantic Standard Time, one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time and the same as Eastern Daylight Time.
Currency/Money: The official currency is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, which is fixed to the US dollar. Recent exchange rate was US$1.00 = EC$2.70. US currency, travelers checks and major credit cards are welcome everywhere.
Banks: Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays Bank PLC, Royal Bank of Canada, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Ltd., Bank of Nevis Ltd., Nevis Co-Operative Banking Co. Ltd. Banking hours are Monday through Thursday from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm and Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The St. Kitts & Nevis National Bank is also open from 8:30 am - 11:00 am on Saturdays.
Medical Facilities: St. Kitts & Nevis has doctors on call at hotels and a 24-hour Casualty Department. Recompression chambers are available by air ambulance at nearby Saba and in St. Thomas. Pharmaceutical services are widely available.
Passports and Immigration: U.S. and Canadian citizens need proof of citizenship: a passport, birth certificate or voters' registration card. U.S. residents need their green card. All others require a valid passport. A return or continuing ticket is also required.
Shopping Hours: Monday through Saturday 8:00 am to noon and 1:00 pm-4:00 pm. On Thursdays, most shops close for the afternoon.
Personal Safety: St. Kitts & Nevis are relatively crime free, but exercise normal precautions. For example, don't leave valuables unattended in rental cars or on the beach.
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forest. And on Nevis, too, the ground rises upward into a cloud forest filled with elusive green vervet monkeys and brilliant tropical flowers. For ecotourists, or simply anyone who enjoys stunning natural beauty, St. Kitts and Nevis cannot fail to exceed expectations. And yet nature is only a small part of the wonder of these small, relatively undiscovered destinations. Long ago, St. Kitts and Nevis were the pearls of the British Caribbean, rich and enormously important islands that were celebrated throughout Europe. Nevis, the "Queen of the Caribbees," possessed unimaginable wealth from its super-productive sugar industry, while on St. Kitts the impregnable fortress of Brimstone Hill stood as the Gibraltar of the West Indies. In this venerable history is plenty of romance as well, for it was on Nevis that the dashing young Horatio Nelson met, courted, and wedded Fanny Nisbet, all the while attending to the whirling social life of the island's prosperous plantation estates. 
recently all visitors.
Southeast Peninsula 
Birthplace of the great American statesman Alexander Hamilton. The original house, built in 1680, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1840. There now stands on the site a carefully constructed replica. Inside is a fine museum, dedicated not only to Hamiltonian memorabilia but also to Nevisian history. 
On the northern end of St. Kitts are numerous gray volcanic sand beaches, worn from the black igneous rock which makes up the island. They are definitely worth a look, especially if you are used to more common white-sand beaches. 
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