St Lucia holidays

GMT -4 hours

English and Creole

East Caribbean dollar

Castries
See the scenic yacht basin, browse the ultra-modern Pointe Seraphine duty-free shopping complex and peruse market for island produce. Visit picturesque Derek Walcott Square, the cathedral and Government House.

Pigeon Island Museum
Trace the island’s inhabitants from Amerindians to pirates to whaling men and watch a multimedia show recreating the 1782 Battle of the Saintes.

Soufrière
This typically West Indian town nestles just under the twin mountains and is dotted with brightly painted arcaded buildings.

Diamond Mineral Baths
These sulphurous springs were discovered by the French and Louis XVI’s doctors said the water was beneficial. Take a dip for a small fee.

Sulphur Springs
Visit the world’s only drive-in volcano. See the steaming crater and be led over hot stones and through the noxious sulphur gases to an untouchable black pit.

Moule à Chique cape
A picturesque lighthouse stands on this cape. On a clear day the view is spectacular, Out to sea, you’ll glimpse the island of St Vincent and inland you’ll see the Pitons.

•   A couple of shops in Castries and at the Pointe Seraphine duty-free shopping complex sell colourful print and batik sportswear for women.
•   The better hotels boast boutiques selling clothes and souvenirs.
•   Take home the heady scent of tropical flowers with locally blended perfume.
•   Dolls, stamps and shell necklaces are sold everywhere, as well as beaded jewellery, carved wooden objects and straw and sisal articles.

9 hours

•   'Accras' are a popular first course of lightly fried herbed codfish balls in a piquant sauce.
•   Delicious, filling soups are made from local ingredients such as breadfruit, pumpkin and groundnut.
•   'Pepperpot' is a tasty mix of pork, beef and casareep - an aromatic blend of grated cassava, cinnamon and brown sugar.
•   'Lambi' is chewy conch meat and can be found all over St Lucia.
•   Langouste, the Caribbean lobster, is delicious either grilled with melted butter or cold with herb-flavoured mayonnaise.
•   For dessert, try fresh banana cake and home-made coconut, mango and pineapple ice-cream.

Dialling code
+1 758

17th century
In the early 1600s a group of Englishmen tried to set up a permanent colony but were thwarted by CaribIndians. Efforts by the British and French to colonise the island are unsuccessful until the second half of the century.
18th century
Beautiful and strategically placed, St Lucia changes hands between the British and French several times. In 1765, under the French, the first sugar plantation is started and small towns spring up. But as the repercussions of the American and French revolutions spread to the West Indies, the battle between French and British for Caribbean supremacy intensifies.
19th century
The Treaty of Amiens awards St Lucia to France in 1802. The last transfer of power at the end of the Napoleonic Wars leaves St Lucia in British hands. The 19th century is a largely peaceful era of coconut, sugar cane, coffee and cotton plantations. Slaves are emancipated in 1836.
20th century–present
St Lucia heads gradually towards full self-government, finally granted by the West Indies Act of 1967. After a period of mild instability caused by a tug-of-war between the leading political parties, the island, independent since 1979, returns to its usual state of calm.