Castries, LC

Waterside restaurant at Vigie Marina overlooking Castries harbour — French-Caribbean menu, fresh seafood, the city's most romantic dinner room. Long-established family-run institution.

Open-walled restaurant at Ladera Resort with the Pitons framed in the dining room — modern Caribbean cooking using local farm ingredients, the most photographed table in St Lucia.

Tiny family-run Soufriere restaurant doing home-cooked Creole — grilled fish, stew chicken, peas and rice. Lunch only most days, the proper local meal near the Pitons.

Chef Orlando Satchell's Soufriere restaurant doing a set tasting menu of local ingredients — fish, root vegetables, fruits — in a tiny dining room. The under-the-radar serious meal in Soufriere.

Beach bar and restaurant inside Pigeon Island National Park — pirate-themed timber room, local fish dishes, the only place to eat inside the park. Lunch through early evening.

Rodney Bay seafood restaurant in a colonial-style room with garden seating — fresh local fish, lobster in season, a tighter wine list than the resort restaurants. The Rodney Bay nicer dinner.

Casual Rodney Bay beach restaurant doing burgers, fish-and-chips, grills — feet-in-sand dining, walk-in friendly, the easy lunch on Reduit Beach.

Restaurant at the Hotel Chocolat resort on the slopes above Soufriere — cacao-themed menu where chocolate features in every course, sometimes prominently. The novelty location with surprisingly good cooking.

Restaurant in a restored 19th-century plantation house in the hills above Castries — Creole-Caribbean menu, hilltop terrace with the city below. The lunch destination with a view.

All-day cafe on the south side of Marigot Bay — eggs, smoothies, sandwiches, a tight lunch menu and the best coffee in the area. The cross-the-bay-by-ferry brunch.

Restaurant at the small boutique hotel on the south side of Marigot Bay — Caribbean menu, swim-up bar, calm-water setting. The romantic dinner at Marigot.

Guided 4-hour return hike to the summit of Gros Piton (770m) — steep, rocky, jungle most of the way with one ladder-supported scramble. The country's defining hike.

Easy 45-minute looped guided walk through a working farm and indigenous forest with the 'Stairway to Heaven' viewpoint where both Pitons are framed. The view-without-the-climb option.

Marked walking trails inside Pigeon Island National Park — Fort Rodney summit, the gallows of Signal Hill, the two pocket beaches. Two to four hours depending on the route.

Half-day guided hike through the cloud-forest interior of St Lucia — endemic birds (St Lucia parrot if you're lucky), giant ferns, the heart of the country's protected forest.

Snorkelling trail along the protected reef at Anse Chastanet — buoyed lanes, marked species, a working coral nursery in shallow water. The best shore-access snorkel in the country.

Mineral mud bath in the geothermal pools just outside Sulphur Springs Park — visitors smear themselves with sulphur mud, let it dry, then rinse under a hot waterfall. Strange, slightly stinky, a Soufriere ritual.

Botanical gardens in Soufriere with the multi-coloured Diamond Falls — mineral-rich water that stains the rock face in oranges, yellows, greens. Plus historic mineral baths used by French troops in the 1700s.

Catamaran cruises from Castries or Rodney Bay along the west coast with sunset stops near the Pitons — open bar, light dinner, the lazy way to see the country's coast.

Annual May jazz festival at Pigeon Island and multiple Castries venues — international artists, local jazz, food stalls. The country's biggest cultural event of the year.

Weekly Friday-night street party in the fishing village of Gros Islet — street food, sound systems, dancing, ad-hoc bars in every doorway. The country's defining weekly party.

Walk up Fort Rodney inside Pigeon Island National Park for the country's best sunset over Rodney Bay. The free alternative to expensive sunset cruises.

Twin volcanic spires rising 770 metres straight from the sea — Gros Piton and Petit Piton, UNESCO-listed in 2004 and the icon of St Lucia. Gros Piton has a marked guided hike; Petit Piton is for experienced scramblers only.

Caribbean's only drive-in volcano — bubbling mud pots, sulphur springs and a nearby black-mud spa where visitors smear themselves with mineral mud before rinsing in a hot waterfall. Strange and slightly stinky.

Sheltered inlet rated by James Michener as the most beautiful bay in the Caribbean — yacht marina, jungle slopes, restaurants on both sides. Ferry across between the two banks.

Historic French colonial town in the shadow of the Pitons — narrow streets of timber houses, the cathedral, the working-fish-market waterfront. The cultural counter-point to the resort strip.

Fifty-foot waterfall in a botanic-garden setting east of Soufriere — pool deep enough to swim, surrounded by tropical garden plantings. Easier than Diamond Falls and prettier than most.

Black-volcanic-sand beach at Anse Chastanet Resort north of Soufriere — Petit Piton looming above, coral reef right off the sand, the country's best shore-access snorkel.

Mile-long crescent of golden sand at Rodney Bay, the most-developed beach strip on the island. Resorts at the south end, more local feel at the north. Calm water year-round.

Historic peninsula linked to the mainland by a causeway — Fort Rodney ruins on the high ground, two pocket beaches, walking trails, the country's best sunset. UNESCO-listed in the wider sense.

Saturday-morning fruit and craft market in central Castries — tropical fruits, spice blends, Creole street food. The capital's defining outdoor space.