Special treat: The Cap Maison is a luxury hotel with a memorable clifftop location, Spanish Caribbean style and a serious pricetag. Rooms from £330. Read a full expert review: http://bit.ly/11PZCSN
Mid-range: Bay Gardens Beach Resort is the most appealing, affordable place to stay in Rodney Bay Village, set next to the best beach on St Lucia. Rooms from £131. Read a review: http://bit.ly/UVacYZ
On a budget: Coco Palm is very good-value hotel with high quality rooms and a vast swimming pool in the heart of Rodney Bay Village. Rooms from £69. Read a full review http://bit.ly/11GMCDF.
If your flight is on schedule, you may make it up to Rodney Bay Village in time for a dip off the long golden sands of Reduit Beach. More beaches in St Lucia http://bit.ly/v22xBd.
For supper, head to Flavours of the Grill (001 758 284 7906). This modest but colourful and friendly restaurant serves excellent, cheap Caribbean fare (main courses £6 to £9) http://bit.ly/VGOZVo.
Castries, St Lucia’s bustling capital, is not the Caribbean’s prettiest town, but it has a great market. Stalls are piled high with exotic, island-grown fruit and veg (Saturday mornings are busiest).
Drive on down to Marigot Bay, one of the most sheltered, and beautiful, natural harbours in the Caribbean. The only way to reach the beach is by boat; a little ferry makes the two-minute crossing.
The best, inexpensive lunch stop in Soufrière is Martha’s Tables (001 758 459 7270; marthastables.com), serving big portions of Martha’s home-cooked Creole dishes (around £8 for main courses).
The road past Martha’s Tables leads to Anse des Pitons. There’s an ultra-stylish hotel here called Sugar Beach, a Viceroy Resort (Gwyneth Paltrow stayed recently).
Dine at Boucan (001 758 457 1624; thehotelchocolat.com). The trendy-looking restaurant offers delicious dishes that include cocoa in some form. Main courses from £15 to £23. http://bit.ly/VGOZVo
This national park is dotted with ruined military fortifications dating from colonial times. Climb to the summit of the fort for panoramic views and swim off one of the island’s idyllic sandy coves.
Treat yourself to lunch at The Cliff at Cap (001 758 457 8681; thecliffatcap.com). Cap Maison’s smart, open-air, clifftop restaurant does interesting, tapas-sized dishes (£4 to £10 each) at lunchtime.
