Sights & Attractions in St. Kitts

You can explore Basseterre, the capital city, in a half hour or so, and should allow four hours for an island tour. Main Road traces the northwestern perimeter of the island through seas of sugarcane and past breadfruit trees and stone walls. Villages with tiny pastel-color houses of stone and weathered wood are scattered across the island, and the drive back to Basseterre around the island's other side passes through several of them. The most spectacular stretch of scenery is on Dr. Kennedy Simmonds Highway, which goes to the tip of the Southeast Peninsula. This modern road twists and turns through the undeveloped grassy hills that rise between the calm Caribbean and the windswept Atlantic, passing the shimmering pink Great Salt Pond, a volcanic crater, and seductive beaches. Major developments are under way, including the Beaumont Park Racetrack near Dieppe Bay. The 6-furlong racetrack and state-of-the-art stables opened in December 2009. Cards include some stakes races with horses from as far afield as France and Ireland competing; admission and parking are free; up to 9,000 spectators converge on the site, enhancing the exciting equine environment. At this writing an entertainment complex with an upscale restaurant as well as polo grounds, go-karts, a retail complex, and bird and butterfly parks are slated to follow by late 2012.