The Best Sight in St. Kitts, St. Kitts and Nevis

Background Illustration for Sights

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 underway, including the Kittitian Hill and Christophe Harbour megadevelopments. The 6-furlong Belmont Park racetrack and state-of-the-art stables opened in 2009 but, despite the exciting equine environment that lured as many as 9,000 spectators, has closed indefinitely, its planned entertainment complex, with an upscale restaurant as well as polo grounds, go-karts, a retail complex, and bird and butterfly parks, on hold.

Black Rocks

This series of lava deposits was spat into the sea ages ago when the island's volcano erupted. It has since been molded into fanciful shapes by centuries of pounding surf, and it's a magical place to see where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean. The government has added much-needed railings and viewing platforms as well as a collection of colorful, faux chattel houses that double as crafts and food stalls.

Atlantic coast, outside town of Sadlers, Sandy Bay, St. Kitts and Nevis

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