Sights Overview

A mere 8 square mi (21 square km), St. Barths is a hilly island, with many sheltered inlets providing visitors with many opportunities to try out picturesque, quiet beaches. The town of Gustavia wraps itself neatly around a lilliputian harbor lined with impressive yachts and rustic fishing boats. Red-roofed bungalows dot the hillsides. Beaches run the gamut from calm to "surfable," from deserted to packed. The cuisine is tops in the Caribbean, part of the French savoir vivre that prevails throughout the island.

Longtime visitors speak wistfully of the old, quiet St. Barths. Development has quickened the pace of life here, that's true, but the island hasn't yet been overbuilt, and a 1982 ordinance limited new tourist lodgings to 12 rooms. The largest hotel -- the Guanahani -- has fewer than 100 rooms; the island's other rooms are divided among some 40 small hotels and guesthouses. About half the island's visitors stay in private villas. The tiny planes that arrive with regularity still land at the tidy airport only during daylight hours. And although "nightlife" usually means a leisurely dinner and a stargazing walk on the beach, something of a renaissance is under way, and a couple of hot new clubs might give you a reason to pack a pair of dancing shoes.

With a little practice, negotiating St. Barths' narrow, steep roads soon becomes fun. Free maps are everywhere, roads are well marked, and painted signs will point you where the tourist office has annotated maps with walking tours that highlight sights of interest. Starting in December 2005, some of the parking congestion on the island was alleviated by the St-Barth Shuttle, a fleet of four air-conditioned minibuses with round-trip routes between Gustavia, Flamands, Lorient, and Grand Cul de Sac. The round-trip ticket costs EUR 10.