Antigua is blessed with an abundance of fine white-sand beaches, but only in the southwest of the island, where a ridge of rainforest-covered hills rises abruptly from the patchwork of farmland, is the scenery grand and lushly tropical. Secluded behind this barrier, the nearby coastline has remained blissfully unspoiled. The country’s capital, St. John’s, is an uninteresting place much frequented by large cruise ships. But English Harbour in the south of the island is extremely pretty and is the site of Nelson’s Dockyard, a restored colonial naval station that contains an array of 18th-century neoclassical buildings. The highlight of the year is Antigua Sailing Week at the end of April.

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