Idyllic Grenada

published 9 October 2008

The tiny Caribbean island of Grenada is "ideally proportioned for the lazy traveller", says Vincent Crump in the Sunday Times. Just 20 miles long and 12 miles wide, it contains plenty of "visitor attractions", but you can cover them in a day, so they can always be put off until tomorrow. The rest of the time can be spent lazing on gorgeous beaches, or around well-equipped resort hotels that are "one-stop shops for the absolute sloth". Hurricane Ivan tore catastrophically through all this only four years ago, but the islanders adopted the philosophy "build back better", and have already made good the damage. Today, the only visible reminder of the devastation is an eponymous cocktail – a mean rum concoction.

The capital is St George's, a "tumbledown and rather charming" city with "a vintage Victorian wharf staked out with cannons, and mazy streets that squiggle steeply down to the market square". Travel around the coast, and you'll come to the "ramshackle" River Antoine rum distillery, which is still powered by its 1785 waterwheel. Alternatively, head inland into the rainforested volcanic hills of the Grand Etang National Park, which rise to almost 3,000ft. There, you can swim beneath waterfalls and bathe in hot springs. But nowhere on this island are you far from the seaside idyll. Even the airport is only a five-minute stroll to Magazine Beach, with its "spotless sand, big pink boulders and flying fish flashing above the waves".