Much of St Lucia is mountainous and covered in a blanket of thick rainforest, and the south-west corner has arguably the most arresting sight in the whole Caribbean: of the green and precipitous volcanic cones of the Petit Piton and Gros Piton rising out of a blue ocean. That is not to say that St Lucia doesn’t have some lovely beaches – they are golden in the north, and mostly silvery in the volcanic south. It’s just that they are rather outshone by the island’s other natural assets.
St Lucia is also as good a choice as anywhere in the Caribbean for secluded, upmarket, romantic places to stay. Your hotel room might have an outdoor garden shower, a private plunge pool, a hammock for two on its balcony, and a view of the thrusting Pitons. Nature and fertility will be all around you, and wherever you go you trip over wedding ceremonies and loved-up honeymooning couples.
That said, a week on St Lucia doesn’t have to be all about candlelit meals for two every night. There are also good family-oriented hotels, and you can party the night away in Rodney Bay Village, the island’s only resort.