Beach scene with a veiw of some of Nevis' natural splendor.

Two Island Paradise

Tiny Nation Of Nevis Rimmed By Caribbean, Atlantic Shorelines

Walk onto the veranda of your cottage and listen to monkeys chattering in the trees, to doves cooing in the distance. Hummingbirds flit about lush green landscapes emblazoned with vivid blooms of hibiscus and bougainvillea.

On the quiet island of Nevis, iridescent butterflies flutter in rainforests where orchids and bromeliads strangle mahogany trees. Uncrowded beaches rim Caribbean and Atlantic shorelines fringed with coconut palms. The glories of nature are all around. Discriminating travelers seeking a true tropical hideaway come to tiny Nevis for serenity. Besides natural beauty, they find friendliness and old-fashioned charm in a rural retreat that mirrors the Caribbean as it used to be.

Though the two-island nation of St. Kitts & Nevis gained its independence from Great Britain in 1983, British traditions still rule. Motorists drive on the left, the sport of cricket is wildly popular and colonial architecture has been lovingly preserved. Most of the leading resorts on Nevis occupy former sugar plantations that made the island an economic powerhouse in the 17th century. As the producer of the Eastern Caribbean's richest sugar and a social center for wealthy British entrepreneurs, Nevis came to be known as the "Queen of the Caribees". Most Nevisians are descendants of African slaves who worked the cane fields. (The last sugar mill ceased operation in 1958.)

Nevis, a short ferry trip across the channel from larger St. Kitts, is the sleepier of the two islands and more exclusive. Its upscale clientele eschews mass tourism and doesn't mind the extra effort it takes to get there. American Eagle offers daily flights to Nevis from San Juan, Puerto Rico, one of the Caribbean's major air hubs.

Just eight miles long by six miles wide, Nevis rises 3,200 feet from the sea to the top of Mount Nevis, a dark-green volcanic peak usually cloaked in white clouds, thus appearing to be snow-capped. Christopher Columbus discovered Nevis in 1493, and named it "Nuestra Senora de las Nieves", which in Spanish means "Our Lady of the Snows". Over the years the name was simplified to Nevis (pronounced "NEE-vis").

Charlestown, home to 1,200 of the island's 11,000 residents, is a classic West Indies port brimming with movie-set potential. Dainty gingerbread fretwork trims the unique skirt-and-blouse buildings, their ground floors of stone topped by a wooden upper level. You won't find a single traffic light in town "nor anywhere on Nevis" but you may see goats ambling through the streets. The town looks busy only when the ferry from St. Kitts arrives in the harbor.

Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. treasury secretary (pictured on our $10 bills), was born in Charlestown in 1755 and lived there as a young boy. A reconstruction of his Georgian-style birthplace houses the Museum of Nevis History.

Outside of Charlestown, the Horatio Nelson Museum spotlights the British naval hero renowned for his victory over Napoleon's forces in Spain at the Battle of Trafalgar. While stationed in Nevis earlier in his military career, he met Fanny Nisbet, a refined widow who ran the grand Montpelier estate, where they married in 1787 with the future king of England, Prince William Henry IV, standing in as Fanny's father and giving her away. (Princess Diana in 1993 stayed at Montpelier Plantation Inn, a posh resort.)

In Bath Village, not far from the Nelson Museum, you can soak in the hot springs on the site of a spa hotel that brought tourists to Nevis in the late 1700s. Visitors and residents alike take the sulfurous waters (104 to 108 degrees), which are thought to have therapeutic properties.

At the Botanical Garden of Nevis, south of Charlestown on Montpelier estate, you can admire 70 varieties of orchids, palms from around the world, and gardens of roses, tropical fruits, bamboo and cactus. Take a break for an afternoon English tea, complete with scones and Devonshire cream, at Martha's-in-the-Garden restaurant.

Nearby is the Eva Wilkin Gallery, where the local artist painted Nevis landscapes, people and flowers for more than 50 years until her death in 1989. Located in a windmill on the grounds of an old sugar estate, the studio sells original Wilkin works.

Aside from hotel boutiques and isolated galleries, most shops of tourist interest lie on and off Main Street in Charlestown. At the Nevis Handicraft Co-op Society, next to the tourist office, you can pick up locally made woven goods, honey, fruit wines, jellies and fiery hot sauces, plus red clay ceramics from the island's Newcastle Pottery. Near the waterfront the public market teems with vendors hawking papayas, mangoes, tomatoes and fresh spices. The Philatelic Bureau sells Nevis’ colorful postage stamps.

Most Nevis vacationers come primarily to chill out, seldom straying from their resort environs. They're perfectly content sunning by the pool, playing croquet or golf, or reading in a hammock while gentle tradewinds rock them to sleep. Dining room menus feature fresh seafood (like spiny lobster) and delightfully spiced West Indian curries prepared by some of the Caribbean's most inventive chefs.

For country club-style sophistication, no place on the island rivals Four Seasons Resort Nevis. Upon opening its doors in 1991, the Four Seasons put Nevis on the map as a tony destination. Located on Pinney's Beach, just north of Charlestown, the world-class resort offers stratospheric standards of personal service, the island's biggest guest rooms (most in gingerbread-trimmed cottages with screened porches), a spa, tennis courts and Nevis'’ only 18-hole golf course. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., the challenging green climbs almost 1,000 feet up Mount Nevis, its signature 15th hole bridging a deep ravine. The Four Seasons also has two- to four-bedroom villas and estate homes, some with pools, that are rented out when the owners are away.

All but one of the Nevis inns occupying former sugar plantations are set away from the water, but shuttles provide access to the beaches. If you're looking for local flavor and an English house party atmosphere, these luxurious hostelries will suit your tastes. The owners, often eccentric American or British expatriates, like to mingle with guests over cocktails before dinner in the manor house. At Hermitage Plantation Inn, former Pennsylvanians Richard and Maureen Lupinacci take pride in the antiques adorning the guest quarters and 300-year-old Great House (said to be the Caribbean's oldest surviving wooden house). Each of the 11 pastel, West Indian-style cottages boasts a four-poster canopy bed and a balcony with the requisite hammock. One writer described the resort as a "Lilliputian village of dollhouses tucked into acres of tropical gardens".

The Hermitage further immerses guests into the past with romantic rides down scenic back roads in a traditional Caribbean planter's carriage pulled by giant draft horses. Along the way, passengers might encounter some of the green vervet monkeys that inhabit the rainforest.

The Hermitage stables also offer trail rides, as does the Nevis Equestrian Centre. The latter's most popular ride goes along beaches and backcountry trails, climbing a mountain slope past sugar mill ruins and Four Seasons estate homes, then continuing above the golf course to remote villages.

The finest specimens of horseflesh compete monthly at Indian Castle Race Track, one of Nevis’ top attractions. Opened in 1998, the venue overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, affording stunning panoramas up and down the coast. Hermitage proprietor Lupinacci is president of the Nevis Turf & Jockey Club.

Upper Round Road Trail, an historic path popular with horseback riders, hikers and mountain bikers, passes through villages, orchards and vegetable fields. Constructed during the late 1600s, the restored nine-mile trail was part of a road system that provided access to cane fields and communities that once surrounded Mount Nevis (also called Nevis Peak). Original cobblestones and walls are still evident, and the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society has provided informative signage. The path connects Nisbet Plantation Beach Club (the only sugar-estate resort on the beach) and Golden Rock Plantation Inn.

Anyone in good physical shape should consider a guided hike up Mount Nevis. The strenuous trek, a five-hour roundtrip, requires clinging to roots and vines in some near-vertical sections, but those who make it to the summit are rewarded with views of islands like Antigua, Guadeloupe, Montserrat and St. Kitts.

Nevis visitors also thrive on water sports, from windsurfing and sailing to kayaking and scuba diving.

Whether you're looking for active pursuits, history and culture, or just total relaxation in a relatively undiscovered corner of the Caribbean, Nevis is a little gem with big appeal. Travel connoisseurs find its manageable size, natural splendor, unhurried ambiance and penchant for pampering the perfect antidotes to stress in today's crazy world.

For more information, contact the Nevis Tourism Authority, (866) 55NEVIS; www.nevisisland.com.