With its sea-swept landscapes,
historic towns, duty-free shopping
and luxurious resorts, the
UNITED
STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS bask in
the combination of familiar yet
exotic that makes them one of the
most popular cruise-ship
destinations in the Caribbean.
America aside, it's the Danes who
have had the most influence on the
islands. Successful sugarcane
exporters and slave dealers, they
built most of the major towns, and
there are plentiful reminders of
their presence in the
colonial
architecture of the historic
cities of Charlotte Amalie and
Christiansted and in the ruins of
sugar plantations scattered across
the green mountainous slopes.
Of the sixty islands, islets and
cays (most of which are uninhabited)
that make up the USVI, the biggest
and busiest are St Thomas, St Croix
and St John. Each has a distinctive
mood and culture, and you haven't
really seen the USVI until you've
checked out all three. St Thomas
, with its picturesque capital,
Charlotte Amalie, is the most
American of the islands - hip and
stylish (at least compared to the
rest of the Caribbean) with upmarket
shops and restaurants and a history
born of trade rather than sugar. St
Croix , the largest of the
islands, is the most distant so sees
little of the hordes that flock to
St Thomas and St John, though the
cruise-ship ports of Christiansted
and Frederiksted still attract
visitors with their mix of historic
sights and good shopping and
restaurants. St John , the
smallest of the islands is virtually
all wilderness, its National Park,
part on land, part underwater, the
major attraction for its miles of
hiking trails and quiet beaches.
