Pimm’s Cup may be the island’s most popular drink, but it was during a search for fresh water that the Portuguese discovered Barbados in 1536. They gave the island its name and then left, clearing the way for the British who laid claim a century later. The Brits ruled, uninterrupted, until 1966 when Barbados was granted independence and today this “most British island in the Caribbean” is sometimes called “Little England. High tea is a tradition, cricket is a passion and polo is played all winter.

Twenty one miles long and 14 miles wide, Barbados is basically flat but quite picturesque with some rolling hills. Harrison’s Cave is a natural wonder of underground streams, waterfalls and millennium-old stalacites and stalagmites caused by constant water drip. Classic reef breaks on the South coast, something rare in the Caribbean, make good surfing and windsurfing. There’s golf, winter festivals and shopping in the commercial center of Bridgetown. For more information go to: www.barbardos.org or www.visitbarbados.org.