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St. Kitts may be a small island, but it has a lot to love, from a lively capital city to historic sites to beautiful beaches. Build the perfect visit around these 12 great attractions and activities.

Whether your taste runs to fruity tropical drinks, vintage wines, or a nuanced craft cocktail, from dive bars with live music to oceanside terraces with sunset views, the perfect island bar awaits.

Known as the “Jewel in the Crown” of the Southern Grenadines, Tobago Cays Marine Park comprises five picture-perfect, uninhabited islands surrounded by a clear lagoon. Here, you’ll find sea turtle nesting sites and feeding areas, small systems of mangroves, and the most well-developed coral reef complexes in St. Vincent. Swim with the resident turtles, snorkel around the almost 2.5-mile-long Horseshoe Reef, or simply relax on a magnificent white-sand beach—each island has at least one.

When you travel to the Cappadocia region of Turkey you have to stay in a cave hotel. Sleeping in a room carved out of the area’s ‘fairy chimney’ rock formations is inherently cool. When you realize that your room is also literally cool—even in the midday heat—you suddenly have a better understanding of the clever ways people managed to live in a challenging environment for centuries. The hotel’s best feature might be the terrace, where you relax on pillows and eat a Turkish breakfast of apricots and yogurt as you watch dozens of hot air balloons rise from the valley below. From $76. This appeared in the August/September 2014 issue.

In the heart of D.C.'s Penn Quarter, Zaytinya serves up a variety of tapas inspired by traditional dishes from Greece, Lebanon, and Turkey. It also has a selection of wines from such Eastern Mediterranean countries and seasonally serves a hot tea with a blooming jasmine flower. Falafel, hummus, and roasted cauliflower are among my favorite menu items. Try the Turkish coffee at weekend brunch.

Swim with large southern stingrays in the warm blue water around Gibbs Cay. This secluded seven-acre island is a short boat ride from Grand Turk and a popular day trip for many visitors. The stingrays are quite friendly after years of regular feeding and interactions with humans. Your boat guide will provide fish scraps to feed the rays as you snorkel in the shallow water. Day trips may also include time on the island and stops to snorkel and dive for conch.

Piranha fishing...pink dolphin sightings...holding a caimen...beautiful day explorations by skiff and canoe along the Ucayali River and in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. Add to jaw-dropping explorations, the 5-star comfort of the Aqua Amazon with large, comfortable and well-designed, air-conditioned staterooms with picture windows allowing the world to float by as you relax, showers big enough for two, great cuisine, and an amazing staff—as well as congenial company on board in an intimate, yet spacious, cruise. Just 12 cabins means no crowds, just fun at mealtimes and in the salon/bar. Excellent, knowledgeable river guides are from the Amazon—so they know it, and the wildlife, intimately.

Nanortalik, which means “the place with polar bears,” is the southernmost town in Greenland, located on an island of the same name. Founded in 1797 as a trading depot at the mouth of Tasermiut Fjord, the town is currently home to approximately 1,000 people. Although the island is named for polar bears, the chance of seeing these furry giants is fairly slim. What you will find, however, is a place of majestic beauty and friendly, welcoming residents. From the nearby Tasermiut Fjord, where rocky summits rise above a narrow glacial inlet, to the Qinngua Valley—the only forest in all of Greenland—Nanortalik is surrounded by natural wonders. Culturally there is just as much to experience. For history buffs, the Nanortalik Museum explores native, Old Norse and European colonial history as it shaped Greenland, with nine historic buildings and the world’s oldest umiak (sealskin boat). To appreciate the richness of Greenland’s traditions, be sure to attend a local choral concert where you’ll hear a unique blend of musical disciplines unlike any you’ve heard before.

Just a short ferry ride away, St. Kitts’ sister island is perfect for a day trip to climb Nevis Peak, sip a Killer Bee at Sunshine’s Beach Bar, or visit the birthplace of U.S. founding father Alexander Hamilton.

Nantucket is a perennial favorite summer destination, with Atlantic Ocean beaches, picturesque harbors, and iconic lighthouses. Accommodations on the island range from cozy bed-and-breakfast rooms to marina-side cottages to penthouse loft apartments. Water views and beach shuttles are in-demand amenities, and most hotels can arrange boat rides and lobster bakes for a quintessential New England vacation.

The number-one reason to visit St Barths are the beaches. The best beaches (basically all of them) are the stuff island dreams are made of. All of the island’s beaches are open to the public year-round, and even during peak season they’re never really crowded. Whether you’re looking for a place to picnic, the perfect snorkeling spot, a sunbather’s paradise, or a bit of sand to run under your toes, St Barths has you covered.

To create an opulent home fit for a sultan, visit Haremlique and browse their range of 100% Egyptian cotton linen, bath sheets, peştemals (traditional Turkish towels), tableware and assorted accessories. Choose exquisite toile designs or satiny embroidered linens from the quality collection or opt for custom designed bespoke products.

Near the northern end of Andros Island, about 15 minutes by air from Nassau, remote Kamalame Cay is worth the effort it takes to get there. The 96-acre private island features 34 rustic-chic rooms and suites, all within steps of a white-sand beach, as well as a central Great House where guests come together to sip wine before dinner and share stories afterward (of course, many opt for a secluded, candlelit meal set up somewhere along the three miles of shoreline). A range of seaside activities keep everyone from the kids to newlyweds to the occasional celebrity happy. There’s a freshwater swimming pool, an over-water spa, world-class fishing off the coast, and entertainment by local “rake-and-scrape” bands. And for those who live in fear of being unplugged, relax. Kamalame Cay offers hotspots around the island for full cell service (if you want it) and Wi-Fi in the reception area.

An aspiring bluegrass fiddler from London discovers much more than music on a trip to North Carolina.

One traveler discovers a tradition even richer than the cuisine.