St Kitts and Nevis has built up a widely established reputation for fine food, a reputation which the local restauranteurs guard zealously. Restaurants specialise in Chinese, Western, Creole, Indian and West Indian cuisine. Most restaurants in St Kitts offer a continental menu with island variations. Nevis is less grand and Charlestown’s small restaurants cater more to Nevisians than visitors. Fruit, including mangoes, papayas and bananas, is sold at the waterfront market. A wide range of imported drinks is available.

National specialities:
• Spiny lobster.
• Crab back.
• Roti (thin pastry filled with curried potatoes, chickpeas and beef, chicken, goat, shrimp or vegetables).
• Pelau (rice, pigeon peas and meat, similar to paella).
• Conch (curried, soused or in salad). 

National drinks:
• The locally-produced CSR (cane spirit) is excellent.
• Local rums include Belmont Estate and Brinley Gold.

Tipping: In restaurants, leave 10 to 15%.

Very low key. A number of hotels and inns have string or steel bands to dance to on Saturday nights in the peak season, and there is a disco called J’s Place at the foot of the Brimstone Hill Fortress in St Kitts. Reflections Night Club, also in St Kitts, is open until the small hours. St Kitts has two casinos in Frigate Bay, complete with slot machines, roulette wheels and blackjack tables. In Nevis, Club Trenim is recommended. Otherwise, entertainment centres around the pleasant bars of the inns and hotels.

Local crafts include carvings, batik, wall hangings, leather art and coconut work. Local textiles and designs are also available. Stamp collectors should note the excellent Philatelic Bureaux in Basseterre and Charlestown. Duty-free shopping is relatively new to St Kitts and, as yet, only a few shops feature imported merchandise at substantial savings. Nevis’ hot pepper sauce, ranked among the Caribbean’s best, is a good take-home item and can be bought at the Main Street grocery in Charlestown. There are shopping malls on St Kitts these include TDC Mall and Pelican Mall. Friday and Saturday are the busy market days, and visitors should not miss the chance to witness this abundance of exotic food stalls, accompanied by lively local chatter.

Shopping hours: Mon-Sat 0830-1200 and 1300-1600; some shops close early on Thursday.