St Kitts & Nevis Travel Guide

St Kitts & Nevis Travel Guide FlagSaint Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis are a two-island country In the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. The names supposedly come from Christopher Columbus who named them San Cristóbal (Saint Christopher) his patron saint and Nuestra Señora de las Nieves (Our Lady of the Snows) due to the almost permanent cloud cover over Nevis.

St Kitts & Nevis travel guide - Monkey

One of the famous green monkeys

Both the British and French settled on St Kitts in 1623 and choose to try and live peacefully on either end of the island. Unfortunately, they forgot to include the Native America tribe already living on the island in the discussions. For three years there was hostility, before both European forces massacred the natives. After this both the British and French spread their colonization out to other islands of the Caribbean with St Kitts being the mother colony.

Helpful Info
Population – 55,000 (44,000 on St Kitts and 11,000 on Nevis)
Money – shares the Eastern Caribbean dollar with 5 other countries and 2 British islands (fixed at US$1 = EC$2.70)
Language – English
Religion – 83% Christian
When to go – Dec-June is most popular. Summer is nice also, but a little hotter and more humid. Hurricanes most active Aug-Oct.
World Heritage Sites – 1 – Brimstone Hill Fortress
Country formed – Independence from United Kingdom on 19 Sept 1983

Towards the end of the 1600’s the two European powers were fighting each other for control of the island. France finally ceded it to Britain in 1713, who held it until they formed an independent country in 1983.

St Kitts & Nevis travel guide - Train

All aboard for the St Kitts train

My Visit

During my 2017 cruise through the Leeward Islands We stopped at St Kitts & Nevis on our return loop to the Virgin Islands. I must say we fell in love with Nevis and it was our favorite island we visited.

Likes, Dislikes, and Recommendations

St Kitts & Nevis travel guide - Brimstone Hill

Brimstone Hill is so huge it will wear you out

These two islands are only separated by two miles and once you are here they are very easy to sail between the two. Both of the islands have some wonderful things to see and do. The best thing by far on St Kitts is Brimstone Hill Fort. You can also ride a historic train, hike the mountain, wander around town, visit Romney Manor, and have beach time (the southern end is best for this). Over on Nevis there are several historic sites in town and outside of town you can go up the mountain a bit and see the Hermitage House. Plus, there is the botanical garden that is great.

St Kitts & Nevis travel guide - Hermitage House

Hermitage House is the oldest in the Caribbean

The bad part of St Kitts and Nevis is the limited anchorages. On St Kitts you have a shipyard at the northern end, an anchorage and marina in town, and some coves at the south end. Nevis has even less with the main anchorage and maybe an extra one to the north. If the weather turns bad, you need to really consider which one to use, because most are not suitable.

Soon you can get even more helpful hints by watching the travel videos I made for Kitts & Nevis. Also, you can read what all I did there in my blog posts located below the video.

All Blogs From St Kitts & Nevis

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