St Kitts’ narrow-gauge tourist train – the ‘Last Railway in the West Indies’ – is a reminder of a time when the fertile Caribbean island’s prime industry was not tourism but sugar. In 1775, when the British owned the isle, St Kitts had 200 estates growing ‘white gold’; in the early 20th century, a round-island railway was built, to transport the cane to a central factory. When the industry declined, the line reopened as a wonderful way for visitors to see the wave-crashed shores, swaying palms, emerald highlands – rising to 1,156m Mount Liamuiga – and crumbling remains of old cane plantations. Currently, the train only runs along St Kitts’ Atlantic coast with a bus tour completing the circuit. There’s a stop at Brimstone Hill Fortress, which was built by the British to protect their precious sugar isle.
