The island, 100 miles east of the Winwards, has been linked politically and culturally to Britain for nearly 400 years - and it shows: in the names of British towns like Carlisle and Hastings, in the numerous stately homes and of course in the passion for cricket. But when you arrive at Grantley Adams International Airport - named after the island's first Prime Minister, the sight of palm trees gently swaying in the wind and the white sands of the gorgeous beaches, soon reassures you this is definitely the Caribbean, not northern Europe.

The year-round sun should also help - Barbados is blessed with temperatures always around 80 degrees. Although, maybe as a homage to its British links, you can also expect some rain, especially between June and November. If you do take a bit of a soaking, take some solace in the fact that this is also the cheapest time of year to visit. Of course if you want to do the Jet Set thing, fly in from Christmas to Mid-April.

Another sure pointer you've landed at the right place is the affable and generous welcome you'll receive from the Bajans - rightly proud of their little island in the sun. Visitors to Barbados often remark on how well run it is, with excellent transport and amenities - important if you like your holiday to run like clockwork. But staying at exquisite hotels like Hilton's Barbados Resort, once you dip your toes in the warm sea and sip a long rum - the locals favourite tipple, you'll soon forget about the accurate bus timetables.

Barbados, only 21 miles long by 14, is roughly tear-shaped, with calmer water on the protected Caribbean west side, sometimes rougher waters on the unprotected south side, and even more exhilarating wave-pummelled conditions on the Atlantic east coast - great for surfing. Here the views from Bathsheba Bay are particularly wild and worth a visit.

Travel inland and the gently rolling landscape features a profusion of sugar-cane fields and is generally easy on the legs. Although much of the interior is taken over by cane cultivation, there are some areas of outstanding beauty like the Flower Forest. The 50-acre former sugar estate, near the centre of the island, is awash with vibrant flora and offers sweeping views to the east of the Chalky Mountains and the ocean. A few kilometres south is the island's only remaining rainforest, Welchman's Hall Gully.

For a good insight into the island's colonial past, take a trip to one of the stately plantation houses like St Nicholas Abbey, or Sunbury. Both built in the 17th Century, these fascinating working houses hark back to very different times for the Bajans and the British. Another mansion well worth an excursion is Sam Lord's Castle on the south east coast. Built of limestone coral, the story of the mansion's eponymous owner is fascinating, if somewhat blurred in folklore.

Other impressive and still very much inhabited coral mansions can be gawped at as you stroll along the west coast beaches. This stretch of beach, commonly agreed to be the best in Barbados, is ideal for swimming and watersports. If you want to take things sub-aqua, there are some wonderful snorkelling spots such as the shipwreck of the Berwyn at Carlisle Bay. For more exploring on terra firma, check out sleepy little Speighstown. Here you can see some of the best examples of the island's Chattel Houses. These wooden, brightly pained houses are still home to most Bajans. For great shopping and restaurants, a few miles down the coast is the more commercial Holetown.

On the south coast you'll find Barbados' other main towns and its capital, Bridgetown - only a few minutes drive from the Hilton on Carlisle Bay. Whilst, most would agree, not the prettiest capital in the Caribbean, Bridgetown's architecture and rhythm embodies the island's European and West Indian flavour, and is the centre of everyday Bajan life. It also has Barbados' best cricket ground, the Kensington Oval.

Fifteen kilometres south of Bridgetown is Barbados' unofficial nightlife capital, St Lawrence Gap - bars and clubs aplenty here. If it's Friday, then a must-do is Oistins, just south of St Lawrence. Here the famous Fish Fry takes place, where large crowds are serenaded by a reggae or "Tuk" band as they chow down on the catch of the day, sold from one of the dozens of wooden shacks.

Barbados excels as a destination where you can do it all. The island really is the best the West Indies has the offer - including, as Bajans will proudly tell you, its cricketers. The Caribbean at its finest.

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