Charlestown

Charlestown is the capital of Nevis and holds around fifteen hundred people, a few streets of stone-and-timber buildings with wooden upper storeys and shingle, the island's chief town since a tidal wave destroyed the first settlement, Jamestown, in the late seventeenth century, and much of it was rebuilt after a fire in 1873 and later hurricanes. Alexander Hamilton was born in a house on the waterfront, now a museum and the seat of the Nevis assembly. Nelson was married at the Montpelier estate nearby. The ferry from St Kitts docks in the middle of it.

Highlights

• The stone-and-timber buildings - the Nevis form of stone below and wood above.
• The Hamilton house - the birthplace, now a museum and assembly building.
• The waterfront - the ferry dock and the shore the town is built along.
• The Jewish cemetery - the burial ground of the island's seventeenth-century community.

When to go

December to April is the dry season. The town is busiest when the ferry comes in. Saturdays bring the market.

Things to know

It is very small and half a day covers it easily. Shops close early and on Sundays almost everything shuts. Cruise tender days crowd the waterfront.

Nearby

Pinney's Beach is north, and Fig Tree Church is east.

Key facts