Paddle-shaped ST KITTS lies a few miles northwest of Nevis, just across The Narrows. Lush rainforest covers the central mountain range that forms the island's spine, while the surrounding lowlands are largely given over to sugarcane fields. Most visitors tend to head directly to the resort area of Frigate Bay , focusing their time in the southern region where all of the island's beaches are found. The best of these fringe the South-East Peninsula , an undulating spit skirted by the island's only white sand. Nearer to St Kitts' centre, the capital, Basseterre , is worth a visit for its concentration of traditional skirt-and-blouse style houses, while traces of the island's imperial past lie closer to its north end, where the star attraction, Brimstone Hill Fortress , presides over the Caribbean. The northern coast has its own quiet appeal, with fields of overgrown sugarcane sheltering gracious former-plantation inns , while the Atlantic side offers dramatic vistas and little else.