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British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands Holiday

The British Virgin Islands are renowned for their gorgeous beaches and amazing scenery. On these idyllic islands you can truly relax and soak up the sun.

The main island is Tortola whose best beaches are located on the North coast. You can take in the magnificent view from the top of the islands hill's or ride up to the top of Mount Sage where the panorama of the surrounding islands are just as breathtaking. If you are looking for paradise islands with splendid beaches, then the British Virgin Islands are perfect.

Few people can tell you for sure how many islands make up the British Virgins-it all depends on the tide. The official figure is "more than 40", of which 16 are inhabited.

These tiny and almost forgotten islands, the British Virgin Islands as they are known locally, are a sleepy relic of an empire. Yet British rule rests lighty on the 17,000 inhabitants whose dignity and independent outlook stem from a long tradition of land ownership. They will greet you with overwhelming charm-even if their local dialect of English baffles you at first.

Despite a benign British rule, American influence from the much larger and more heavily populated US Virgins to the west is unavoidable. And the currency is dollars. Yet the British Virgins have a separate appeal, one which is jealously guarded.

These islands are unspoilt-a refuge for sailors, big-game fishermen and divers. The few dozen hotels are low-slung and scattered. On those islands which have roads-mostly narrow, paved single lanes-goats and cows compete with the cars.

The best known and largest islands are Tortola, where nearly 80 per cent of the population lives, and Virgin Gorda. Others with few or no inhabitants include Anegada, Jost van Dyke, Salt, Peter, Norman, Dead Chest and Great Dog-names surviving from the buccaneering days.

Sweeping past most of the islands is the magnificent Sir Francis Drake Channel, where yachts have now replaced the pirate ships. The yachtsmen, as the pirates once did, consider these sheltered waters to be some of the finest blue-water cruising grounds in the Caribbean-but for more peaceful reasons.