Hits small over the world

in the soft susurration of wavelets on a succession of beaches, compared to the roar of the surf on the Atlantic-facing east coast.

Bridgetown, the main town, gathers around a boat-jammed creek, and still has a neighbourhood of “chattel houses”, pastel-painted wooden shacks designed to be flatpacked and moved to whichever plantation needed labourers.

Overall, though, this is an island made for watersports. Catamaran cruises and undersea submarines out of Bridgetown, surfing on the east coast at Bathsheba, stand-up paddleboarding and jet-skiing at Carlisle Bay.

Go: A week plus flights costs from £738pp, see virginholidays.co.uk.

FOR HIGH ROLLERS MONACO

(visitmonaco.com)

This mini state, covering not even one solitary square mile and the smallest of them all, sits on the Mediterranean coast between France and Italy, where its 38,300 inhabitants make it one of the most densely populated in the world. Ruled by a glamorous royal family, it hosts big ticket events such as the Monaco Yacht Show and the Monaco Grand Prix.

With the second highest per capita income in the world after Liechtenstein, it is like a mini Nice but with more casinos, although it’s not a place to ask how the 32 per cent of its population who are millionaires made their money.

Still, there’s glamour galore, although interestingly, Monaco’s citizens are not allowed to gamble. Go: A three-night break with flights costs from £490pp, see lastminute.com.