Gustavia

Gustavia wraps around a sheltered deep-water harbor that can accommodate large yachts and sailing vessels, its hillside terraces rising in layers of terracotta rooftops and tropical greenery above the waterfront quay where day-trippers from the cruise ships and resident yachtsmen alike stroll past the boutique windows.

The town shows its Swedish colonial past in the street names and in the occasional wooden houses with stepped gables that recall a Baltic building tradition utterly at odds with the Caribbean climate, a reminder that this small island changed hands between France and Sweden several times before becoming the French overseas collectivity it is today.

Along the harbor front, upscale boutiques selling French fashion and duty-free luxury goods occupy color-washed colonial buildings, and the evening promenade brings a well-dressed crowd drawn as much by the people-watching as by the anchored megayachts that dwarf the local fishing boats tied up at the adjacent quay.

The Anglican church at the south end of the harbor is an unexpected landmark: a white clapboard structure with a bell tower that looks borrowed from a New England fishing village rather than a French overseas collectivity, a consequence of the influence of Swedish traders who once formed a significant part of the island population during the colonial period.

Two forts, Karl and Oscar, crown the hillsides above town, linked by Rue de la Colline, a cobbled pedestrian shortcut that offers sweeping views across the harbor and the Caribbean Sea beyond, and the walk between them provides one of the most rewarding panoramic perspectives on the town and its relationship with the water.

Despite the gloss of its luxury boutiques and celebrity clientele, Gustavia retains the scale and informality of a small Caribbean port town; the harborfront is equally alive with local fishermen landing the morning catch and repair crews working on the wooden workboats that form the backbone of the island small-scale fishing industry.

The waterfront restaurants serve a mix of French haute cuisine and local Caribbean dishes, with fresh fish and lobster featured prominently on most menus, and the evening Happy Hour scene at the harbor-front bars draws a lively crowd that gathers to watch the sun sink behind the hills of the neighboring island of Saint Martin.

The harbor waterfront comes alive at sunset when the string lights of the restaurants are switched on and the evening crowd begins to gather for the island signature ritual of watching the sun go down over the Caribbean Sea while sipping French rosé.

The deep-water harbor is one of the finest in the Eastern Caribbean and draws superyachts from across the Atlantic during the winter season, making it one of the most glamorous anchorage spots in the Lesser Antilles.

The Swedish colonial street names and architecture give Gustavia a cultural character unlike any other island in the French West Indies, a direct consequence of the island four decades under Swedish rule in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The town is the commercial and social center of Saint Barthélemy, making it the natural starting point for exploring the island and the place where most visitors arrive by ferry from Saint Martin or by air at the nearby airport.