Antigua is blessed with an abundance of fine white-sand beaches, but only in the southwest of the island, where a ridge of rainforest-covered hills rises abruptly from the patchwork of farmland, is the scenery grand and lushly tropical. Secluded behind this barrier, much of the adjoining coast has remained blissfully unspoiled. The island’s main town, St. John’s, is an uninteresting place much frequented by large cruise ships. But English Harbour, in the south of the island, is extremely pretty and is the site of Nelson’s Dockyard, a UNESCO World Heritage site and former Royal Navy station that contains an array of restored 18th- and 19th-century Georgian buildings. The highlight of the year is Antigua Sailing Week in April.