Travelers might want to schedule their visits around one of the Virgin Islands’ unusual holidays, including Emancipation Day (July 3); Bastille Day (celebrated by St. Thomians of French descent, this year on July 12); or Carnival (late April or early May). The high tourist season is in January and February.

St. Thomas and St. Croix offer a wide selection of historic hotels and guesthouses that would enhance any visitor’s stay, including the Hotel 1829 in Charlotte Amalie and Pink Fancy and Club Comanche in Christiansted. Just outside Frederiksted is Sprat Hall, a former plantation house that operates as a hotel with its own private beach. General guides to the Caribbean like Frommer’s and Fodor’s give useful descriptions of hotels and restaurants. Good histories are harder to find. I enjoyed Florence Lewisohn’s Divers Information on the Romantic History of St. Croix (St. Croix Landmarks Society, 1964), and St. John Backtime, Eyewitness Accounts from 1718 to 1956 , compiled by Ruth Hull Low and Rafael Vails (Eden Hill Press, 1985).