The volcano island capital — La Soufrière hikes, Grenadines ferries and the un-touristy Caribbean
Kingstown is the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, one of the least-visited island nations in the Caribbean — a small volcanic island where the main draws are the active La Soufrière volcano (last erupted April 2021, evacuating half the island's population), the ferry connections to the unspoilt Grenadines island chain (Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Union Island), and a genuine absence of the all-inclusive resort culture that dominates neighbouring islands. The town of Kingstown is compact and workaday — the covered Central Market, the Saturday produce market spilling across the water…
Saint Vincent was named by Columbus on St Vincent's Day (22 January) 1498 but was largely left alone by Europeans for 150 years because the indigenous Carib population fiercely resisted settlement. Black Caribs — a mixed population of escaped enslaved Africans and indigenous Caribs — controlled much of the interior until the Second Carib War (1795–97), when a British force defeated the chief Chatoyer (the only indigenous chief in the eastern Caribbean to die fighting colonisers) and deported 5,000 Garifuna to Roatán Island off Honduras. La Soufrière volcano has erupted nine times since 1718;…