14 Nights Caribbean, Southern

This vast array of wonderful beaches offers you opportunities to swim with the dolphins in a tropical lagoon and come face-to-face with alligators during an Everglades airboat tour. Or stroll through a tropical rainforest while hundreds of butterflies flutter above you.

The Dutch capital of St. Maarten is widely known for colonial architecture. Its pastel buildings, often embellished with gingerbread and fretwork trim, surround shaded courtyards and hug cobblestone streets. Philipsburg has a well-earned reputation as a shopper's paradise, and local crafts, exotic foods and elegant imports are available at duty-free prices.

The capital of St. Kitts has shook off hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and fires and has morphed into an unpretentious British-flavored retreat. Victorian stone block buildings laced with gingerbread trim and black and grey sand beaches are the city's most notable attractions.

This Dominican island is renowned throughout the Caribbean for its straw work. Waterfalls, lakes, freshwater swamps and hiking trails serve as havens for naturalists and eco-tourists, and brightly painted buildings are eye candy for sightseers.

The capital of Martinique (and the largest city in the French West Indies) possesses a flavor more reminiscent of Paris than the Caribbean. Turn-of-the-century buildings housing boutiques and cafes, a public market and narrow streets are proof of this

If variety is the spice of life, then Grenada is the taste of the tropics. The intoxicating aromas of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves fill the air wherever you go. Take your pick of 45 sun-kissed beaches to lounge on, or hit the jungle-covered mountain range for more rugged adventures. Stroll through the 125-year-old Sendall Tunnel to reach the Carenage waterfront promenade. Cruise to Grenada and grab a seat at an open-air café and admire the steep streets lined with colonial buildings and colorful 18th-century warehouses. And holding true to its nickname of Spice Island, you'll find several spice plantations and estates here too.

Oil-rich Trinidad is a densely populated, burgeoning island off the coast of Venezuela with a sophisticated population interspersed with bazaars, mosques and cathedrals. Its reputation for hosting the loudest, craziest and most popular Carnival in the Caribbean is well known.

Colonial architecture comprises much of Aruba's bright and breezy capital, which is located just south of the main resort area. Orangestad is extremely popular because of its abundance of boutiques and duty-free shops. Local bars provide great opportunities to socialize with the locals.

The largest of the Netherlands Antilles has its fair share of Dutch colonial buildings, but its dry climate, barren soil and cacti are more akin to the U.S. Southwest. Its greatest beauty lies offshore?the island's coral reefs. Volcanic pebbles make up many of its rocky beaches.

This vast array of wonderful beaches offers you opportunities to swim with the dolphins in a tropical lagoon and come face-to-face with alligators during an Everglades airboat tour. Or stroll through a tropical rainforest while hundreds of butterflies flutter above you.