Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Road Town is the capital city of the British Virgin Islands, and a hub for transportation and business.

It's built around a protected bay that was used for centuries by pirates and smugglers, military ships and merchant ships seeking protection, and today is known to be one of the best small harbors in the Caribbean for pleasure sailing. It is the largest city in the islands, population just under 10,000.

The slightly silly name comes from a nautical term, "the roads," which describes the type of harbor Road Town is built around. 

Though the location of Tortola is not strategically or economically significant, the fact that it was a sizable island with good harbors and inlets generated plenty of interest from early explorers. The earliest Dutch settlers found they could not turn a profit, and largely abandoned it; pirates subsequently took over, and used Tortola as one of their favorite bases of operation. The British drove out the pirates, then fortified and took over the island. Because Road Town had an excellent fort dating to Dutch colonial days and was well-protected, subsequent conquerors and brigands avoided it.

With such a long history, Road Town inevitably has lots of beautiful island architecture and historical sites located throughout its park like town limits, and traveling around in the little town is delightful. The oldest building, the HM Prison, only dates back to the 1840s, but there are dozens of sites ripe in history, and locals will be happy to point them out to you.

The real thing to do in Road Town, however, is bare boating – chartering private yachts to sail yourself. Most charter companies offer lessons in sailing to prepare you for the big trip out by yourself, or a captain to sail with you if you are just not prepared to do it all yourself. You'll find charter companies at marinas all over town, and Nanny Cay especially is a center for chartering.

Between boat trips, there are many lovely things to see and do in Road Town. Don't miss the J. R. O'Neal Botanical Gardens, where a miniature tropical rainforest is the home to a wide variety of indigenous birds and colorful flowers. Queen Elizabeth Park is also an excellent place in city limits to appreciate nature between visits to the beaches and marinas.

Speaking of beaches, Road Town has only small ones: one out on Nanny Cay in the middle of the harbor, and several semiprivate beaches primarily attached to hotels. That's okay, because there are dozens of beaches just outside of Road Town, and the town is primarily a place out of which to base day trips by land (especially to the beautiful beaches of Tortola) or by sea (to anywhere in the British Virgin Islands area).

In the Main Street area, you'll find rows of shops. In nearby Wickham's Cay, you'll find even more shops as well as places to arrange water sport excursions of many sorts. At almost any shopping area here, you can find lots of great Caribbean attire and souvenirs, but be sure to read the labels; a lot of "local" items are made overseas and just branded here.