Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda is the country that dares you to find a beach you don't love. With 365 beaches across two main islands - one for every day of the year, as the tourism board loves to remind you - this tiny Caribbean nation has more coastline per square mile than almost anywhere on Earth. Antigua is the larger, livelier island with colorful harbors, a restored 18th-century naval dockyard, and a cricket-obsessed population that punches far above its weight.

Barbuda, the quieter sister island to the north, is a flat coral island with pink-sand beaches so empty they feel like the end of the world. The Frigate Bird Sanctuary in Barbuda's lagoon hosts one of the largest colonies of magnificent frigatebirds on the planet. Together, these islands cover just 440 square kilometers with around 100,000 people, but the warmth of Antiguan hospitality and the sheer beauty of the coastline make it feel like a place ten times its size.