Kingston

Kingston is where the world's most influential small-nation music was born, and the birth certificate gets reissued nightly. Reggae came out of these yards — Trench Town's government housing, to be exact —, dancehall still runs the streets after midnight, and behind it all the Blue Mountains stand like a curtain, growing some of the most celebrated coffee on Earth.

The sensible traveller pays respects at the Bob Marley Museum on Hope Road, eats a patty with fresh-squeezed juice at Devon House, and takes the National Gallery seriously — Jamaican art far exceeds its exports. At dusk, up to Skyline Drive as the city lights the harbor; and for the brave-eared, a sound-system session where the bass is a physical experience.

The Guide's honesty: Kingston asks for local intel, not bravado — uptown and downtown are different worlds and both deserve respect —; the music is in yards and sessions, not hotel lobbies: go invited or go with someone who is; and the seventh-largest natural harbor on Earth is for looking — the swimming is at Hellshire, with fried fish and festival.