Nassau, Bahamas

Originally known as Charles Town, Nassau is the modern face of the Bahamas. Although dirty in parts, enough historical flavor has been preserved to make a stop worthwhile. Much of this atmosphere comes from its development during the Loyalist call from 1787-1834, when many buildings were built in the colonial city's finest. Before this build-up, Nassau had largely been in a rustic refuge for pirates, privateers and wreckers.

After alternating periods of decline and prosperity in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the increase in trade and construction that followed the Second World War led directly to the emergence of Nassau as a global center for tourism and finance . In the mid-1950s, with the dredging of the harbor and the construction of the Nassau International Airport began to host more than one million visitors a year. A decade later, after construction of the bridge on Paradise Island and Cable Beach development, the city received twice.