This week’s dream: beautiful Barbados

If you want to get a feel for the real Barbados, do as the Bajans do, says Ian Burrell in the Independent on Sunday: head eastwards, to the island's wild Atlantic coast. The rich and famous rarely venture out here, preferring the clear waters and white sand beaches of its Caribbean shores.

True, the Atlantic coast is "largely unsafe for swimming", but there are a few sheltered coves nonetheless – all quite ravishing – and the whole area has "a rugged beauty", perfect for anyone who enjoys "a walk across a wild green headland or a stroll on a beach inhabited only by driftwood".

The bay of Bathsheba is "the centre of the other Barbados". Flanked by "breathtaking geological formations", its "natural water pools" provide little oases of safe bathing sheltered from the breakers. "Not much happens around here": the Sea Side Bar rum shop "has but a couple of patrons", and the Island Craft shop mostly sells hammocks, which were out of stock when I visited. But there are still plenty of interesting things to see – including Farley Hill, once "the grounds of the island's grandest house", and now "a fine setting for open-air concerts"; and the extraordinarily well-preserved Jacobean mansion of St Nicholas Abbey.

But the outstanding feature of this part of Barbados is its natural beauty. The "rolling green hills" of Scotland District are reminiscent of Cornwall; and at nearby Harrison's Cave there are "spectacular" stalactites. Best of all is the shoreline in the southeast corner of the island, where the ocean is calm enough for swimming. Crane Beach has been named among the ten best beaches in the world – but hidden behind a tree at Ginger Bay is a "dark tunnel in the rock" that leads to a still more beautiful cove, "silent save for the waves that wash upon its narrow shore".

Thomson (0871 231 5596) offers seven nights in Barbados from £1,165, incl. flights, transfers and accommodation. ·