Beyond Hell's Gate, the Road cuts through rainforest-covered cliffs, offering spectacular views across the island as it winds towards WINDWARDSIDE , the main base for hiking trips and home to the tiny but worthy Saba Museum. It's a charming, relaxed and welcoming village with little traffic, and it makes the best place to stay and eat on the island. Bougainvillea, banana and palm trees line the road, lending colour to village gardens.

At the far end of the village, the tourist office (Mon-Fri 8am-5pm; ), a small café and several art galleries are housed in Lambee's Place , once home to Josephus Lambert Hassell, a Saban who took a correspondence course in engineering and - despite official and learned protests that it was impossible - designed and oversaw the construction of "the road that couldn't be built", running from the airport in the north to Fort Bay in the south. A plaque outside the tourist office recalls Hassell's exploits; just beyond here you can start the hike to Mount Scenery.

The Saba Museum (Mon-Fri 10am-noon & 1-4pm; US$2), housed in a 150-year-old cottage, recreates with a touch of nostalgia the traditional home of a nineteenth-century Saban sea captain, with a four-poster bed draped with Saban lace, a piano, maps and sextants in the study, and an old rock oven in the kitchen. Scattered around the house are artefacts from the island's past, among them pre-Columbian Amerindian finds such as a large cooking pot, polishing stones, tools and a cassava griddle. Much of the island's history is told through magazine articles from around the world that recount visits to Saba over the last century (particularly hair-raising are the descriptions of arriving by sea), as well as letters to and from Saban residents written in the eighteenth century. Pride of place goes to a letter from George Bush senior, thanking a Mr and Mrs Stewart for their (unspecified) support during the Gulf War. The bust in the pretty grounds is of revolutionary Simón Bolívar, a gift from the government of Venezuela.

Southeast of Windwardside, Booby Hill has a couple of small hotels as well as some of the island's most expensive houses, which command magnificent views out to sea.