If you travel 4000 km east of Rio in Brazil or 1950 km west of the border between Namibia and Angola you should be in the right place! You can see us on a map here. Zoom out for best effect...!

The most obvious way is to fly via the weekly scheduled air service operated by SA Airlink which departs every Saturday bound for St Helena from Johannesburg OR Tambo. A return flight also returns from St Helena to Johannesburg OR Tambo on a Saturday.

For a good description of St Helena's climate visit the St Helena Tourism website.

Depending on your nationality you may need a visa to visit St Helena. You can check this by visiting the St Helena online E-Visa service. All passports (except British Overseas Territories (St Helena) passports) will need to remain in date for 6 months beyond your arrival date onto the island.

It will be necessary for you to have adequate medical insurance, proof of confirmed accommodation, enough funds for the duration of your stay and an onward ticket from St Helena.

Yes, one that covers you for all medical and repatriation and medevac costs. St Helena has a modern hospital with a decent standard of care available and can handle common emergencies. However, visitors (including UK passport holders) will be charged a fee for treatment as it is not covered by the NHS. You are also advised to include cancellation insurance.

The ability to use debit and credit cards on St Helena is very limited. It is best to make sure you have cash for local payments. There is only one island bank - the Bank of St Helena which is located in the Market Square, Jamestown. To obtain money travellers' cheques can be exchanged for local currency (the St Helena pound) which is at parity to the British pound sterling. Currency exchange is available for a limited number of currencies including Sterling, US Dollars, Euros and South African Rand bank notes. Cash advances are available from the bank for holders of major debit and credit cards although there may charges for these services advertised locally in the bank. There are no ATM or cash machines on the island.

Booking accommodation on the island can take time if you go direct because not all accommodation providers are immediately accessible online. Let us know what you're looking for and we can take all the leg work out of the process for you. Alternatively, you can use our online booking facility to secure your reservations instantly in most cases.

We strongly recommend you book a car as far in advance as possible because when you arrive on the island, you may not find one available such is the demand. Let us know your requirements and we can take care of this for you. Car hire charges are very reasonable and vary from £12 to £20 per day.This usually includes insurance but there may be delivery and collection charges applied. There is usually an excess so small damage may require payment by the client directly to the hire business when the rental period is finished. Before driving, take your driver's license to the Police station at the Grand Parade in Jamestown so the details may be recorded.

The highest concentration of shops is in Jamestown with local shops scattered across the island. In Jamestown most shops close Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, but reopen between 6.30 pm and 8.30 pm Saturday evenings. Shops in other parts of the island tend to not observe these closing times.

Yes. It is an entry requirement of St Helena immigration. Your policy must include cover for medical expenses, repatriation and/or medical evacuation. Medical facilities (although modern) and specialisms are limited on the island. In addition, it is strongly recommended that you take out flight cancellation and delay insurance.