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In 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo, the British exiled Napoléon Bonaparte to the remote island St. Helena.
Located off the western coast of Africa, it took the defeated leader 10 weeks to travel to the island.
Two hundred years later, it still takes about five days to reach the island via mailboat from Cape Town, South Africa, according to recent Bloomberg report.
Its remoteness has not however dampened the enthusiasm of those who are prepping the island to becoming a luxury travel destination.
On October 14, the island will get its first-ever scheduled flights, Bloomberg reported. Not long after that, the first luxury hotel will open. The property, built by resort developer Mantis, will include 30 rooms spread throughout a handful of Georgian buildings.
The new hotel is far from being the only attraction on the relatively unknown island.
The house that Napoleon called home (which still includes the original furnishings) is one of the biggest attractions—but that’s only one of the reasons to visit this colorful destination.
Its other draws include being one of a small number of places on the planet where its possible to swim with massive (and harmless) whale sharks. A nearly 200-year-old tortoise also lives on the island and there are endless opportunities for mountain biking, hiking, and sportfishing.
If all of that is not reason enough to consider St. Helena for a future vacation, the scuba diving in the waters surrounding the island offers visibility up to 100 feet.
Still, all of the attractions already mentioned don’t complete the list. St. Helena is home to the world’s most remote distillery which specializes in Tungi, a spirit created from prickly pear.
If all of this has piqued your interest, here are the options for getting to the island: the Royal Mail Ship St. Helena, which travels to the island a few times each month; visiting via your own personal yacht or the newly started flights.
South African airline Airlink will offer weekly flights from Johannesburg to St. Helena.
More information about this island, which bills itself as the “Secret of the South Atlantic,” can be found on the island’s official tourism website StHelenaTourism.com
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