Gustavia | Eden Rock Hotel | St. Barth Beach Hotel

Soleil worshipper? You don’t have to jet across the pond this winter for French immersion. Instead, hop a Caribbean-bound flight to St. Barts in the French West Indies.

Perfectly designed for a long weekend getaway, the 8-square-mile island of St. Barthélemy is off the beaten path (the cruise ships don’t dock there) and refreshingly devoid of large resort hotels (thanks to a law that prohibits buildings from being taller than two stories), only serving to add to the allure of this tropical island’s intimate and pedestrian-friendly atmosphere. “It’s totally French. It feels like it was transplanted from a small village in Provence,” says Stiles Bennet, president of WIMCO Villas, which publishes the Vendome Guide to St. Barthélemy. Here are our picks for the best the island has to offer.

EAT Celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten hooked up with Eden Rock Hotel’s On the Rocks (fine dining served on a rock that juts out onto St. Jean Bay) and Sand Bar (offering a casual lunch menu) in late November to redesign the menus. No stranger to St. Barts, the chef, born in Alsace, France, also keeps a house on the ­island. For dinner at On the Rocks, St. Barts lobster is served with basil, lemon and Asian coleslaw, or folded into lobster tacos; there are plenty of Asian noodle dishes, too, and signature cocktails aplenty. Victoria’s Restaurant, tucked into Hotel Carl Gustaf, offers a new twist on an old concept: “mystery” prix fixe menus that are of the chef’s design. And for late-night snacks, B4 Lounge, inside an adorable Creole clapboard cottage in the heart of the island’s capital city of Gustavia, serves tapas and French-cheese plates (locals love the to-go pizzas).

SLEEP If you’ve got cash to burn, inquire about Eden Rock Hotel’s new Villa Rockstar, which hosts a private recording studio and a bar stocked with 40 whiskeys. Or, book a private painting lesson with the hotel’s artist-in-­residence (the hotel also has a full-blown contemporary-art gallery). Fresh off a 2009 renovation, the 12-room Tom Beach Hotel on St. Jean Beach also dabbles in art with a new art gallery that showcases fine art against stark-white walls. Its restaurant, La Plage (French for “the beach”), is a personal favorite of celebrity chef Todd English.

SHOP Gustavia is home to many high-end, magnifique boutiques. Pick up a beach-chic tunic or a silk sundress at Lolita Jaca, scan the indie-­designer apparel at Toulouse, France-based ­Kristina ­Popovitch, scoop up duty-free accessories­ from French luxury-fashion houses like Hermès and Louis Vuitton, or browse photography books (some rare and signed) at Clic Bookstore & ­Gallery, which is run by Christiane Celle, the founder of the Calypso St. Barth’s fashion label.

SPA/SPORT Hotel Le Christopher in Pointe Milou rolled out its brand-new spa just in time for winter; 15 different massages are on the menu, including Lomi Lomi, Ayurvedic and Balinese. Another must-stop for spa devotees is the Hotel Saint-Barth Isle de France, on the island’s northwest side. Its Citrus Drench body treatment helps heal sun damage (an unfortunate casualty of Caribbean vacations), and there’s also a gazebo for massages en plain air (book early, though). While surfing conditions are right on only some beaches, windsurfing is king at Grand Cul de Sac beach on the island’s eastern side. Wind Wave Power, on the beach near St. Barth Beach Hotel, rents equipment and offers lessons. At the same beach, 7e Ciel runs kite-surfing courses, equipment included.