The British finished this prison in 1906 to lock away freedom fighters, and most of Port Blair's history runs through it. Three of the original seven wings still stand. You can walk the corridors, look into the tiny cells and climb to the central tower for a view over the harbour.

Go in the daytime for the museum, then come back after dark for the light and sound show. Show tickets sell out in peak season, so book them the day you arrive.

The city's own beach, and the easiest thing to do on arrival day. It is a short curve of sand with palms behind it and Snake Island just offshore. The road in passes a line of Japanese bunkers from the Second World War.

Jet ski and speedboat rides run from here. If you only want a swim and a coconut, an hour is plenty.

A small museum about the islands' tribes: the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese, and the Nicobarese and Shompen further south. The tools, canoes and old photographs explain a lot about why parts of the islands are closed to visitors.

Worth doing before a Baratang trip, since that road runs through the Jarawa reserve.

Run by the Indian Navy. Inside you'll find shells, corals, a small aquarium and the skeleton of a blue whale in the garden. Kids tend to like it more than the other museums.

The government Fisheries Museum near Marine Hill has more live fish tanks if you want a second stop. It shuts on Mondays and the second Saturday of the month.

Set up in 1883 and still cutting timber, this is one of the oldest sawmills in Asia. You walk past the machines while they work, then into a Forest Museum full of carved padauk and other island woods.

It closes early, so put it in the morning. Most people forget this and arrive at 3 pm.

This tiny island was the British headquarters until an earthquake in 1941 and the Japanese occupation in 1942. Now the church, bakery, officers' club and water tank are slowly being swallowed by fig roots. Spotted deer and peacocks walk around as if they own the place.

Wear proper shoes, because the paths go uphill. The island is closed on Wednesdays.

The red-and-white lighthouse here is the one printed on the old ₹20 note. The reef off the beach is the easiest place near the city to see coral, and the guides hold non-swimmers by the hand the whole time.

Almost everyone does Ross and North Bay together as one half-day boat trip. Drinking water is sold on the island, but carry some anyway.

Before Cellular Jail was built, prisoners were held here. The ruins of the old jail and the gallows still stand on the hilltop. It is quieter than Ross and takes a little imagination, but history buffs like it.

You usually see it on the afternoon harbour cruise rather than as a separate trip.

These two islands sit inside the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, and the water is the clearest you'll find near Port Blair. Only one of them is usually open at a time so the reef can recover. The glass-bottom boat is good enough that you don't need to swim.

Plastic bottles and bags are not allowed on the islands, so pack food in steel or paper.

The name means "bird island", and early mornings here are loud with birdsong. Most people come in the afternoon instead, for the sunset from Munda Pahar beach at the southern tip of the island.

The Chidiya Tapu Biological Park is on the same road if you have kids with you. The sea along this stretch is not safe for swimming.

The second-highest point in the Andamans, renamed Mount Manipur in 2021. A forest road climbs to the top, where the old British summer residence once stood, and the view of North Bay lighthouse from here is the one on the ₹20 note.

It is a few degrees cooler than the city. Go early in the morning for clear views and birds.

A long, flat beach with mangroves at one end and dead tree trunks from the 2004 tsunami still standing in the sand. It is very quiet on weekdays.

Since the Jolly Buoy boats leave from the jetty here, most people see Wandoor on the way back from the islands.

There are no water sports and hardly any stalls at Collinpur, which is the whole point. It is a wide beach with a calm view across the bay and very few people.

Good for a third or fourth day in Port Blair, once the main sights are done.

The longest day trip from Port Blair and, for many of our guests, the most memorable. The road runs through the Jarawa tribal reserve in a timed convoy, then a speedboat takes you through mangrove creeks to the limestone caves. Many trips also stop at the mud volcano.

Stopping, photographing or handing anything to the Jarawa people is illegal, and drivers take this seriously. The caves are closed on Mondays.