Not to miss

Aitutaki lacks Rarotonga's popularity and sheer physical beauty but it has charms all its own. It sits at one corner of a triangular lagoon dotted with lovely motu (small islands), and it's historically interesting, with a number of impressive pre-European religious meeting grounds there.

Arutanga is the main village - a sleepy place with a weathered 1828 CICC church, the oldest and one of the most beautiful in the Cooks, with lots of carved wood and stained glass windows. There are lots of funky little shops, and the view of the coastline from the end of the jetty is superb.

There are some impressive black basalt marae stones near the southeastern shore, many among the largest in the islands and each with its own name. Maungapu, on the northern end of the island, is just 125m (410ft), but the easy half-hour hike is worth it for the great view of the island and the lagoon. The lagoon itself is a wonder: dotted with sandbars, coral ridges and 21 motu - and free of sharks. Among the motu worth visiting are Maina, which has great snorkeling and red-tailed tropicbird nests, and Tapuaeta'i, also known as One Foot Island, which boasts a perfect beach and brilliant turquoise waters.

Avarua, the capital of the Cook Islands and Rarotonga's main town, lies in the middle of the northern coast. Avarua used to be a sleepy little port, very much the image of a South Seas trading centre, but it got spruced up for the 1992 international Maire Nui festival, and it's still looking good.

But its relaxed, friendly ambience remains. The focal point of the town is the traffic circle, located toward the eastern end of town near Avarua Harbour. Just east of the circle is the Seven-in-One Coconut Tree, a group of trees growing in a perfect circle of their own. Legend has it that they've grown from the same seed.

Among the reminders of the missionary era of the 19th century are the Papeiha Stone, named for the first person to preach the Christian gospel in the Cook Islands; and the CICC Church, dating from 1853 and graced with a beautiful graveyard.