Six of the best private islands to rent

If you want to roll naked in the surf, plot world domination like a bald Bond baddie or just be alone, it's hard to top Virgin boss Richard Branson's private paradise in the British Virgin Islands. The bearded mogul takes credit for discovering the island in the late 1970s, and wasted no time turning it into an ultra-luxe hideaway. Its 10-room villa and two bougainvillea-draped Balinese cottages nestle amid five beaches, two pools, a huge Jacuzzi, an aqua trampoline, tennis courts and lush jungle walkways. He'll rent it to you for HK$117,000 a day for up to seven guests. 'It's important to share beautiful things,' he explains. 'I think it would be an indulgence not to, basically.' Revel in 'warm turquoise waters, sumptuous Balinese silks and linens, a dedicated staff', and beds that have been slept in by the likes of Diana, Princess of Wales, Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey (www.necker.com).

Let's pop over to the Bahamas, shall we, where this palm-fringed gem awaits. 'Enjoy the bounty of the Bahamian sun in complete, uninterrupted peace' promise its operators, who will even arrange a wedding in a private chapel should you be swept away by the romance of it all. There's a main residence with two double rooms, as well as two guesthouses, the Flamingo House and the Peacock House - so named for the birds that strut around the island. Bedrooms are strewn with corals and shells and sit amid fresh-picked bougainvillea and mimosa. It costs a hefty $428,000 a week (www.littlewhalecay.com).

Nominated one of Conde Nast Traveler's 50 most romantic escapes in the world, this Sri Lankan isle is just the place to release your inner eccentric. The sprawling octagonal mansion was built by world-class weirdo Count de Mauny in the 1920s, and has been inhabited since by tortured novelist Paul Bowles, sci-fi visionary and inventor Arthur C. Clarke and the enormously wealthy arts patron Peggy Guggenheim. Its faintly mouldering colonial furnishings and wrap-around verandahs are tailor-made for inducing day-dreams - indeed, Taprobane is also known as the Isle of Dreams, and guests often gain the impression they have stepped into a 1930s novel. White-tiled floors and high wooden ceilings are enlivened by splashes of colour that reflect the sea and sky. In the bed-rooms, ceiling fans beat lazily over four-poster beds draped with lacy mosquito netting. The dining room overlooks the Indian Ocean, where there is nothing but sea between you and the South Pole. It's yours for a mere $7,790 a day (www.taprobaneisland.com).