Exotic Staten Island

Adagio

Fri
Your tour of the stepchild borough’s laid-back havens begins by checking into Victorian Bed & Breakfast (92 Taylor St between Degroot and Trinity Pls; 718-273-9861, victorianbedandbreakfast.net. Rooms start at $85; take the S40 bus), on a tree-lined residential street. Innkeeper Danuta Gorlach will lead you to one of four quaint bedrooms; in order to most feel as if you’re in the country, request the one on the third floor, adjoining a lodgelike reading room.

Next stop: Van Duzer Street, a lively strip in the burgeoning Stapleton neighborhood. First, have some plump fried oysters or an Asian-style steak at Vida(381 Van Duzer St -between Beach and Wright Sts, 718-720-1501; take the S78 bus). Grab a well-worn couch across the street for some live music in the back room at The Cup (388 Van Duzer St between Beach and Wright Sts; 718-818-8100, thecupsi.com). Down the street, the ideal nightcap awaits: a $5 Tanqueray and tonic at the brick-walled Martini Red(372 Van Duzer St at Beach St, 718-442-9362).

Sat
After breakfast at the B&B, venture into Annandale for a tranquil walk with a naturalist at Blue Heron Park (222 Poillon Ave between Amboy Rd and Hylan Blvd; 718-967-3542, preserve2.org/blueheron. Walks are Saturdays and Sundays, noon–4pm. Take the  S59 or S78 bus). Then hit the counter at Nunzio’s (2155 Hylan Blvd at Midland Ave, 718-667-9647) for aslice of thin-crust pizza with tangy sauce.

Clean up and poke your head into the elegant Adagio (1248 Bay St between Maryland and Scarboro Aves, 718-420-0288; take the S51 bus), where you’ll find beaded bracelets strung with recycled glass beads from Ghana and Java, plus a garden full of pretty potted blooms to take home. Dinner is a tasty, no-frills affair at the New Asha Sri Lankan Restaurant (322 Victory Blvd at Cebra Ave, 718-420-0649; take the S45, S48, S52, S61, S62, S66 or S67 bus). Place your order up front and you’ll get paper plates heaped with cheap -vege-table roti and chunks of spicy chicken and veggies.

Sun
Look for a spot on South Beach (Father Capodanno Blvd at Sand Ln, 718-816-6804; take the S51 bus). Be grateful that the FDR boardwalk, the world’s fourth largest, isn’t as packed as Coney Island’s. The brunch at soul-food eatery Hoppin’ Johns (125 Beach St -between St. Pauls Ave and Van Duzer St, 718-727-2244; take the S78 bus) is memo-rable. Feast on homemade grits and silver-dollar pancakes and splurge on cakey banana pudding. Finally, walk up the bench-lined path at Arthur von Briesen Park (Bay St and School Rd; nycgovparks.org; take S51 bus)for the ultimate weekend good-bye: the breath-taking view of the Verrazano Bridge and Fort Wadsworth.—Alia Akkam