Overview

Wish you could make a short hop to France - and get a tan at the same time? Think Martinique.

For more than two centuries, this beautiful isle has been the cultural hub of the French West Indies. During that time it has survived wars (with the British), the French Revolution, a cataclysmic volcanic explosion (which erased its showcase city, St. Pierre, the stylish "Paris of the Caribbean," from the landscape) and gave birth to an empress (Napoleon's Josephine).

Today this sophisticated tropical island is a French oasis, with more than a hundred restaurants in the capital of Fort de France, whose broad bay has beckoned yachtsmen for generations. The sailor who steps ashore at marinas around the island can trade tiller for tees at a lovely championship 18-hole course at Trois Ilets or hike rain forest trails (including one that leads to the coast at Grand Rivière). The best beaches (palm-lined Les Salines tops the list) dot the southern coast and attract crowds only on weekends, and nearly every beachfront hotel has windsurfing gear.

You'll need to brush up on your French for those menus, but the French-Creole entertainment in bars and clubs needs no translation. And you have to love an island where you can tour a dozen or so rum distilleries....

 Plan Your Trip

SIGHTSEEING

For a drive that encompasses some of the island's most beautiful scenery, take La Trace road north from Fort de France. Ten minutes will bring you to the town of Balata and Sacré Coeur, a scaled-down replica of the famed basilica in Montmartre that overlooks Fort de France. Stop at the Jardin de Balata, one of the Caribbean's finest tropical gardens - which will set the stage for the drive north (a route blazed by Jesuits in the 1600s) that cuts through a verdant landscape of mountains, rain forest, and waterfalls. At Morne Rouge, turn toward the west coast and Saint Pierre, where museums tell the story of the tragic 1902 explosion of Mount Pelee. Head back down the coast to Fort de France, but stop in at the Paul Gauguin museum, which features memorabilia and reproductions of paintings he did here in 1887.

DINING

In Martinique, most dishes reflect a delicious marriage of French and Creole cuisines. You won't always find an English menu, but you won't go wrong starting the evening with a classic petit punch (rum, sugar syrup, and lime juice), followed by poulet au nois de coco (coconut chicken), gratin de christophines (baked squash), and bananes flambees au rhum blanc (bananas flambéed with white rum).

NIGHTLIFE

Zouk once meant only "to party," but zouk today is a hot dance music unique to Martinique - and popular far beyond the Caribbean. Inspired by both the bolero rhythms of biguine dance music and the modern sounds of synthesizers, groups like the legendary Kassav turned zouk into a major force at dance clubs. Fort de France has more than a dozen lively clubs, but one of the best places to hear both zouk (and le jazz hot) is the Cotton Club on the beach at Anse Mitan.

 Where to Stay

 Forums

 News & Events

 Related Articles