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Travel guide
Martinique
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: December to April (dry season)
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Welcome
Martinique, in a few days
Martinique is 80 km long and changes character every twenty or so. In the north, Mount Pelée and its rainforest, UNESCO-listed since 2023, stand above Saint-Pierre, the town the volcano wiped out in May 1902; in the south come white sand beaches, bays where turtles graze and the Diamond Rock offshore.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Mount Pelée free · half a dayThe 1,397-metre volcano that killed around 28,000 people in 1902, climbed by the steep Aileron trail from a car park already at 820 metres.
- Afternoon · Saint-Pierre and the 1902 Memorial · about 2 hThe former Little Paris of the Antilles, destroyed in minutes on 8 May 1902; walk the theatre ruins and see the cell where Cyparis survived.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Carayou€160 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Les Anses-d'Arlet free · half a dayWooden houses face a jetty aligned with the Church of Saint-Henri, and at nearby Grande Anse d'Arlet green turtles graze close to the beach.
- Afternoon · Diamond Rock and the Cap 110 Memorial free · about 1 hA 175-metre rock the Royal Navy held as HMS Diamond Rock from 1804, facing Laurent Valère's fifteen white figures recalling an 1830 slave-ship wreck.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel La Pagerie€170 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Grande Anse des Salines free · half a dayThe island's busiest beach, over a kilometre of white sand and palms at the southern tip, with a coastal trail to the Savane des Pétrifications.
- Afternoon · Habitation Clément · about 1 h 30A rum estate with an 18th-century Creole house, ageing cellars, a contemporary art foundation and the room where Mitterrand and Bush met in 1991.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Diamant Les Bains€150 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The white sandbanks of Le François · half a daySandbanks in the Atlantic lagoon where you stand waist-deep in turquoise water far from land, the best known being Josephine's Bath.
- Afternoon · Caravelle Peninsula · 2 to 3 hA nature reserve since 1976, with trails through dry forest, mangrove and clifftops to the ruins of the 18th-century Château Dubuc sugar estate.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Carayou€160 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Accras: salt cod fritters with chilli and herbs, served with the aperitif.
- Féroce: avocado mashed with salt cod, cassava flour and chilli, a starter with a kick.
- Chiquetaille de morue: shredded salt cod dressed with lime, onion and chilli, eaten cold.
- Colombo: chicken, pork or goat cooked with a spice blend brought by Indian workers in the nineteenth century.
- Blaff: fish poached in a clear broth of lime, garlic, thyme and chilli.
- Rhum agricole: rum distilled from fresh cane juice, with its own AOC since 1996. Drunk as a ti-punch with lime and cane sugar.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Keep away from the manchineel tree on the beaches, often marked with a red band. Its sap burns the skin and its small green apples are poisonous, so do not shelter under it in the rain.
- The Atlantic coast has strong currents. Swim on the Caribbean side or where the beach is supervised.
- Check the sargassum reports before choosing a beach. When the seaweed washes up and rots, it smells and gives off gas.
- Avoid the roads into and out of Fort-de-France at rush hour: the traffic jams are among the worst in France.
- Rent a car and book it early. Buses are few, and the north of the island is out of reach without one.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €120 a day, mid-range
Best seasonDecember to April (dry season)
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingNot expected, rounding up is appreciated
Emergency112 (15 ambulance, 17 police, 18 fire service)
EntryMartinique is part of France and the EU but outside the Schengen area: EU citizens need only an ID card, and UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports get 90 days visa-free. Carry a return ticket, you may be asked for it.
HealthHepatitis A is recommended. There is no malaria, but dengue circulates and chikungunya returns at times: use repellent. Avoid fresh water after heavy rain because of leptospirosis.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/martinique
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.