Martinique in 4 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.
The plan, day by day
Day 1
- Morning
Mount Peléefree · 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.
- Late afternoon
Saint-Pierre and the 1902 Memorialabout 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.
Day 2
- Morning
Les Anses-d'Arletfree · 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.
- Late afternoon
Diamond Rock and the Cap 110 Memorialfree · 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.
Day 3
- Morning
Grande Anse des Salinesfree · 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.
- Late afternoon
Habitation Clémentabout 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.
Day 4
- Morning
The white sandbanks of Le Françoishalf a daySandbanks in the Atlantic lagoon where you stand waist-deep in turquoise water far from land, the best known being Josephine's Bath.
- Late afternoon
Caravelle Peninsula2 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 in Martinique
- Hôtel Bambou · €100 a night
- Hôtel Le Manguier · €100 a night
- Hôtel Pélican · €100 a night
- Hôtel Carayou · €160 a night
- Hôtel La Pagerie · €170 a night
- Diamant Les Bains · €150 a night
- Le Bakoua · €250 a night
- French Coco · €400 a night
Plan this trip
Hotel prices per room per night, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.