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Visitors to MARTINIQUE will have to do some legwork to discover the island Columbus once lauded as the "?most charming country there is in the world". Aggressive development has resulted in resort towns complete with artificial beaches and pastel-hued cement hotels more appropriate to a Florida landscape than the French West Indies. That said, Martinique's resort emphasis makes the island ideal for all-inclusive travel, and most resorts organize optional day trips to the spots that give an idea of what brought the developers here in the first place.

The second largest holding in the French West Indian empire, Martinique's 1100-square-kilometre terrain is topped by a series of mountain peaks. The most imposing, the dormant Mont-Pelee volcano, wreaked devastation on St-Pierre in 1902; traipsing about the fabled city's charred ruins nowadays is an eerie experience. Botanical gardens teeming with indigenous flora evoke Martinique's original designation as Madinina (island of flowers), while the stupendous Habitation Clement distillery hosts a fascinating anti-Columbus exhibit. In between these sights, villages like isolated Grand' Riviere and Atlantic-facing Tartane steadfastly retain the customs emblematic of traditional Caribbean fishing villages; the latter, on the Presqu'Ile Caravelle , is also the island's most laid-back destination, a wonderfully underdeveloped stretch that boasts some of Martinique's finest beaches.

Most package tours head straight to Martinique's southern edges, where the island's spectacular Les Salines beach is located, along with a host of smaller white- sand stretches, and hamlets like Ste-Anne and Diamant that have escaped the build-up elsewhere. The island's beaches get increasingly black as you head north, culminating in the breathtaking Anse Couleuvre at the island's furthest reaches - the place to go for total isolation.

Your Tips For Martinique

student traveler

Jane says "I want to go to Martinique to do some sociology research and observation, but I want to do it cheap.
How possible is it to backpack around and find reasonable places to stay?"

• Southern Martinique Travel Videos
  Martinique Travel Itinerary
  Most sun-worshippers head directly to SOUTHERN MARTINIQUE , where the Caribbean is bordered by the island's only white-sand beaches , including Les Salines , at the southernmost tip. - Martinique
  

• Northern Martinique Travel Videos
  Martinique Travel Itinerary
  The blend of ruins, botanical gardens, rainforests and mountainous areas common to NORTHERN MARTINIQUE offers a sharp counterpoint to its southern resort towns. - Martinique
  

• Fort-de-France Martinique Travel Videos
  Martinique Travel Itinerary
  Often likened to a miniature Paris, FORT-DE-FRANCE is stunning to behold when arriving by sea, with its panorama of colonial houses and multiple church steeples wrapping around the Baie des Flamands and ascending into the surrounding moutainside. - Martinique
  

• Central Martinique Travel Videos
  Martinique Travel Itinerary
  CENTRAL MARTINIQUE , the region that extends south from the capital to Trois-Ilets and north to Ste-Marie, consists of little more than suburban outposts. - Martinique