Martinique

Martinique is the Caribbean at its most French — an island where the boulangerie opens at dawn, the markets smell of spices and fresh fish, the beaches are extraordinary and the rum agricole is the finest in the world. It is simultaneously a French department with European infrastructure and a deeply Caribbean island with African roots, Creole culture and a landscape of volcanic drama.

Mount Pelée, the volcano that destroyed the city of Saint-Pierre in 1902 — killing 30,000 people in minutes — dominates the northern landscape with a brooding presence that reminds visitors of the island's geological power. The southern coast offers the finest beaches — Grande Anse des Salines is consistently ranked among the world's best — while the east coast faces the Atlantic with wild surf and the dramatic Caravelle Peninsula.

The Creole culture of Martinique is expressed everywhere — in the madras fabric of traditional dress, in the zouk music that drifts from open windows at night, in the fish markets of Le François and in the extraordinary rum distilleries that produce agricole rum from fresh sugarcane juice rather than molasses. This is a Caribbean island where the pleasures of French civilization and the warmth of Caribbean life exist in genuine harmony.