As quickly as we returned from our Martinique trip I knew there have been a couple of ideas that I wanted to share with everybody planning a visit to Martinique. But first, let me clarify why we ended up in Martinique for spring break.
I really received a free journey to Martinique at a journey occasion that I attended. The prize from Martinique Tourism included round-trip airfare for 2 and three nights on the five-star La Suite Villa Hotel in Trois-Ilets. Since we didn’t wish to fly to the Caribbean for such a brief journey, we determined to increase our stick with three nights on the Club Med Buccaneer’s Creek.
Since we have been in a position to keep in two elements of the island and use our rental automobile to discover different areas, we have been in a position to get a greater sense of what the island is like for a Martinique trip.
Martinique Vacation Planning Tips
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If you might be planning a visit to Martinique, listed below are the issues that you must know.
1. Martinique shouldn’t be Your Typical resort island – But There are some Gems
When you consider the Caribbean, it’s straightforward to consider lengthy stretches of sandy seashores lined with sprawling resorts. Places just like the Dominican Republic are recognized for his or her all-inclusive resorts, and others like Turks & Caicos are recognized for lovely seashores.
There are some islands, like Jamaica, the place you go and by no means actually depart the resort besides maybe for an tour to Dunn’s River Falls.
It actually isn’t like that in Martinique. Martinique is among the eighteen areas of France (clearly one among its abroad areas.) It is a residing and dealing island of practically 400,000 folks, with its important industries being development, rum (from the sugar cane grown on the island), oil refinery, cement, sugar, and tourism. The island is neither posh nor impoverished.
As a mountainous island, the seashores are extra restricted and lots of of them are comparatively small and rocky. The glittering lights of cities dot these hillsides and driving by the island you can find all of the issues wanted to maintain its inhabitants — shops, colleges, farms, neighborhoods, and so on.
Small lodges are clustered round these seashore areas and within the metropolis of Fort-de-France, the place the cruise ships dock and the place you can find the worldwide airport.
The nicest seashore is down in St. Anne, and the Club Med Buccaneer’s Creek, the place we stayed, is way more like a typical Caribbean resort than what we noticed in different elements of the island. The south usually is lusher, with rolling hills and sugar cane plantations.
The island is understood for its culinary scene, with a mixture of French and Creole influences. However, you received’t discover any well-known American or high-end worldwide resort manufacturers.  I’d additionally say that the resort rankings don’t evaluate to related rankings within the United States and main European cities.
Because of the smaller lodges, additionally, you will discover many guests hire houses or flats and stroll to native seashores and eating places. It is unquestionably a vacation spot for the extra impartial and intrepid traveler than somebody that likes to be pampered and have U.S.-level five-star service and facilities.
Where to Stay on Martinique
While I used to be right here, we went to take a look at a couple of different lodges and one I actually preferred for households was the Hotel Bambou. Although solely rated two stars, they’ve very cute bungalows for households (and suites/rooms for adults solely too), in addition to full facilities — swimming pools, seashore entry, restaurant, bar, water sports activities, and so on.
Hotel Bakoua can be a full-service resort resort on a small seashore, providing connecting rooms and suites for households. The rooms right here have been a bit of extra worn wanting and didn’t have the identical appeal as Hotel Bambou however extra rooms are beachfront.
If you don’t care a few beachfront location, La Suite Villa is really beautiful, particularly for {couples}. While not on the seashore, La Suite Villa is only a 15-minute stroll into city and close by seashores, nestled on a hill overlooking the harbor. From city, you’ll be able to catch a ferry over to the capital of Fort-de-France (saving you from the 45-minute drive.)
La Suite Villa gives the French-Caribbean appeal and character that you simply simply received’t discover at a seashore resort. We actually loved our keep right here over and above our keep at Club Med Buccaneer’s Creek from a resort high quality standpoint.
The resort has a cool, creative vibe and the bedrooms have numerous character. Ours included a balcony with a sizzling tub, which we took full benefit of, along with the infinity pool. Dining at La Villa Hotel was a real delight and an opportunity to understand the French-Caribbean influences of Martinique.
2. You actually ought to hire a automobile
Some of you could have already learn on Facebook or Instagram about my debacle upon arriving in Martinique. Hopefully, nobody else makes the errors that I made however even nonetheless, I extremely suggest renting a automobile, and right here is why:
- Taxis are costly. From Fort-de-France to Trois Ilet is 60-80 euro. From Fort-de-France to St. Anne within the south is over 100 euros. Even although I knew this, I believed it might be simpler to get a taxi than to hire a automobile, however I used to be fallacious.
- Taxis don’t take bank cards. Unfortunately, they solely take money and solely euro, so except you come geared up with numerous euros (or neglect your ATM card like me), you might be out of luck.
- Taxis are laborious to search out. When we arrived on the airport at 9 pm there have been hardly any taxis out there. And those that have been there, have been fairly choosy about who they’d and wouldn’t take. So if you will an space they don’t wish to drive to, powerful luck.
- You want to maneuver round. As I discussed above, this isn’t an island the place it’s all in regards to the resorts and other people don’t depart the resorts. You want to maneuver round. With the exception of Club Med, which is among the few all-inclusive resorts, it would be best to depart your resort for some meals and presumably to get to the seashore or discover different areas. There aren’t traces of taxis round so this may be difficult.
- There isn’t any Uber. Need I say extra?
That stated, you should make a reservation prematurely. When I arrived, most of the automobile rental counters have been closed for the night and those that have been nonetheless open wouldn’t hire to me with out a reservation.
Car leases should not low cost, however looking back, it’s price it as a result of it’s really LESS problem than discovering a cab. The line for Budget / Enterprise was HUGE on the airport so to keep away from that mess, you might wish to go together with one other model like Jumbo Cars (Sixt was closed additionally after we arrived.)
I usually use Auto Europe when evaluating automobile rental charges abroad.
I ended up renting in Trois Islet and returning to the airport from Europcar. I take advantage of Europcar typically, so I’ve a excessive degree of belief within the high quality of their autos. I normally simply search with Auto Europe and e-book one of the best deal that comes up.
3. Bring Plenty of Euro money
As a French area, the foreign money is the Euro. Perhaps it’s totally different within the cruise port, however within the many outlets and eating places we visited, I noticed just one that had an indication exhibiting that they took US {dollars}. And, as I discussed earlier, cabs solely take euros (no bank cards.)
Most outlets and eating places will take bank cards however numerous eating places are small roadside institutions from somebody grilling up chickens to meals vans or produce stands.
When you might be having hassle discovering restaurant availability, this can be your solely choice (sure, we have been turned away from a restaurant with out a lunch reservation — I feel as a result of they have been anticipating a tour group.)
Unlike nations like Iceland the place just about everybody took bank cards, I didn’t discover fairly the identical in Martinique so I’d be sure to have some money readily available.
4. Learn Some French
Martinique is a part of France. They converse French. Many of their guests are from France. Until not too long ago with new airline routes opening up, there wasn’t an enormous want for locals to talk English exterior of the cruise port space.
This may be true in eating places, outlets, and even resort check-in. It actually helps to both brush up on some French phrases (I like DuoLingo for language studying), obtain an offline French phrase e-book (I like Fodor’s Travel Phrases app), or preserve your telephone linked to information to make use of Google Translate.
Even studying the menus could be a problem in case you are not a French speaker. This acquired us in some hassle in Paris a couple of years again, so a menu translator app or Google Translate is vital.
5. Watch your Speed When Driving
After my advice to hire a automobile, I want so as to add that you should watch your pace. I used to be a really cautious driver on this journey, many instances with locals flying previous me once they acquired the possibility.
And nonetheless, I woke to an electronic mail (in French after all) that notified me of a site visitors violation. Apparently, in some unspecified time in the future on our travels, I exceeded the pace restrict, though it’s laborious to think about the place, and I used to be caught by a site visitors digicam.
Not solely do I must pay a high quality to France, however I additionally had a further payment to pay with my rental automobile firm. This additionally occurred to us in Iceland, so I feel it’s a sensible however tough method to generate extra income for the native authorities. Driver beware!
Bonus Tip: Avoid the Beach at Dusk or Dark
One extra tip is to keep away from strolling barefoot on the seashore at sundown or after darkish. There are little sand fleas that wish to chew round that point of day. Otherwise, ensure to convey your sunscreen and bug spray, and have enjoyable!
Those are my prime ideas for planning a Martinique trip! I hope you don’t make the identical errors I did (simply don’t neglect your ATM card and ensure to e-book a rental automobile prematurely of arrival.)
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