Table of Contents

Introduction

I just got back from my first trip to the beautiful island of Martinique! It far exceeded even my high expectations, and I can confidently say it’s been my favorite vacation ever to date (we also headed to Barbados for the second half of the trip, more on that later).

Personally I’m pretty passionate about rum/rhum, so that was definitely the primary reason my boyfriend and I chose Martinique as our trip destination, but nevertheless it’s still a vacation for us (and not *just* a rum tour), so it was also a priority to explore everything else beyond rum.

Really awesome playing cards with vintage rhum labels

FREE Ti Punch station (what?!) at Le Petibonum restaurant

In the end, I felt like we achieved the perfect balance of rum, beach relaxation, nature/hiking, and cultural/history exploration. If this sounds like your type of vacation, I hope you find this guide helpful! If you have any questions on anything, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or shoot me a line.

Hike through the mangrove forests on the Caravelle Peninsula

Ruins of an old animal-powered sugar mill at Château Dubuc

The quaint northern seaside town of Grand’Rivière

Distillery JM, nestled in the jungles beneath a volcano

PS, if you’re not super familiar with French-style rhums, Matt Pietrek has an incredibly thorough piece all about it here on CocktailWonk. Very useful background to set the context and help you get the most out of your rhum explorations!

PPS, as an alternative to this plan-it-yourself vacation, rum expert Benoît Bail from The Rum Embassy offers small-group weeklong rhum immersion tours, with lodging, food&drink, local transportation, and distillery tours all included for a flat rate. You can find more info here. I’ve met Benoît in person and he is super friendly and chill, and also happens to be one of the world’s leading experts on agricole rhum. So, if that interests you and works with your schedule, definitely check it out.

And finallyyy….standard disclaimer: everything mentioned below is purely based on my impressions from a single 6-day trip around Martinique in December 2018…all thoughts and opinions are my own, so take it for what it’s worth. 🙂

Getting There

Flights

I do most of my flight research using Google Flights (if you’ve never used this, you’re missing out!). Leaving from San Francisco, I noticed that most all the flights went through Montreal, so instead of having a super long travel period dealing with layovers, we decided to spend a few days exploring Montreal. From Montreal, Norwegian Airlines has direct flights to Martinique for about $100-200! What a steal, right?! Norwegian also offers direct flights to Martinique from Fort Lauderdale and NYC (and maybe other cities too), for as low as $69 one way nonstop. I can fully vouch that Norwegian flights are some of the comfiest flights I’ve been on, so it’s totally legit. You may have to pay a bit extra to check a bag, but it’s still a huge bargain. What are you waiting for?!

Visa

Martinique is an overseas region of France, but is not considered part of the Schengen Area (for border travel policies). That said, as US citizens we did not need a visa. Wikipedia has a good overview on visa-policy for various nationalities.

When to go

We went in early December, which was the offseason for agricole rhum production. As sugarcane has to be harvested, juiced, and made into rhum very quickly (a period of just a few days max between harvest and distillation), these efforts are concentrated in just half the year from January to August. The best period to visit to catch the action is probably between Feb-June, when almost all distilleries should be active.

Of course, don’t worry if you can’t go during that time; it’ll still be an amazing magical time! We were there in the offseason and though we didn’t get to see any live sugarcane action, the distilleries are all still open with tours, and there are cane fields aplenty, all gearing up for harvest! The life cycle of a sugarcane plant to reach maturity is 1 year, so they are cut around the same time each year. You can tell they’re ‘ready’ for harvesting when you see a little flower tassel at the top of the long stalk (many meters high at this point!)

Sugarcane ready for harvest with the flower tassel on top

100+ year old steam-powered cane crusher at La Favorite Distillery

As for weather, being located so close to the equator, Martinique is warm year-round, with temperatures hovering around 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit. The rainy season is between June-October. From our short December trip, we experienced random quick spurts of rain (usually in the morning or evening), and overall the weather was comfortable. Early mornings and late evenings were in my opinion THE most perfect temperature for humans (cool, windy, slightly moist air). During the day, it would get a bit hot combined with the humidity. Overall, exactly what you’d expect from a Caribbean vacation!

Enjoying a Ti Punch on the beach. The water is super warm!

Get ready to be nice and sun tanned! 😉

How long to stay

In total, we were in Martinique for 6 days, which I found to be a good length of time to see and do most things we wanted (one full week would probably be perfect for a first trip). Of course we could always stay longer (as is true anywhere!), but I think at a minimum you’d want at least 4 days or so to get a feel for what the island has to offer. See our detailed daily itinerary below.

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Trip Preparation

Orienting yourself – Basics

Geography: Martinique is located in the Caribbean Sea, with Dominica to the north (and Guadeloupe right above that) and St. Lucia to the south. It’s about 1000 square kilometers in land size, and easily navigable by car. The north side is more rocky and with rugged coastlines, while the south has more swim-friendly beaches for relaxing. More on that below.

Language: Martinique is part of France, so French is the official language. Locals may also speak Creole, but if you know French, you’re set. If you don’t know French (like us, who knew nothing more than ‘je ne parle pas français’), you’ll still be ok. Download Google Translate on your phone and the French language pack to be available offline. And don’t be that American who goes to the deli and asks if there are French Fries in the baguette sandwich in the most American accent while dressed like a bro (yes, we witnessed this).





Phone/Internet : I use AT&T and went with the International Day Pass option, which is $10 per day to use your normal plan while abroad. I’d read some stories about the challenges of getting a local SIM card working, so we just passed on working through that mess (especially since it would have been extra challenging without knowing any French). I think most US carriers have similar international usage programs. Cell coverage was pretty solid throughout the island. Wifi was generally available at larger establishments, though I probably wouldn’t rely on that as your only source of internet.

: I use AT&T and went with the International Day Pass option, which is $10 per day to use your normal plan while abroad. I’d read some stories about the challenges of getting a local SIM card working, so we just passed on working through that mess (especially since it would have been extra challenging without knowing any French). I think most US carriers have similar international usage programs. Cell coverage was pretty solid throughout the island. Wifi was generally available at larger establishments, though I probably wouldn’t rely on that as your only source of internet. Money: The Euro is the currency here. We found most places we visited took card, so there wasn’t a huge need to have a lot of cash on hand.

Packing

I’m sure you all know how to pack for a vacation, but here are some tidbits that might be useful for a rhum-focused Martinique trip!

You’ll want to buy and bring back A LOT of rhum. Be prepared. The prices are RIDICULOUSLY cheap (I’m talking like $10 a liter for amazing 55% abv rhum) and the selection of things you can’t find elsewhere is astounding. (Read up more on rhum shopping below!) As such, make sure you’re not overly stuffing your suitcase and leave room (and weight allotment) for bottles. We ended up picking out 9 bottles from Martinique, though I easily wanted to bring back double that amount!

How to pack your booze

Between the 2 of us, we had 2 checked bags – one carry on sized suitcase (22” x 14” x 9″) and one slightly larger (26” x 16” x 10.5”). For our carry-ons, we had a medium-large backpack and a large (empty) duffel bag stuffed into one of the suitcases (which we filled up on the way back). This is what we were able to bring back in total from the trip (some are from Barbados, our other Caribbean stop on the trip).

Everything we fit in our luggage for our 2 week Caribbean trip to Martinique and Barbados

Some useful tools to supplement the rhum-running include

Portable luggage scale: I have this one from Amazon. Love it, easy to use and light-weight. You’ll want this to make sure you don’t exceed the 23kg/50lb limit for checked bags.

Wine diapers: these are slightly strange but it’s basically a padded bag for bottles and can supposedly absorb up to 750ml of liquid in case of broken bottles. You can of course wrap bottles in clothing, but in my opinion these just provided some extra security and peace of mind; plus they’re reusable and don’t take up too much space. We didn’t have any casualties and I’ll definitely be using these for future travels as well.

Etekcity Luggage Scale, from Amazon

Wine Diaper bottle bag, from Amazon

Putting this into action

Weight more-so than volume was the limiting factor (23kg/50lb limit), as glass bottles are super heavy! When preparing your clothes and other items, try to opt for lighter pieces, and put your heavier pieces in a carry-on or in the smaller suitcase (which will hold/weigh less) when possible. Better yet – wear it if you can! Here is how I usually divvy it up: Large checked suitcase: bulkier, lighter-weight items, & as many bottles as possible Smaller checked suitcase: heavier, smaller items, & as many bottles as possible Carry ons: non-liquid heavy or fragile items

Some of the fancier bottles we purchased came in boxes. I generally kept these in their boxes, which offered a layer of protection, and just wrapped some clothing around the box. Since the box adds bulk and not so much weight, it generally went in the larger suitcase. If the box was unnecessarily large or heavy, I tossed it.

For box-less bottles, I used the Wine Diapers mentioned above.

I use packing cubes when traveling to keep my clothing organized (it’s also a great space saver as it can compress clothing quite nicely). I’ve also discovered that these make for amazing ways to hold liquor bottles snugly, by tucking a bottle between your rolled clothes, and zipping it up securely.

When packing, make sure you pad the edges of the suitcase with clothing or soft items so that they don’t directly come into contact with a bottle. The airport staff transporting your luggage generally aren’t known for their gentleness and care, so you don’t want any impact to shatter your bottles.

This is probably obvious, but make sure you don’t have two glass bottles directly touching each other. If they must be stored together, then make sure you pad each well with clothing.

be stored together, then make sure you pad each well with clothing. Bring some large ziploc bags (i.e. gallon sized) and plastic grocery bags. These can also be useful for wrapping around bottles for padding when you’re short on the right sized (or clean-enough) clothing. If your bottle is small enough to fit inside, it also makes for nice leak-proof protection.

For more booze packing tips, again CocktailWonk comes through with an amazing article rich with useful information!

Other useful things to pack

Rain jacket: If you plan on hiking Mount Pelée (which you ABSOLUTELY should, more on this below) or any other sustained outdoor activity, this will be useful to have on hand. Outside of this, I don’t think there’s a need to bring any other jackets as the weather is pretty comfortable year-round. You’ll pretty much just want to be in shorts everyday.

Hiking boots

Lots and lots of sunscreen! (ps my favorite is this La Roche-Posay one. Not only was it ranked the top effective sunscreen by Consumer Reports, it is the first sunscreen I ever used that felt comfortable on the skin. Since it is a bit expensive, I only use this for my face but it’s life-changing)

Bug spray: Not absolutely necessary, but useful to have on hand to avoid bug bites. Beware, there are sand fleas in the sand, particularly in the evenings! We made the mistake of lying down in the sand to watch a sunset, and paid for it dearly with bites galore.

Outlet adapter and splitters: Martinique has the same type of outlets as France, so an international power adapter should have you covered.

Getting Around

Rent a car. You will *definitely* need a car to get around to see the island. Taxis and public transportation are hard to come by, if even available (and $$$$$$). We rented through Avis (booked online), which seemed to be one of the few agencies that had Automatic cars on hand. If you’re not comfortable driving Manual, make sure you take note of this when renting! Picking up the car was pretty straight-forward. There was a shuttle from the airport that took us to the car rental area (not far away and probably walkable if needed). The rental shuttle wasn’t labeled Avis but most of the car rentals are in the same area so in our case the Hertz-branded shuttle was just fine.

You will *definitely* need a car to get around to see the island. Taxis and public transportation are hard to come by, if even available (and $$$$$$). We rented through Avis (booked online), which seemed to be one of the few agencies that had Automatic cars on hand. If you’re not comfortable driving Manual, make sure you take note of this when renting! Picking up the car was pretty straight-forward. There was a shuttle from the airport that took us to the car rental area (not far away and probably walkable if needed). The rental shuttle wasn’t labeled Avis but most of the car rentals are in the same area so in our case the Hertz-branded shuttle was just fine. Driving. Driving is on the right side of the road, making it easy for US travelers. One interesting thing we noted is that there are no traffic lights at all, only roundabouts. We thought the roads were quite well maintained and the only complaint would be that it can be a bit narrow in some areas. Not a big problem at all, and overall pleasant experience driving through the sugarcane and banana fields. So gorgeous! Driving through all the beautiful scenery alone is a highlight!

Drive through the northern area of Martinique near Saint-Pierre

Where to Stay

The island is quite small, and you can probably get away with staying in one location to explore all around (drive-able within 1-2 hours between most destinations), but if you want to avoid extensive driving, you can plan your activities a bit more ahead of time. For us, we spent 2 nights in the small town of Basse Pointe (in the north) at an AirBnB, and the rest of the time at a more resort-y place in Les Trois-Îlets (La Pagerie) in the southwest side. The experiences were polar opposites, but both super enjoyable!

In general, you can divide up the island into 3 regions: North, Central, and South.

North

The North is the least populated region of the island, with a lot of the land taken up by the Mount Pelée volcano. It’s also the least touristy area and for those of you looking to get a glimpse of what genuine local (rural-ish) life is like, I highly recommend spending some time here. Of course, the can’t-miss Rhum JM distillery is also here, along with the volcano, both must-visits!

Small town of Basse-Pointe

Driving through the jungle-y area in Northern Martinique

Central

The Central regions includes the capital of Fort-de-France to the west, and to the east some scenic beautiful beach towns. The Fort-de-France bay is also where many of the cruise ships land, so the whole downtown region is a bit… touristy. It’s also crowded and downtown-y, and to be honest I was done with it in about half an hour. The market is worth checking out though, as they sell some local produce and homemade-type products. I wouldn’t allocate more than half a day to Fort-de-France if you have a limited schedule.

Downtown Fort-de-France

Some of the local market offerings

On the central east side are some beautiful beach towns! Unfortunately we didn’t get to spend as much time here as I would have liked, but towns like Le Robert, Le François, and the Caravelle Peninsula are probably worth some exploring! Habitation Clément is also located in this region, which is definitely a must-stop on your list – the habitation (aka estate) offers so much beyond just the rhum line they produce.

Banana trees at Habitation Clément

Baby mangrove trees at Presqu’Île Caravelle

South

Finally, the South region of Martinique is most renowned for its beautiful beaches. Martinique gets a lot of French vacationers as you might expect; I suspect it’s kind of like the Hawaii of France. The southern region is where you’ll find the majority of vacation tourists, in our experience. The landscape is much more swim-friendly here and there are lots of water activities to enjoy – snorkeling, jetski, beaches, and much more! This region is probably the most touristically-developed, which may be a pro or con depending on your vacationing preferences. Either way, you’ve gotta at least spend some time at the beaches here!

Les Salines beach in Sainte-Anne

Swimming in the beautiful blue waters of Anse Dufour

Booking Lodging

Once you decide on a region (or couple regions) to stay, it’s time to book!

We used Airbnb to book our first place in Basse-Pointe in the North – there aren’t really any resorts and very few hotels in the more-barren north region, so a private rental is probably your best bet if you want to spend some time in this area. We found a good number of listings on AirBnB that are very affordable ($50-100 a night). Our host didn’t speak English, but communication using Google Translate worked just fine. Thank you technology!

The view from our Airbnb in Basse-Pointe

For our second place in the South, we booked using Chase Ultimate Rewards, a rewards program for Chase Sapphire Reserve credit cards. They basically offer discounts on various hotels, and we snagged a few nights’ stay at Hotel La Pagerie. You can use your standard hotel booking site to find similar hotels – Expedia is generally my go-to.

In case you’re interested, here are my thoughts on Hotel La Pagerie (if you end up looking to stay there):

Location: The hotel is in the Trois-Îlet area, within walking distance to the beach as well as a port (which has ferries to Fort-de-France as well as some leisure cruises). Surrounding the hotel is the “Creole Village” area, full of shopping (random resort-y stuff/clothing, souvenir shops, etc), restaurants, and more. After spending a few days exploring the more natural/’authentic’ Northern area of the island, this literally felt like Disneyland. That said, there is a small grocery store nearby, late night grub options, and a legitimately great bakery (Baguet Shop). Location-wise on the island, this was a good ground base to explore some of the central/southern areas on our itinerary.

Creole Village area in Trois-Îlet

Port of Trois-Îlet

Facilities/Room: It’s a really nice resort-oriented hotel, with a beautiful pool area and a swim-up bar. There was live music at the restaurant there in the evenings, though we never ate there. Our room was super comfortable, with a kitchenette (fridge, stove, etc) and a nice balcony. No complaints. Laundry service is insanely expensive, so don’t plan on that, and we didn’t see any ice machines (probably not a standard thing there).

Hotel La Pagerie pool area

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Activities

First things first

Stock up for your stay! Head to a grocery store and load up on some rhum and mixers you’ll surely want to be drinking throughout your stay! Sure it’s easy enough to get a Ti Punch at any beachside shack or food stand, but you’ll definitely want to have some for the hotel room/Airbnb too, right? 😉 The selection of rhums at even small shops will be astounding (more on rhum shopping below)

Note: grocery stores tend to close super early (7-8pm on most days, and by noon on Sundays), so make sure you go early in the day!

Here’s a suggested shopping list of some ‘necessities’:

50-55% rhum blanc – Neisson and Rhum JM are the local favorites, but other ones we enjoyed are Trois Rivières, Duquesne, and Dillon. You can’t really go wrong with any though.

– Neisson and Rhum JM are the local favorites, but other ones we enjoyed are Trois Rivières, Duquesne, and Dillon. You can’t really go wrong with any though. Cane syrup (sirop de canne) – you’ll want this to make your Ti Punch! Almost every brand has their own, but I went with the Clément sirop. Any should be fine though (Dormoy was proably the most popular I saw at restaurants). Note: it’s also customary to use granulated cane sugar in Ti Punch – this is harder to dissolve, but actually really delicious if you want a more ‘rustic’ option.

– you’ll want this to make your Ti Punch! Almost every brand has their own, but I went with the Clément sirop. Any should be fine though (Dormoy was proably the most popular I saw at restaurants). Note: it’s also customary to use granulated cane sugar in Ti Punch – this is harder to dissolve, but actually really delicious if you want a more ‘rustic’ option. Limes – NECESSITY. Get more than you think you’ll need.

– NECESSITY. Get more than you think you’ll need. Tropical fruit juice – I used this to make some Planteurs. Lots of options to choose from! (recipe: juice, fresh lime juice, rhum, ice)

– I used this to make some Planteurs. Lots of options to choose from! (recipe: juice, fresh lime juice, rhum, ice) Ice – useful to have on hand especially if you’re making Planteurs. You won’t need it for your Ti Punch if you’re keepin’ it local.

– useful to have on hand especially if you’re making Planteurs. You won’t need it for your Ti Punch if you’re keepin’ it local. Easily-cookable food and snacks – restaurants and stores tend to close really early (especially in less touristy areas), so I’d suggest keeping some food on hand. We had some pasta, bread, salami, eggs, cheese, Nutella, bananas, and some other snacks around the whole time, and did go through a lot of it, particularly for hiking and some long exhausting days.

First ‘grocery’ haul A few days in…

Distillery Visits

You’ve come to Martinique for the rhum (and the sun)…so, one of the questions on your mind might be, how many distilleries can I realistically visit without dedicating my whole vacation to rum?

Before visiting, this was a big question for me…I wanted to see alllll ze rhum things, but at the same time didn’t want to fully turn our vacation into a rum tour. Well, turns out…in my experience you can easily do 1-2 per day and still fit in a lot of other non-rum activities (depending on how detailed of a distillery visit you want and how early you wake up). Check out our full itinerary to see how we split up our days.

A Brief History

First, here’s a very brief background on Martinique rhum distilleries (for further reading, I highly recommend this CocktailWonk article). Starting with the days of European colonization in the “West Indies,” the sugar industry has been a major force that largely shaped the development of the Martinique culture and economy. The island was full of sugar plantations in the 19th century, all working strenuously for refined sugar production. This process resulted in lots of molasses (the remains of sugarcane juice once crystallized sugar has been separated out) as a byproduct, which was then repurposed to create rum (‘rhum’ in French). In the mid-late 19th century, various economic policies and the rise of sugar extraction from beets resulted in diminished demand for sugarcane sugar produced in the French Caribbean islands. Since refined sugar was no longer in high demand (and thereby less molasses byproduct), this led to the change to instead produce rum directly from fresh cane juice rather than molasses. This “agricultural” (agricole) rhum is now the dominant style on the island, with only one producer of molasses-based rum (an operating sugar refinery).

Since 1996, Martinique rhums have been protected by an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) designation. This regulation defines clear requirements to ensure that Martinique rhums are produced using very specific methods and using crops from specific regions on the island, all to ensure consistency in quality and flavor characteristics. As is the French way, you may have heard of similar AOC regulations defined for spirits like Cognac and Armagnac, and of course, Champagne.

Brand vs Distillery

When planning your visits, one thing to note is the distinction between a brand vs a distillery. To keep it brief: over the past couple hundred years, there once were many more distilleries than there are today. As some of these closed down, the stills used to produce the rhums were moved to other distilleries, where they still remain in operation and produce rhums bottled under the original brand. As an example, the La Mauny Distillery produces the rhum for the La Mauny, Trois Rivières, as well as Duquesne brands, though each rhum is distilled using their original stills. Some of these now-defunct distilleries have been repurposed for other uses, such as storing barrels of aging rhum, educational facility/museum, and more.

The following list of active distilleries produce all the currently-available rhum from Martinique:

JM Depaz Neisson Saint James La Mauny La Favorite Simon A1710 Le Galion SAEM (this is primarily a sugar refinery; as such, they have molasses on-site and continue to make a high-funk molasses-based rhum called Grand Arome)

Though some historic distilleries are no longer actively distilling rhum today, these sites are still open for educational visits and tastings: Clément, Dillon, Trois Rivières

The map below plots all the active distilleries (green marker) along with open inactive distilleries (gray marker).

Out of all the available options, we made it to 8 of the distilleries (JM,

Clément, Saint James, Depaz, Neisson, Trois Riviéres, La Mauny, La Favorite). All were nice stops, though if you had limited time, my favorites were JM and Clement. More details about our experiences at the distilleries in a future post!

Rhum Shopping

You’re a rum enthusiast in Martinique. Of course rhum shopping is a priority! Here are some tips for your haul!

Terminology

The selection of rhums you’ll find (particularly aged expressions) may be overwhelming. Here are a few terms to help navigate the immensely broad selection:

Blanc – unaged in wood. Rested in stainless steel tanks for at least 3 months

– unaged in wood. Rested in stainless steel tanks for at least 3 months Élevé sous bois / amber/ straw – these all refer to the same style…rested in large wooden tanks for at least 1 year. Mild oak wood flavor, good for cocktail use as an alternative to blanc

– these all refer to the same style…rested in large wooden tanks for at least 1 year. Mild oak wood flavor, good for cocktail use as an alternative to blanc Vieux – aged for a minimum of 3 years, and could be much older

– aged for a minimum of 3 years, and could be much older Hors d’age / très vieux / VSOP / XO – these terms all refer to extra old rhum, though not all “extra old” rhum uses these terms



– these terms all refer to extra old rhum, though not all “extra old” rhum uses these terms Millésime – vintage. This refers to rhum produced from a particular harvest year; they’ll always be accompanied by a year designation

– vintage. This refers to rhum produced from a particular harvest year; they’ll always be accompanied by a year designation Multimillésime – blend of rhums from multiple specific vintages

– blend of rhums from multiple specific vintages Cuvée – blend. Usually these are more special bottlings that are carefully blended for a particular flavor profile

Le bois lélé

On a related note, I recommend you pick up some swizzlesticks while you’re in Martinique. These are called bois lélé and come from a native tree. It’s the traditional tool to mix up a Ti Punch. Hold the stem of the stick between your palms and rub your hands back and forth to spin the rod to mix your drink. In the US, they usually cost upwards of $20 each (a RIDICULOUS price for such a simple tool!), but you can find them in Martinique for around 3-4 euros. I saw them at a couple of distilleries, souvenir/gift shops, and at the market in downtown Fort-de-France. The only problem with these is transporting them back without breaking them! I proudly held my stash in my hands all through the airport.

Le bois lélé swizzlesticks for sale at the (temporary) covered market in Fort-de-France

Distillery shops

The most obvious place to pick up interesting bottles of rhum is at the distilleries. All the distilleries open for visits will have a gift shop, where they will let you sample pretty much any of the rhums they have for sale. Some of the ‘rarer’ ones may not be out on the counters, but if you want to sample it, all you have to do is ask! They usually already have an open bottle kept underneath the tasting counter.

This is where you’ll want to taste everything! Don’t be afraid to ask, they’re happy to pour you a sample; most distillery tourists probably aren’t so interested in trying like every expression of everything, so don’t feel too bad when you’re sampling 10 different blends or vintages while the group next to you is sipping on a Ti Punch or a mixed rhum punch. 😉

The distillery will have the largest selection of the rhums of their brand, and generally the prices are better than you can find elsewhere (though I did see that the supermarket had better prices on select items in a few cases). Nevertheless, they are a bargain compared to export prices and the majority of their experimental or limited edition aged options can only be found in Martinique.

Tasting area at Saint James

Special cask finishes at Rhum JM

The blue cane (“canne bleue”) yearly releases for sale at Clément

Inside the gift shop at Trois Rivières

Large supermarkets

Thanks to the prominent rhum culture in Martinique, the supermarkets are suuuuper well stocked, sometimes with prices even lower than the distillery shops! Carrefour is one of the large supermarket chains you’ll have to put on your list. Some are better stocked than others, and I can vouch for the one in Le François, just look below! My recommendation is to first go to the distilleries and taste various rhums to get an idea of what you might want to bring back, and if you don’t end up picking it up right then, it’s likely you can still find it at the supermarket.

Note: I did make a couple other Carrefour stops in other locations, both of which had smaller selections (relative to the below), so it does vary and if you see something you know you want during your trip, just pick it up.

Rhum selection at the Le François Carrefour supermarket

Small shops/corner stores

Larger supermarkets will likely have a better selection of aged or special/limited edition rhums, but even small shops and corner stores should have a great selection of the “basics” – basics referring to several rhum options from most of the distilleries. The selection at any random small shop is likely still better than all the agricole rhums you can find at even the most well stocked liquor stores in the US.











Part of the rhum selection at a small grocery store in Basse Pointe

La Compagnie du Rhum

La Compagnie du Rhum is a rhum store located on the site of Habitation du Simon (east side by Clément and the Simon Distillery). I personally didn’t make it there during my trip but hear it’s a solid place to find some hard-to-find rums from all over the world. If there’s something special you’re looking for, and you haven’t absolutely loaded up your suitcases with all the other incredible rhums around, then it might be worth checking out. You can see their selection online here.

Airport

Waiting to buy your last few rhums at the airport on the way out isn’t a bad idea. The Martinique airport duty free shop has a ridiculously huge selection and generally good prices. But wait! There is also a really great rhum shop named “La Boutique” located inside the airport before security. On the day we left, I had been looking for a bottle of A1710 rhum all morning with no luck (went to 2 different Carrefour stores). Disappointed about the rhum-that-got-away, I was so pleasantly surprised to see that La Boutique had quite the selection of A1710 rhums (without much of a markup).

La Boutique, located on the 2nd floor of the airport before the security checkpoint

















Airport duty free selection

Duty free shopping for liquids

If you buy something at the La Boutique store *outside* of security, let them know you need an airport security bag for it and they will meet you inside the gate so that you can take it on the plane without checking it in your luggage (at this point I’m sure you’ve already strategically maxed out your weight allowance). Similarly, if you buy something from the actual duty free store after security, you can get these purchases in an airport security bag to take on the plane. If you’re flying back to the US and have a connection to your final destination, you’ll need to pick up your checked luggage at the port of entry and recheck it, BUT it’s good to note that you can directly take your sealed airport security bag of boozy goodies THROUGH security. This means that if your checked bag is already maxed out on weight, you now have some extra space to pick up a few extra bottles. 😉

Duty-free limit and customs

Regarding limits on how much alcohol you’re allowed to bring back and how much are duty (tax)-free, well, those are 2 different things. If you’re over the duty-free limit, that doesn’t mean you can’t bring more, just that you’re possibly subject to pay tax on it (which is negligible in cost – a few dollars per liter). The policy and limits vary by state/country/etc. Check out this useful CocktailWonk article for more details on exceeding the duty free limit.

Other things to do

There are many other travel guides out there to help plan your vacation in Martinique, but outside of the rhum-life, these were the highlights that I 100% recommend adding to your itinerary.

Mount Pelée

As much as I absolutely loved all the rhum explorations in Martinique, I have to say that the Mount Pelée hike was THE number 1 highlight of the entire trip. I’m not even a huge hiker or outdoors-y person, but this was hands down the most surreal, magical experience I’ve ever had. So, in my opinion, as long as you’re in generally good shape and up for a challenging hike, this is a must do.

Mount Pelée is responsible for the deadliest volcanic disaster in the 20th century with its 1902 eruption that killed 30,000 people almost instantly, completely wiping out the then-most-populated city of St. Pierre. It is still considered an “active” volcano, though you needn’t worry about a deadly eruption while you’re on your hike; seismic monitoring tools are much more precise and advanced now, and any significant volcanic activity should be detected way in advance of it becoming a source of concern.

Aileron Trail

There are a few different trail options, but the ‘easiest’ is the Aileron trail. If you’re going to do the hike, I *strongly* advise you start early (at/before sunrise) to beat the heat and crowds; you’ll be super thankful for it. We got there around 6:30am and finished by around 11:30. In my opinion, a guide isn’t necessary as the trail is pretty well marked.

Once you get to the edge of the crater, you can turn around and head back or descend down. I highly recommend you at least descend into the crater to take a look at the truly magical scenery. From here, you can turn back or embark on a rougher climb up boulders (you’ll be on all fours). Completing this path takes you to the highest point – Le Chinois. Turn back at any time; the entire landscape is incredible.

Inside the crater – such a surreal sight

What to bring

If you’re ready to do this hike, be aware that there’s often heavy fog (and rain) along the trail. Bring a light rainjacket, plenty of water, and snacks. Hiking boots are a must.

Beaches

Martinique has no shortage of beautiful beaches all over the island. We only made it to a few, so I’ll just suggest you read up on more reviews from Tripadvisor. That said, the most famous beach is Les Salines (Grand Anse des Salines) in the southeast region of Sainte Anne. I was fully expecting this to be crowded and touristy based on its popularity and prominence in any Martinique travel guide, but was surprised to find it relatively low-key (during a weekday December visit). Indeed worth a visit!

Les Salines

More commonly than not, you’ll find little beachside shacks and snack stands where you can grab a Ti Punch to drink on the beach. Ahh, the life.

Snack shack by Anse Dufour

Enjoying a Neisson Ti Punch on Les Salines beach

Snorkeling

Whichever beach you find yourself at, I recommend getting some snorkeling in to see the sea life! We went snorkling at Anse Dufour and Anse Noire (two bordering beaches in the southwest Les Anses d’Arlet area). We rented snorkels from a small stand on the Anse Noire side, and saw lots of amazing fish (thousands!) and also a sea turtle, which are common in this region.

Culture and History – La Savane des Esclaves

It’s hard to talk about the history of rum without noting the cruel decades of slavery that ruled the sugar industry. As beautiful as the island is these days with its lush fields of sugarcane and romantic old repurposed Habitations/estates, these are directly associated with the gruesome reign of terror during the age of European colonization and the slave trade.

Now, I just want to preface this to note that I am a self-proclaimed hater of museums; it sounds a bit extreme, but museums are never part of my travel itinerary and almost anything else sounds more interesting to me. However, I spent my final morning in Martinique visiting La Savane des Esclaves, a walkable outdoor museum/park-hybrid showcasing the lives of slaves during the Plantation era and after emancipation, as well as the rich history and culture of the native Amerindian tribes that predated European colonization. It was hands down one of my favorite parts of the trip. We did the self-guided tour, and despite the uncomfortable heat and humidity, I was fully mesmerized and carefully read through every sign I could find. We easily spent a couple hours there, and I can’t recommend it enough. It really provides a sense of place to understand the island and its people beyond modern culture.

The village at La Savane des Esclaves

Recreation of historic huts for living

Details of the hut construction. The roof was made from dried sugarcane leaves

Tools used to enslave Africans and prevent escape

Painting of capturing slaves from Africa

Description of the slaves’ work schedule

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What to eat & drink?



Eat

Martinique cuisine is a mix of French and Caribbean cuisine. A lot of their products are imported from Europe (and influenced by French cuisine), though there are also some crops local to the island. I would say the food was not spectacular or particularly noteworthy (though we also didn’t really seek out any fancy restaurants), but interesting to try nonetheless. As for our culinary style, we try to explore and ‘eat local’ as much as we can when traveling. I also love browsing grocery stores to find unique local produce.

Football sized avocados!

Local market produce

Here are some of the noteworthy local-speciality foods to try:

Baguettes and fresh baked goods: it’s been a while since I was last in France, but I’ll just say that Martinique (as an overseas region of France) had insanely delicious baguettes and freshly baked breads. Even the ones from the grocery store were amazing – warm and fresh, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. We really liked Baguet Shop (several locations) for some simple delicious breakfast options – super fresh baguettes and breads, along with delicious sweet and savory baked goods. The empanada-like savory stuffed pastries were really tasty!

Breakfast pastries and espresso at Baguet Shop

Baguette sandwiches: when you have super fresh baguettes aplenty, make a sandwich. I was recommended to try a tuna sandwich while in Martinique, and it was simple and delicious. Freshly baked bread, stuffed with tuna (or your protein of choice), lettuce, tomatoes, and some sauces (not sure what they were, we just pointed and ordered because the person in front of us did haha), mmm. Everything tastes amazing on great bread.

Tuna, lettuce, and tomato baguette sandwich from Baguet Shop with a delicious cannelé

Grilled fish: as with many islands, you’ll find a good amount of seafood available. (Whole) grilled fish was a common menu item.

Grilled red snapper at Le Petibonum in Le Carbet

Accras: these are basically Caribbean deep fried “fish cakes,” though I’d describe it more like a savory beignet/doughnut. It’s usually made with a mix of flour, salted fish, and herbs, and deep fried to perfection. It’s not fishy or anything, and I can’t see how anyone could dislike this. It’s delicious as an appetizer or during your meal, any time really. Bon appétit.

Accras with salad/crudités at Chez Tante Arlette in Grand-Rivière

Chicken Colombo: This is the one dish that I really wanted but sadly didn’t get to try…however, it’s a very popular dish that is essentially a chicken curry. It’s Indian-influenced and surprisingly Martinique has a decent population of people with Indian heritage (from the India sub-continent). When slavery was outlawed in the mid 1800s, many Indians were recruited to immigrate to Martinique to work the cane fields. Voila, Indo-Caribbean cuisine.

Drink

Ti Punch: Ti Punch is pretty much the national drink here. It’s regarded as an “aperitif,” something to drink before meals to open up the appetite, but I’d say it’s probably acceptable anytime! The amount of Ti Punch we drank (both self-made and at shops) is astounding, and I now have *such* a fond spot in my heart for this amazingly simple delicious drink.

To make a traditional Ti Punch:

Add some sugar syrup (or granulated sugar) in your glass. The amount is based on your taste preference, but try starting with just a small dollop (around a teaspoon)

Cut a coin disc of lime, focusing on getting a large surface area of peel, and not so much the pulp/fruit. The primary purpose of this is to get the oils from the peel, not the tartness from the juice. Squeeze and drop it in.

Pour in your unaged rhum. 2-3 ounces.

Take your swizzlestick or stirrer and give it a whirl.

Drink up!

During our entire stay here, we didn’t see anyone drink this with ice. Though if you prefer, you can add some. As they say, “chacun prépare sa propre mort” – each prepares their own death.

Ti Punch at a beachside snack shack/bar

Sometimes when ordering a Ti Punch, you’ll be served the entire bottle; pour the amount you want, add your desired amount of sugar syrup, and add the lime coin. Stir/swizzle and enjoy!

Le Planteur: this is a planter’s punch made with rhum and various tropical fruit juices. Each place will have their own recipe, but honestly we almost always opted for Ti Punch and just made some Planteurs ourselves using fruit juice, fresh lime, and unaged rhum. I quite enjoyed just using the common Caresse Antillaise juice cartons sold at the groceries. My recipe is something like: fill a glass with ice, squeeze in half a lime, solid pour of rhum (maybe ~2oz), and top off with juice. Scientific, right?

Homemade Planteur punch and Ti Punch at our hotel

Biére Lorraine: if you’re interested in local beer, this is the one to try in Martinique. It’s a light lager, not bad.

Local beer on tap

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Our Full Itinerary

Finally, if you’re interested in exactly how our days panned out, you can check out our full itinerary below.

Getting in (Day 0)

Flight arrived at 7:25PM

arrived at 7:25PM Got the rental car and headed to our AirBnB in Basse Pointe Total Distance: 33 miles / 53 km

Day 1

Started the morning with the Distillerie JM visit and tour at 10am

visit and tour at 10am Explored the quaint town of Grand Rivieres , and had lunch at Tante Arlette , which was recommended to us

, and had lunch at , which was recommended to us Drove to Saint James Distillery right before they closed (5PM) for a quick lookaround and tasting

right before they closed (5PM) for a quick lookaround and tasting Total Distance: 46 miles / 74 km

Day 2

Woke up dark&early for the Mount Pelée hike (Aileron trail) – started the hike around 6:30am

hike (Aileron trail) – started the hike around 6:30am Depaz Distillery self-guided tour and tastings

self-guided tour and tastings Neisson Distillery tastings

tastings Late lunch at Le Petibonum in Le Carbet

in Le Carbet Drove down to hotel in Trois-Îlet Total Distance: 60 miles / 97 km

Day 3

Headed out to the Caravelle Peninsula . Visited Château Dubuc , the ruins of an old sugar plantation, then did the short La Caravelle Nature Trail through a mangrove forest

. Visited , the ruins of an old sugar plantation, then did the short through a mangrove forest Lunch at Ti Carbet , a small casual restaurant in the area

, a small casual restaurant in the area Drove over to Habitation Clément for a tour of the amazingly-maintained estate and tastings

for a tour of the amazingly-maintained estate and tastings Quick stop at the Carrefour supermarket here – super well stocked! My jaw was on the ground the whole time. Total Distance: 70 miles / 113 km

Day 4

Enroute to the southeast region of the island, started the day with a stop at Trois

Rivières for a thorough tasting

for a thorough tasting Very quick stop at La Mauny Distillery for a round of tastings

for a round of tastings Soaked up the sun and watched the sunset at the beauuutiful (and famous) Les Salines beach in the Sainte Anne area. (caution: don’t sit bare-skinned on the sand in the evenings! Sand fleas warning!) Total Distance: 58 miles / 93 km

Day 5

Snorkeled at Anse Dufour and Anse Noire , a pair of neighboring white and black sand beaches

and , a pair of neighboring white and black sand beaches View of Diamond Rock (Le Rocher du Diamant) and the Anse Cafard Slave Memorial Total Distance: 30 miles / 48 km

Day 6

La Savane des Esclaves slavery museum

slavery museum Quick exploration of downtown Fort-de-France , the temporary market (while the main one is under renovation), Schlœlcher library, etc.

, the temporary market (while the main one is under renovation), Schlœlcher library, etc. Final stop at La Favorite Distillery before heading out to the airport for the evening flight Total Distance: 31 miles / 50 km

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Conclusion

I hope this has been helpful for you to start planning your sure-to-be magnificent vacation to the beautiful island of Martinique! I personally can’t wait to return in the future.