Planning a Trip

For advance information, contact the French Government Tourist Office in the U.S. at 444 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022 (tel. 212/838-7800). In Britain, contact 178 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9AL (tel. 0181/124-4123). In Canada, write to 1981 McGill College Ave., Suite 490, Montréal, Québec H3A 2W9 (tel. 514/288-4264). On the Web, go to www.martinique.org.

On the island, the Martinique Tourist Office CMT is on Immeuble Beaupré, Schoelcher (tel. 596/61-61-77); it's open Monday to Friday from 8am to 12:30pm and 1:30 to 4:30pm. In addition to dispersing information about what to see and do in Martinique, the organization will reserve lodgings for clients in advance of their arrivals, without charge, through their Service Loisirs Acceuil. The information desk at Lamentin Airport is open daily until the last flight comes in.

Getting There

By Plane -- Before you book your own airfare, you may want to consider a package deal.

Lamentin International Airport (tel. 596/42-24-24) is outside the village of Lamentin, a 15-minute taxi ride east of Fort-de-France and a 40-minute taxi ride northeast of the island's densest concentration of resort hotels (Les Trois-Ilets peninsula). Most flights to Martinique require a transfer on a neighboring island -- usually Puerto Rico, Antigua, or Barbados. From there another stopover or transfer in Guadeloupe is often required. Nonstop flights to any of the French islands from the U.S. mainland are rare.

You can fly on American Airlines (tel. 800/433-7300 in the U.S. and Canada; www.aa.com) from San Juan every Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday. You can also fly on American to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, then transfer onto Air Caraibes (tel. 590/82-47-00; www.aircaraibes.com) to Martinique. Or you can fly to Miami, then transfer to Air France (tel. 800/237-2747 in the U.S. and Canada; www.airfrance.com) for the final lap of the flight to Martinique. From Miami passengers bound for Martinique transfer onto one or two daily American Eagle (same phone number as American Airlines) flights to Guadeloupe. From Guadeloupe, they transfer again onto one of up to 10 daily flights to Martinique on Air Caraibes (formerly known as Air Guadeloupe).

Air France is the only airline with a direct connection from the United States to Martinique. Air France flies daily from Miami with a stopover in either Guadeloupe or Port-au-Prince. It operates separate nonstop flights from Paris to both Martinique and Guadeloupe. These depart at least once a day, and in some cases, depending on the season and the day of the week, twice a day. The airline also maintains three weekly flights from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to Martinique, and three flights a week, depending on the season, between Cayenne, in French Guyana, and Martinique.

LIAT flies from St. Lucia, Antigua, and Barbados to both Martinique and Guadeloupe several times a day. Depending on the season, flights to the two islands are either separate or combined into a single flight, with touchdowns en route. Contact LIAT (Leeward Islands Air Transport) at tel. 888/844-LIAT within the Caribbean, or 866/549-5428 from Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, or 1-268-480-5601/2 from other countries, including the U.S. and Canada. Note: Most visitors find it easier to book LIAT flights online at www.liatairline.com. St. Lucia, Antigua, and Barbados are important air-terminus links for such larger carriers as American Airlines .

British Airways (tel. 800/247-9297 in the U.S. and Canada, or within the U.K. 0870/850-9850; www.britishairways.com) flies separately and daily to both Antigua and Barbados from Gatwick at London. From either of those islands, LIAT connects to either Guadeloupe or Martinique.

By Ferry -- One particularly evocative means of travel between Martinique and Guadeloupe involves taking one of the motorized catamarans that are maintained by a local operator, Exprèss des Iles. Carrying between 395 and 495 passengers, depending on the boat, they require 3 3/4 hours of waterborne transit, which includes an intermediate stopover on either Dominica or Terre-de-Haut, in the Iles des Saintes. The company usually operates three passages a week and sometimes more, between the two largest islands of the French West Indies.

Morning departures from Pointe-à-Pitre for Fort-de-France are usually at 8am (Sat at 11:30am, Sun at 10am), and departures from Fort-de-France for Pointe-à-Pitre are usually at 1pm, although the schedule can vary unexpectedly according to the season and the day of the week. Fares are 100€ ($130) round-trip or 65€ ($84) one-way. Children under 12 are granted reduced fares: 80€ ($104) round-trip or 50€ ($64) one way. For details and reservations, contact Exprèss des Iles, Gare Maritime, de Bergevin, 97110 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe (tel. 590/91-52-15), or Terminal Inter-Iles, Bassin de Radoub, 97200 Fort-de-France, Martinique (tel. 596/63-05-45).

Getting Around

By Rental Car -- Unless you never plan to leave your hotel's beach, you probably want to rent a car to explore the island. Martinique has several local car-rental agencies, but clients have complained of mechanical difficulties and billing irregularities. We recommend renting from one of the U.S.-based firms. Driving in Martinique is on the right side of the road. Note: An international driver's license is required.

Budget has an office at 30 rue Ernest-Desproges, La Baie, Cruise Terminal, Fort-de-France, in addition to one at Lamentin (tel. 800/472-3325 in the U.S. and Canada, or 596/42-16-79 or 596/70-22-75; www.budgetrentacar.com). Avis is located at Lamentin Airport (tel. 800/331-1084 in the U.S. and Canada, or 596/66-04-27; www.avis.com), as is Hertz (tel. 800/654-3001 in the U.S. and Canada, or 596/51-01-01; www.hertz.com).

Regardless of which company you choose, you'll be hit with a value-added tax (VAT) of 8.5% on top of the final bill, plus either a charge of around 25€ ($33) if you ask the car to be delivered to your hotel, or an airport pickup charge of about 20€ ($26) if you retrieve your car at the airport. Collision damage waivers (CDWs), which eliminate some or all of your financial responsibility in the event of an accident, cost between 12€ and 25€ ($16-$33) per day at Budget and Hertz, and usually a bit more at Avis. Of these three car-rental companies, the rates at Budget tend to be the least expensive, although that depends on a wide array of seasonal variations.

By Taxi -- Local laws demand that any bona-fide Martiniquais cab must contain a working meter. For specific itineraries -- wherein a passenger tells the driver where he or she wants to go -- the meter must be "on" and functioning. Radio Taxi (tel. 596/63-63-62), the island's largest dispatcher, advises us that if a taxi driver quotes a flat rate to a passenger instead of activating the meter, that you're being robbed, and you should immediately get out and find another cab. For an idea of prices, taxi rates between Fort-de-France and any hotel of La Pointe du Bout are 65€ ($85), but only 50€ ($65) from Lamentin Airport to any hotel of La Pointe du Bout. For a general tour of the island, prices are negotiable with the driver. Between 7pm and 6am, a 40% surcharge is assessed.

The rule about using a taxi's meter does not apply to passengers who want to hire a taxi for a general tour of the island. If that is your goal, expect to pay from 50€ ($65) per hour for up to four passengers, depending on the itinerary and routing you negotiate with the driver. Frankly, we find touring the island by taxi so expensive, and so easily corrupted by the whims of the individual driver, that we advise visitors to rent their own car for the day, driving themselves -- armed with a good map -- around the island's many rutted but often panoramic roads.

By Bus & Taxi Collectif -- There are two types of buses operating on Martinique. Regular buses, called grands busses, hold about 40 passengers and cost 2€ to 2.50€ ($2.60-$3.25) anywhere within the city limits of Fort-de-France. To travel beyond the city limits, nine-passenger taxis collectifs are used. These are privately owned minivans that traverse the island and bear the sign TC. Their routes are flexible and depend on passenger need. A one-way fare from Fort-de-France to Ste-Anne is about 10€ ($13). Taxis collectifs depart from the heart of Fort-de-France from the parking lot of Pointe Simon. There's no phone number to call for information about this unpredictable means of transport, and there are no set schedules. Traveling in a taxi collectif is for the adventurous visitor -- these vehicles are crowded and not very comfortable.

By Ferry -- The least expensive -- and most colorful -- way to transfer between Fort-de-France and the hotel and tourist district of Pointe du Bout is via one of the vedettes (ferryboats) that depart from rue de la Liberté in Fort-de-France. Transit costs 3.80€ ($4.95) one-way or 6€ ($7.80) round-trip. Schedules for the ferryboats, at least 20 of which run at regular (usually 30-min.) intervals every day between 6:30am and 9pm, are printed in the free visitor's guide Choubouloute, in French and English, which is distributed by the tourist office. However, because the ferries are so frequent, most visitors dispense with attempting to understand the schedule altogether, and meander down to the waterfront to wait for the next boat.

There's a smaller ferryboat that runs between Fort-de-France and the unpretentious resorts of Anse Mitan and Anse-à-l'Ane, both across the bay and home to many two- and three-star hotels and modest Creole restaurants. The boat departs from rue de la Liberté in Fort-de-France at intervals of between 20 and 30 minutes every day from 7:30am to 6pm. The trip takes about 20 minutes. One-way and round-trip passage cost 3.80€ ($4.95) and 6€ ($7.80), respectively. If seas are extremely rough, or if there's a hurricane warning, all ferryboat services may be suspended.

For more information, call Vedettes Madinina (tel. 596/63-06-46).

Carnival

If you like masquerades and dancing in the streets, you should be here to attend Carnival, or Vaval, as it's known here. Most of the celebrations associated with Carnival occur, depending on when Lent falls, for 5 days either in late February or early March, but there is also usually some form of celebration or contest conducted for the 6 Sundays prior. Most visible of these is the election of the Carnival Queen, a contest that's usually held the first Sunday before the actual week of Carnival itself. Each village prepares costumes and floats. Weekend after weekend, frenzied celebrations take place, reaching fever pitch just before Lent. Fort-de-France is the focal point for Carnival, but the spirit permeates the whole island. On Ash Wednesday, the streets of Fort-de-France are filled with diablesses, or she-devils (portrayed by members of both sexes). Costumed in black and white, they crowd the streets to form King Carnival's funeral procession. As devils cavort about and the rum flows, a funeral pyre is built at La Savane. When it's set on fire, the dancing of those she-devils becomes frantic (many are thoroughly drunk at this point). Long past dusk, the cortege takes the coffin to its burial, ending Carnival until next year.