First time visitor seeks advice

[rgreenpc]

My fiancée' and I are going to be in Martinique at the end of October on our honeymoon...

 

We would like to know the "not-to-miss" things on the island.

 

Where to shop, excursions you would suggest (active or non-active), any helpful tips.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Richard

[pomliane]

First of all, do you come to Martinique on a cruise boat or will you stay in a hotel for few days?

On a cruise boat, what i'll recommend you depends on what you want to do :

go to the beach?

shop a while?

explore Martinique?

If you want to lay on the beach, have a drink at an hotel bar, make some shopping then go to the pointe du Bout. there you'll find nice hotel beaches (kalenda resort or sofitel Bakoua), nice boutiques at the Village Créole and the other boutiques of the Pointe du Bout, nice restaurants, nice bars serving fresh fruit juices, coktail with Martinican rhum. You can easily go to Pointe du Bout taking the shuttle boat in Fort-de-France. it's only 6 $ per person for the round trip. there are departures every 20 min.

If you want to explore Martinique. You can go north and visit St Pierre, the Mount Pelee museum, rum distilleries, botanical garden, the wonderful road crossing the rain forest (la Trace).

So tell me what you want to see i'll advise you.

Welcome to Martinique and congratulations for your wedding

[rgreenpc]

Thanks for the help...

 

We will be there on the Carnival Legend in late October.

 

Not sure what we want to do... we plan on doing some snorkeling on one of the islands.... just not sure which yet

[mared1]

My fiancée' and I are going to be in Martinique at the end of October on our honeymoon...

 

We would like to know the "not-to-miss" things on the island.

 

Where to shop, excursions you would suggest (active or non-active), any helpful tips.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Richard

 

You can walk or take a taxi to the shopping area of city. I think just walking around the city is fun. There is a nice park next to the stores.

We found people there to be very friendly and helpful!

[bpampel]

looking in to spending a week in martinique next february.

is there any surf at the beaches and if so any surf shops that rent surf boards?

sounds like there is plenty to do in a week and relax as well!

anyone else spent time there other than a day from a cruise and did you enjoy your time there

food, entertainment at night, etc...

thanks

brian

[pomliane]

try this link. sorry it's frenchspeaking.

www.surfmartinique.com

[pomliane]

http://vanille.des.isles.free.fr/index2.htm

[gizmo]

I never tried to shop in Martinque but I have heard so many complaints about it. Exchange rates can vary from shop to shop.

 

It can also be difficult to grab a cab back to the ship.

 

Stick to excursions.

 

I have been there 3 times and enjoyed it all 3 times.

 

First trip we got a cab and had a tour. One stop was the cathederal which has a great view.

 

Second time we took a snorkel tour on a catamaran. Beautiful cat, but the snorkeling is nothing to talk about.

 

Third trip we took a ship tour on catamaran to St.Pierre. I did not like this tour. The "catamaran" is not what most would think it was. It was a double decker party time boat, no sails. Technically it was a catamaran, but it was very disappointing. The ride up the coast was very long. When we arrived we got into a "train" that went around St.Pierre. There were NO stops, also disappointing. We then went into the museum and saw some interesting things from the volcano erruption. No pictures allowed. They then hearded us into a bus to go back to the ship. It was a very nice bus.

From the comments made, most people on this tour were very disappointed and would not recommend it.

 

The best stop was the first, when we got a taxi.:)

[dcampo]

:) We will be sailing on the Legend - 10-24. Is that your sailing date, honeymooners? We will be stopping in Martinique for a short time, 7am - 2pm. on a Saturday. Have heard the island is beautiful! We would probably be interested in going somewhere on our own. Does anyone know about visiting Josephine's birthplace? What is that like? We would either like to do something like that or go to a beach, quaint town -- walk around and explore a little. Not really sure what to do. Read that the taxis are expensive. Is this true? It will just be my husband and I -- celebrating our 15 year anniversary. Any advise would be most appreciated!!

 

Thanks!

dcampo

[loopylou]

Hi! Gizmo, how much did the cab cost you? It is just my husband and I and I hate ships tours! Hey Rich, getting close to that wedding day!

 

Lou

[pomliane]

If you want to visit Josephine's house and Trois Ilets, the best you can do is to take the shuttle boat and once in Pointe du Bout take a taxi and ask him to take you to la Pagerie and why not the Sugarcane house or the pottery village.

If you want to do some shopping pointe du Bout is a good place.

[gizmo]

LoopyLou

 

So sorry but I just can't remember. :o It was about 5 or 6 years ago.

[Floflegs]

What is the best tour to see most of the island? Who do you book with?