13 Nov My Week In Martinique Broken Down (+ Budget)

Last week, I went to Martinique and it was one of the best trips I’ve done in my life. Part of the Lesser Antilles, Martinique is an overseas region of France. I went there for one week and wanted to share with you a break down of my trip before I upload my daily vlogs.

Day 1 in Martinique

We took a direct flight on Saturday afternoon to arrive on Saturday night. Initially, we had no plans for when we arrived. At first, we wanted to get a Taxi but it was difficult for us to find any which gave us no choice to rent a car. This turned out to be a great alternative because ONE MUST NOT ONLY TAKE TAXI IN MARTINIQUE. We met a local during our car rental search and she told us to check out Lilly’s Restaurant, a local restaurant that is popping on Saturday night in Martinique. We went there for 11:30 PM and they were closing, however, the waiter there was nice enough to give us a place to check out instead: Le Sunset Bar.

Once there, I have to admit 2 things, the way they operate the bar is a bit different. In fact, you pay first at the cashier when you order your drink, then he gives you a coupon for you to go to the bar after. You give the coupon to the bartender and he prepares your drink. Secondly, drinks are 10 EUR! Safe to say that, I only took 2 drinks that night. After the bar, we went to the only place that was open at that time, a bakery that was serving chicken and fish sandwich for cheap. For some reasons, I ordered two chicken sandwich and they tasted like tuna.. they probably did a mistake.

Cost Breakdown ( 81 EUR that day)

Car Rental – 55 EUR (per person)

2 Drinks at Sunset – 20 EUR

2 Sandwiches – 6 EUR

Day 2 in Martinique: Le Diamant

In Martinique, we stayed in Le Diamant, located in the southeast of the Island. Named after the famous rock in the middle of the sea (that was a shelter for pirates) that you can see from the coast, Le Diamant is a calm city that has beautiful beaches. Since our AirBnb was there, we decided to explore this beautiful area and spent the day at the beach. We went to eat at Planete Diamant, a restaurant that had a beautiful decor inside, owned by Ms. Lapointe. Her waitress Marie was very friendly and suggested a spot for us to visit that night called Ti-Sable. My lunch cost me 30 EUR, but that is because I went in ( I took a beer a sorbet, a cocktail and the main dish)! In average, you are good with 15 EUR per meal in Martinique. The service was a bit slow there but the food was delicious. I had a Colombo de Cabri while my friends took the Colombo of chicken.  See more pictures of that day below.

Later that night, we decided to go to Ti Sable that is located in the Anse D’Arlet. Ti-Sable was a nice little restaurant that has a live band on Sunday night. We had grilled chicken that night and it was the first night that I tried the official Martinique Drink, le Ti-Punch. My friend Sigal ordered it and she made my try it. That drink is no jokes! Le Ti-Punch is 3 oz of white rum with a lemon, that’s it! The music that night was good, we met the saxophonist, Rico Sax. He told us about the story of Martinique that I will share in another blog. The music that night was very good, here’s the link for Ti-Sable DJ that night, DJ Mister T!

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Cost Breakdown ( 66 EUR that day)

Lunch at Planete Diamant – 30 EUR

Dinner at Ti-Sable – 36 EUR

 

Day 3 in Martinique: Les Salines

I started that day looking for an adapter for my laptop and my camera. Quick Fact: in Martinique, they use the European plug and it is impossible to find some during the weekend. My brother and I started the day looking for some (15.26 EUR for two of them) and then we went to Les Salines with the crew. Les Salines Beach is located in the very south of the island. It is a touristic area and the sand is white. There are small waves and during sunset, you see alot of crabs coming out but they are not dangerous. We spent the day there and had a beautiful meal by the beach. The restaurant there ( Le Panier à Salade) welcomed us with a drink on the house and we decided to have our lunch there. Great service and good vibes. We then spent the whole afternoon on the beach, met 2 French Girls and we went did a photoshoot for the ‘gram, see pictures below.

Later that night, we met up with our new friends for dinner at Havana Cafe that is located in Les Trois-Ilets. It was one of the only restaurants that was open in that area and it was so good. I had a HUGE plate and we stayed there for the night, drinking and chilling. I offered a round of Ti-Punch for everyone. At that point, I was still not ready for it.

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Cost Breakdown (84.96 EUR that day)

2 Adapters – 15.26 EUR

Lunch at Les Salines – 26 EUR (includes lunch, 2 beers and 2 desserts)

Dinner at Havana Cafe – 43.70 EUR (includes a round of Ti-Punch for 6 people on me!)

Day 4 in Martinique: Fort De France

Many people told us that Fort-De-France is a touristic area in Martinique that is ”boring”. However, we decided to give a shot to the Capital because it has a lot of history. We got lucky as soon as we arrived since the parking meter was not working in the whole city so it was free for the day! Fort-de-France is one of the biggest city in the Caribbean and you can see the fort that was built to defend the island from attacks. I have to admit, there was not much to do there other than sight-seeing and to talk to locals. We came a bit too late to do the visit to the Fort St-Louis, but plan to do it next time we go. Sigal and I ate at Spice n’ Sugar, a local Caribbean restaurant while Paul and my brother decided to go to Mcdonalds. Spice n Sugar food was amazingly good and tasted exactly like my mother’s food. (Personally, this is the HIGHEST ranking I can give to a restaurant).

Once we were done visiting the city, we wanted to get back home and relax but there was traffic so we decided to watch the sunset on a beach that was not too far. It was one of the best decision we did, the beach was empty and beautiful.

Finally, we wanted to do the groceries and have a nice cooked meal for dinner but we quickly noticed that ONE DOES NOT DO GROCERIES IN MARTINIQUE. The peppers were about 5 EUR for a pound if I remember well. After some quick calculations, we realized that a fajitas dinner for 4 would cost us about 50 EUR… definitely too expensive so we decided to go to Mcdonalds instead. (I know, shame on us).

Cost Breakdown ( 41.78 EUR that day)

Gas – 5 EUR

Lunch at Spice N Sugar – 10 EUR

Water at a Stand – 2 EUR

Groceries – 17.28 EUR ( we bought beers and snacks)

Mcdonalds – 7.50 EUR

 

Day 5 In Martinique: Ville St-Pierre

That day was my favorite of the trip, we met up with Orlane, a local that we met the first day, and we spent the day together. We went to the North of the city, Ville St-Pierre, for the day. It used to be the most important city of Martinique but was destroyed in 1902 by a volcanic eruption. Going to Ville St-Pierre was similar to spending a day in Fort-De-France, it was all about the history, sight-seeing and see for yourself the damages that the volcano did. However, we didn’t stay there for long, we wanted to check out a black sand beach and we went to a waterfall after. Orlane showed us the right place to go and we had one amazing day filled with fun and liquor (a lot of Ti-Punch). We ended the day at home with Orlane cooking the best dinner we had that trip, lambis, beef and chicken thighs.

 

 

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Cost Breakdown ( 10 EUR that day)

Gas – 5 EUR

Lunch Sandwich – 5 EUR

 

Day 6 in Martinique: Anse Dufour + Rhumerie

Also known as the day I wish I could swim. Anse Dufour is located in the East of the Island near Anse d’Arlets that we visited a few days before. In Anse Dufour, you have the chance to swim with the turtles! We went there and the water was turquoise with a view that would be worthy of any postcard of Martinique. Our friends from France were there as well and they had goggles because ONE DOES NOT GO TO THE BEACH TO SEE TURTLES WITHOUT GOGGLES. We then ate at the local restaurant by the beach and it was by far one of my cheapest food experience. The price was so good that I couldn’t believe the waitress. Above I mentioned that a normal meal cost about 15 EUR in Martinique, over there I had the catch of the day, a beer, a cocktail, and a dessert and it cost me 21 EUR!

We later went to Habitations Clement formerly known as Domaine de l’Acajou. We arrived a bit too late and had only 1h30 to visit this historical landmark. We learned about the history of the rum but it was also a touching moment because the history of that place was not the prettiest. I learned more about slavery and the way that our people were treated and the Black Code issued by Louis XV in March 1724.

After a touching visit and a good rum degustation, we went home to relax and later went to Lili’s Beach Bar. It was a nice restaurant that looked upscale.  This time, we arrived earlier and had a very good dinner with new acquaintances from Montreal. We ended the night at Sunset Bar.

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Cost Breakdown (  91.50 EUR that day)

Lunch at Anse Dufour – 21 EUR

Habitations Clement – 13 EUR

Dinner at Lili’s – 37.50 EUR

Sunset Bar – 20 EUR

Day 7.5 in Martinique: Anse D’Arlet

Our last day was a day that we wanted to take it easy. We pretty much did everything we wanted to do during the day. Actually, I am lying, we were supposed to do a hiking that morning but it was raining like crazy. We decided to go to le Diamant, and just relax there for the day. After a week full of activities we were tired and just wanted to take it easy. Guess what though, we didn’t take it easy at all. It was our last day and it was a day filled with adventures. We stopped by a lookout that had a very nice view of le Diamant and went to eat at Snack Fredo, a local restaurant in Anses D’Arlets. The food there was very good and it felt good to eat local food. Then, we asked the waiter for something to do while we were there and he told us to go to Dlo Féré. I am telling you this right now, the hike to Dlo Féré was one of the most SAVAGE hikes I ever did and it is only the vlog that will show you how it was. It was in nature with a beautiful view of the water.

After our adventure, we went home and packed, went to eat at a local karaoke restaurant and went to a private party that ended at 5 am! Crazy right! To finish the trip in style, we popped a bottle at the club (only 20 EUR per person) and slept in the car from 5-6am before returning the rental and head back to Montreal!

 

Cost Breakdown (  99 EUR that day)

Gas – 10 EUR

Lunch at Snack Fredo – 18 EUR

Dinner at Taup Creole – 26 EUR

Club Night Out – 40 EUR

Breakfast At The Airport  – 5 Eur

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To sum it all up, my trip ended up costing me

$287 CAD for the flight

$271 CAD for the AirBnb

$705 Cad (474.24 EUR) for spendings

For a total of $1263 Cad.!

I hope this helped and gave you insights on how much money you should bring when planning to go to Martinique. My vlog should be up withing the next 2-3 weeks. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me!