The North & Mont Pelée

Northern Martinique is dominated by Mont Pelée, the active volcano that destroyed the city of Saint-Pierre on May 8, 1902 — the deadliest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, killing 30,000 people in under two minutes. The ruins remain, and the city has rebuilt itself into something quieter and more haunting: a small coastal town with a museum of volcanic relics, the shell of the old theatre, and a cachot (prison cell) where the sole survivor — a man named Cyparis, protected by his thick-walled cell — was found alive two days later.

The rainforest surrounding Mont Pelée is among the densest in the Caribbean. Hiking trails lead through fern-draped canopy to waterfalls, hot springs, and viewpoints where the green of the forest and the blue of the sea create a contrast that photographs cannot properly capture. The Route de la Trace — the road from Fort-de-France north through the mountainous interior — is one of the most scenic drives in the Caribbean, threading through bamboo tunnels and cloud forest.

The rum distilleries concentrate in the north. Distillerie JM in Macouba, at the island’s northern tip, sits in a valley so lush it feels hallucinatory. Distillerie Neisson in Le Carbet produces what many consider the finest rhum agricole on the island — small-batch, family-owned, exquisite. Habitation Céron, a former plantation in Le Prêcheur, combines a rum history with botanical gardens and a 300-year-old zamana tree that is the oldest living thing on the island.

Le Prêcheur — the last village on the northwest coast before the road ends — is the starting point for the coastal hike to Anse Couleuvre, a black-sand beach at the base of the cliffs where the forest meets the sea.

When to go: December to May. The north is wetter than the south year-round. The hiking trails are best in the drier months when the paths are not streams.