One Week in Martinique

If this library doesn’t look much like your average Caribbean building, there’s a reason for that. It’s not. The entire library was first built in France back in 1889, then shipped piece by piece to the island Martinique as an exquisite monument to Victor Schoelcher, the French abolitionist writer from the early 19th century. No Caribbean travel experience in Martinique is complete without taking in this building’s unique architecture.

This three-hectare park holds 3,000 types of indigenous flora and fauna—including some 300 species of palm trees—just outside of Martinique’s capital. For nearly 30 years, horticultural enthusiasts have followed the multilingual markers through the Jean-Philippe Thoze–designed gardens, traversing rolling green fields and sultry ponds dappled with water lilies and lotus flowers. More adventurous botanists can experience a thrilling canopy ride, which sit approximately two stories above ground level and provides an aerial view of the landscape.