Travel tips: driving in Martinique

When we started booking our trip to Martinique in the fall of 2023, it quickly became clear that we wouldn't see much without a car. Most of the attractions are not on any bus lines and booking a tour for every single visit would be costly, time consuming and ineffective. We rented a car for the whole trip and never regretted it as we were able to see everything we wanted and to modify our itinerary along the way according to the weather and our level of energy the day of. Here is everything you need to know before deciding to rent a car in Martinique.

renting a car

Actually renting the car was a piece of cake. We booked everything online through the company's website. They picked us up at the airport after we called to let them know we had arrived, and the whole process at the agency took about 15 minutes. We all had to show our driver's licence, but our canadian licences were fine and we didn't need an international one. We went around the car to check for any scratches or irregularities, and then we were on our way. The only thing I found weird was that we had to clean the car inside and out before handing back the keys or they would charge us a cleaning fee. We ended up finding a car wash that also had vacuums and were able to clean it without an issue, but it was still a hassle to have to thing about this while on vacation.

the roads

This is where it got complicated! We had no trouble finding our way as every road is on Google Maps, but the roads in Martinique are not what you would find around Quebec City. They definitely require more skills... The roads are very narrow, to the point that most people drive in the middle of the road and don't keep to their lane. Often time, there's the road and then a cliff or rock face and the road will serpent its way up or down the mountain so you are constantly turning 300 degrees on a very narrow road where you can't see what is coming the other direction. I'm not a new driver and I have driven long distances in icy conditions or in fog, but even I was nervous on some of these roads. Even worse, locals drive crazy fast and will pass you right before a curve or in a section where you can't see anything that is coming in the other direction. You will have to be careful for yourself and for the people around you as you drive in Martinique that is for sure!

the distances

The island of Martinique is pretty small and you would expect to get to most places quickly, but this is definitely not the case. Since the roads are, most of the times, especially in the Northern region, narrow and crooked, the speed limit is often very low and distances are greater than they seem when you look on a map. The road system is also star shaped around Fort-de-France which means that you often have to go a long way around because there are simply no roads that connect directly to where you want to go. Make sure to look up distances and time on Google Maps before making plans.

the speed limits

Like I said previously, the speed limits are pretty low, but to be honest, I very rarely found myself on a road where I would have driven faster than the limit. You also should always follow the indicated speed limits as there are radars installed all around the island and tickets are apparently pretty pricey.

traffic

That is one thing we had not considered when planning our trip. We had been told that there was often traffic around Fort-de-France, but honestly, there was traffic pretty much every where and at every hour... The highways also have roundabouts which often cause congestion and long queues, so you are stopped every few kilometers even on main roads.

Although driving in Martinique was often a pain and very rarely relaxing, I still would make the decision of renting a car. We wouldn't have seen half of what we saw without one and would have been greatly limited in our choices of accommodation. I honestly don't think visiting Martinique without a car would have been worth it and definitely recommend the extra trip expense.

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