St Pierre

Take a scenic drive along the west coast of Martinique to the harbour town of Saint-Pierre. Once the island's thriving capital, known as the ‘Paris of the Caribbean’, the city was destroyed in 1902 when the nearby Mount Pelée volcano erupted, killing all 30,000 inhabitants. The catastrophic event is documented at the fascinating Volcanological Museum, which includes photographs from before and after the eruption, along with surviving artefacts. On the rainforest road back to the capital Fort-de-France, pause at the lovely Balata Cathedral, a replica of the Sacré-Cœur in Paris, which has beautiful panoramas over the city and bay.