by Bert Archer
Last updated: 7:55 AM ET, Fri July 4, 2025 
When you go to Martinique, the temptation is great to stay on the beach. But try to tear yourself away, even if it's just for a few hours a day, from their beauty and this form of tranquility found only in the French Antilles (and Dominica), to visit these four places.
Habitation Clément (between 200,000 and 250,000 visitors per year)
A former sugarcane plantation converted into a distillery in 1917, with beautiful gardens. The site bears little resemblance to the use of forced labor that enabled the creation and maintenance of the plantation and the company. Approximately 160 hectares.
Balata Garden (around 50,000 visitors per year)
A relatively recent botanical attraction—created in 1982 by Jean-Philippe Thoze on his grandmother's land and opened to the public in 1986—that is somewhat reminiscent of our Reford Gardens, formerly known as the Reford Gardens. Approximately three hectares.
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The Slave Savannah (around 10,000 visitors per year)
(Photo Credit: Bert Archer)
The real star of the four , with magnificent views in addition to a rigorous presentation of Martinique's history. You can't say you've seen Martinique until you've seen La Savane. Three hectares.
The Pagerie Museum (less than 10,000 visitors per year)
I'm convinced that the number of visitors is so low because few people know that La Pagerie is the birthplace of Marie-Josèphe-Rose Tascher de La Pagerie, known as Joséphine, Empress of the French and Queen of Italy.
It's a small site, including the ruins of her birthplace, the period kitchen, and a very good museum—also modest—that tells not only Joséphine's story but also that of the Black team who managed and operated the house and the 300-hectare plantation. Like La Savane, it's the labor of love of one man: Dr. Robert Rose-Rosette (1905–1996), who bought the site in 1944, started the museum in 1954, and sold it to the General Council of Martinique in 1984. Less than three hectares.
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