Martinique
Quirky historical sites complement European flair and Caribbean beauty on this French outpost. With croissants and palm trees, all perched near a live volcano, Martinique is the definition of a refined French-Caribbean island – fashionable and elegant, with an abundance of flora. Filled with ruins and monuments, Martinique has been French, with a few interruptions, since 1635, and as an overseas department of France (since 1946), it revels in French history and savoir-faire. Tourism is important, but so are banana farming, cane raising, and the rum business. With two world-class monarchs among its progeny - Napoleon's empress Josephine, and Aimé Dubuc de Rivery, who was kidnapped at sea and made Sultana Validá, mother of Turkey's Sultan Mahmoud II - the island delights in historical oddities. Its many small museums focus on curiosities such as banana farming and ancient island civilizations.