St Martin

In a nutshell

They call it the island with the split personality, as it's the only one in the Caribbean that's joint owned. There's no restriction on crossing between the two parts though so wherever you stay, you can discover the whole island! The Dutch half has lots of casinos and duty free shopping, while the French side exudes Gallic sophistication with its prt a porter clothes shops, quaint pavement caféés and excellent gourmet cuisine. There are over 400 restaurants on the island ranging from Creole to Indonesian and the culinary capital is the charming little town of Grand Case - where one of our hotels is located. Marigot, the French capital, has its own yacht harbour, lending a cosmopolitan air to the quaint cobbled streets. On top of this, there are spectacular white-sand beaches and crystal clear waters filled with colourful reefs which are perfect for snorkelling. We liked it so much, we are featuring a selection of hotels on this island paradise for 2004 and as we are the only UK tour operator to offer this lovely island you get to discover it before all your friends do!

twilight check-in Why not save yourselves time and stress by checking in at Gatwick's South terminal the night before departure? Imagine returning the next morning with just your hand luggage and boarding pass, ready for an easy get away!

Getting Here You fly on Virgin Atlantic's direct service to Antigua then conveniently connect on to St Martin - PLEASE NOTE, Saturday departures require an overnight stay in Antigua and cannot be booked online. Local airport tax on departure is currently US$20 (approx £13) per person payable locally.