Marie-Galante

An hour's ferry south of the mainland, Marie-Galante turns the clock to cane time: the round island - la grande galette, the big pancake - rolls gentle hills of sugar fields worked in living memory by ox cart (the carts still parade at festivals), ruined windmills by the dozen recalling the hundred that once turned, and three distilleries whose agricole rums - Bellevue, Bielle and Pere Labat - carry a strength and reputation out of proportion to the island's size. Between tastings: Gueule Grand Gouffre's collapsed sea arch, and beaches - Anse Canot, La Feuillere - that mainlanders cross the channel just to lie on.

What you actually see

• The three distilleries - Bellevue, Bielle and Pere Labat's tasting rooms.
• The windmill ruins - stone towers across the cane hills.
• Gueule Grand Gouffre - the collapsed arch swallowing the sea.
• Anse Canot and La Feuillere - the channel-crossing-worthy beaches.

When to go

December to May for dry brightness; the cane harvest (roughly February to June) sets the distilleries steaming. Day trips work; an overnight catches the island after the last ferry, which is its true speed.

Honest expectations

Ferries are the schedule's master - confirm return sailings, especially Sundays. The rums run strong (59 degrees is standard at Labat) and the roads are rural: taste and drive in the responsible order. The island is gentle sightseeing, not spectacle - its charm compounds with slowness.

Nearby

Les Saintes across the channel, and the mainland's southern beaches.