Going to a museum while vacationing in the Caribbean may not seem very exciting, but Martinique’s museums are different. Designed for the traveler who is more interested in, say, bananas than history, the island's museums are small, colorful and feature topics somewhere within the range of quirky to bizarre.

• Musée de la Banane : This museum contains an impossible amount of information about the banana: how to pick it, how to package it for shipping, even how to make perfume out of it. The best part of the museum is that it is also a functioning plantation, and you can walk through groves of banana trees.

• Paul Gauguin Art Center : Paul Gauguin lived in Martinique for six months in 1887, painting the women of the island as well as its pristine beach landscapes. Unfortunately, Martinique’s art center contains only reproductions of his works, which are now spread out among the famous museums of the world. But the museum's insight into Gauguin’s life on the island is valuable nonetheless.

• Museum of “Rhum” : That would be the French spelling of rum, the alcoholic beverage. Martinique’s sugar industry was closely linked with rum production, and this museum chronicles the history of both. There are rum samples at the end, so it’s best not to plan on driving yourself back!