Saint Martin Itinerary: How We Spent 7 Days on the Caribbean's Most Underrated Island
Trip at a glance: Jess, Joe, and both boys (12 and 15). 7 nights. Split between the French side (Saint-Martin) and the Dutch side (Sint Maarten). Flew into Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM). Rental car the entire trip. Summer.
Two countries. One island. 37 square miles. Zero apologies.
We went as a family and came home telling everyone. That is not something I say about every trip. Some places are nice. Saint Martin has actual personality. It has opinions. The French side thinks the Dutch side is loud. The Dutch side thinks the French side is boring. They are both a little right, and the tension between those two vibes is exactly what makes this place worth the flight.
This is the Saint Martin itinerary we followed, day by day, with the specific restaurants, beaches, and honest calls you need to plan your own version.
Before you go: the practical stuff that will save you headaches
Getting there. You fly into Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) on the Dutch side. From the East Coast, you have solid nonstop options. American flies direct from Miami (about 3.5 hours) and Charlotte. JetBlue runs nonstops from JFK and Boston. Delta connects from Atlanta. United goes from Newark. Spirit runs cheap nonstops from Fort Lauderdale and Miami. If you are coming from the Midwest or West Coast, you will connect through one of those hubs. Miami and JFK tend to have the most frequency and the best fares. The flight does not burn a full day, which matters when you only have a week.
Rental car. Get one. The island is tiny but not walkable between towns, and you want the freedom to bounce between the French and Dutch sides whenever you feel like it. Cars are cheap, around $30 a day. Roads are narrow, traffic gets real during rush hour (yes, there is a rush hour on a Caribbean island), but it is very manageable.
Money. US dollars work everywhere on both sides, which is nice. Credit cards are widely accepted at restaurants, hotels, and bigger shops. But we got caught a few times needing cash at smaller spots, beach shacks, and a couple of the Lolos in Grand Case. ATMs exist but they are not everywhere, and a few we tried were out of service. Pull cash from an ATM when you see one that works. Do not assume there will be another one around the corner because there might not be.
Electricity (this one trips people up). The Dutch side runs on 110V with standard US-style plugs. Your American chargers and devices work without an adapter. The French side runs on 220V with European-style round-pin outlets (Type C and E). Your phone and laptop chargers are almost certainly dual voltage and just need a cheap plug adapter. But your hair dryer is probably not dual voltage, and plugging a 110V hair dryer into a 220V outlet will kill it instantly. Pack a universal adapter, check your devices, and maybe just leave the hair dryer at home. Some hotels and rentals on the French side have both outlet types, but do not count on it.
The two-sides thing
You cannot understand this island without understanding the split.
The French side is quiet. Locals kept telling us it was boring, which cracked us up because we found it the opposite. Grand Case is a short strip of waterfront restaurants that locals call the gourmet capital of the Caribbean, and honestly, they are not exaggerating. The food is legitimately excellent. Marigot has a weekend waterfront market, a small fort worth climbing, and easy French colonial charm. No casinos. No cruise-ship energy.
The Dutch side brings the volume. A dozen casinos concentrated around Philipsburg, Simpson Bay, and the Maho strip. Front Street is cruise-ship busy during the day. Simpson Bay has the marina scene and the kind of beach bars that do not slow down until sunrise. Casino Royale at the Maho resort complex is the biggest on the island if your group is into that.
Neither side is wrong. They are just different trips happening on the same 37-square-mile rock.
Day 1: land, grab the car, settle into the French side
Fly in, pick up your rental at SXM, and drive to the French side. We based ourselves there for the first few nights and it set the right tone. Slower. Prettier. A gentler way to start than diving straight into Dutch side energy.
First dinner in Grand Case. Walk the strip. Pick somewhere that looks good. Honestly, it is hard to go wrong here. We sat waterfront, ordered food that had no business being this good on a beach, and realized immediately that this island was going to be different from what we expected.
Day 2: Grand Case, the Lolos, and finding your beach
Morning on Grand Case Beach. It wraps over a mile along the coastline, the water is calm and stupid clear, and there is plenty of space even when it is busy. Good family beach.
Lunch at the Lolos, north end of Grand Case. Open-air BBQ shacks that have fed locals for decades. Ribs, chicken, fish, rice and beans, cold beer, plastic chairs, zero pretension. Cheap and mandatory. Do not trade these for a sit-down restaurant. The Lolos are the experience.
Afternoon: pick a beach. Mullet Bay has some of the softest sand on the island. Orient Bay is the move if your family wants watersports (the trade winds make it one of the best kitesurfing spots in the Caribbean). Le Galion nearby is calm and shallow if you have younger kids.
Back to Grand Case for dinner. Have a drink at one place, walk to the next. This strip rewards slow evenings.
Day 3: Maho Beach and the Dutch side
Maho Beach, Saint Martin
The day you do the thing everyone has seen on the internet. Maho Beach, Dutch side, right next to Princess Juliana Airport. Planes on final approach pass maybe 100 feet above your head. The boys lost their minds. Joe lost his mind. I pretended to be calm and was not.
Go in the afternoon when arrivals pick up. Download FlightAware or Flightradar24 beforehand and filter by SXM so you can see what is coming and when. Sunset Bar and Grill sits at the runway fence and posts arrivals on a board outside. Cold beer, decent food, and a front-row seat to something no video prepares you for. Aim for a Thursday if you can swing it. When cruise ships are in port, Maho turns into a zoo.
Stay through sunset. The beach faces west and the light goes from good to ridiculous.
After Maho, cross over to the Philipsburg Boardwalk. It is more than cruise-ship shopping. Walk Great Bay Beach, find a restaurant, get the feel of the Dutch side when it is not in full party mode.
Day 4: Anguilla day trip
This was the best day of our trip. I hear that from clients too. Anguilla is about a 20-minute ferry ride from Marigot on the French side and it needs to be on your Saint Martin itinerary.
We used All About Boat Charters for a full-day tour. Anguilla's beaches are a different category. I do not know how else to say it. The sand is finer, the water is somehow even more absurd, and the island is smaller, quieter, and more upscale. It is a British overseas territory so the vibe shifts again. Most tours include beach time, snorkeling, and a food stop. Easy, full day.
Bring your passport. Not a copy. Not a photo on your phone. Your actual passport. Anguilla is a separate country and they will check it at immigration on the ferry.
Day 5: off the beach
Someone in your family will be beached-out by day 5. For us it was Joe, which surprised nobody. Loterie Farm saved the day.
It is a private nature reserve up on Pic Paradis, the highest point on the island at 1,391 feet. Hiking trails through actual rainforest, ziplining, a rope course through the canopy, and a natural spring pool called The Hidden Forest Pool that feels like it belongs in a different country. The restaurant up there is genuinely good. Shaded, cool, quiet. Worth a half-day easily, and it works well for older kids (10 and up) who need something more active than another lounge chair.
Afternoon: catch a beach you missed. Dawn Beach faces the Atlantic and is gorgeous at sunrise if you can drag yourself out of bed. Cupecoy has limestone cliffs dropping into deep blue water and fewer people.
Day 6: ATV tour and Marigot
An ATV tour of the whole island is one of the best things to do in Saint Martin and we should have done it earlier in the trip. Guided tours take you across both sides, into the hills, past overlooks you would never find driving, and down to beaches that are not on any tourist map. Physical enough to feel like an adventure. Not so physical that anyone complained.
If your trip falls on a Saturday, Marigot Market in the morning. Waterfront. Fresh produce, spices, crafts. Feels real in a way that shopping strips do not.
Fort Louis above Marigot. Short climb, panoramic views of the capital, Simpson Bay Lagoon, and Anguilla way out on the horizon. Free and barely anyone goes.
One last dinner in Grand Case. We went three times and I would go a fourth.
Day 7: slow down and sunset
Charter a sunset cruise on Simpson Bay Lagoon if you want one last big moment. Or revisit your favorite beach. Or sit on your balcony and do nothing. By day 7 you have earned it.
If you are flying out the next morning, spend your last night on the Dutch side so the airport run is short. SXM is on the Dutch side and you do not want to deal with cross-island traffic at 6 a.m.
What I would change next time
More nights. Five is the minimum. Seven is right. We could have used nine. I want another afternoon at Loterie Farm and a full evening in Simpson Bay for the marina and sunset that we never got to.
I would also pull cash earlier and more often. We got caught twice at spots that were cash only and had to scramble. The ATM situation on this island is not what you are used to stateside.
FAQ
How many days do you need for a Saint Martin vacation? Five nights minimum to see both sides and do the Anguilla day trip without rushing. Seven is better and what I recommend for first-timers. Most people I talk to wish they had stayed longer.
Is Saint Martin good for families with kids? We brought our boys and it worked great. Le Galion Beach is calm and shallow for younger kids. Loterie Farm has real activities for older ones. The ATV tour works for 12 and up. And Maho Beach is the kind of thing a kid remembers forever. The island is safe, easy to navigate, and has enough variety that nobody gets bored.
Do you need a rental car? Yes. Public transit is basically nonexistent for tourists and taxis add up fast. A rental car costs around $30 a day and completely changes the trip. You will want to move between the French and Dutch sides freely and on your own schedule.
What is the best time to visit Saint Martin? Mid-December through mid-April. Dry season. Low-to-mid 80s. Trade winds keep it comfortable. Shoulder season in May, early June, or late November gets you fewer crowds and better prices. Hurricane season runs June through November and peaks in September and October. Buy travel insurance if you go during that window.
Do I need a plug adapter? On the Dutch side, no. Standard US plugs work fine. On the French side, yes. You need a European-style adapter (Type C or E). Your phone and laptop chargers are probably dual voltage and just need the adapter. Hair dryers and anything with a heating element probably are not, so check before you plug in or you will fry them.
This island rewards having someone who has actually been there doing the planning. Two electrical systems, cash-only beach shacks, a ferry to time, restaurant neighborhoods that take some knowing. That is exactly what we do at jess.travel.
For the full deep dive on everything Saint Martin (history, casinos, neighborhoods, trending context), read our complete guide here.
