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Travel guide
Guadeloupe
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: December to April (the dry season)
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Welcome
Guadeloupe, in a few days
Guadeloupe is shaped like a butterfly resting on the Caribbean Sea: one wing, Grande-Terre, is limestone with white-sand beaches and sugar cane; the other, Basse-Terre, is volcanic, with La Soufrière smoking at 1,467 metres above the rainforest.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · La Soufrière free · 2 to 3 hThe highest peak in the Lesser Antilles, climbed from the Bains Jaunes car park through moss forest and up stone slabs to sulphurous fumaroles.
- Afternoon · Carbet Falls · about 1 hThree waterfalls on La Soufrière above Capesterre-Belle-Eau; a paved path from the car park reaches the 110-metre second fall in twenty minutes.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Karibea Beach Hotel Gosier€150 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Cousteau Reserve and the Pigeon Islands · half a dayTwo volcanic islets off Malendure beach where Jacques Cousteau filmed, with his bronze bust twelve metres down among sea fans and sponges.
- Afternoon · Grande Anse, Deshaies free · half a dayOver a kilometre of golden sand backed by sea grapes and palms, with no buildings in sight; the swell is often good for bodyboarding.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Habitation Grande Anse€130 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Mémorial ACTe · about 2 hA Caribbean centre for the memory of the slave trade and slavery, opened in 2015 on a former sugar factory site in Pointe-à-Pitre.
- Afternoon · Pointe des Châteaux free · about 1 hThe limestone eastern tip of Grande-Terre; a fifteen-minute climb to the cross looks over La Désirade, Petite-Terre and Marie-Galante.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Amaudo€140 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Marie-Galante · a full dayA round, flat island of cane fields and cliffs away from mass tourism, with three distilleries, Bielle, Père Labat and Bellevue, making agricultural rum.
- Afternoon · Terre-de-Haut, Les Saintes · a full dayRed-roofed houses around a celebrated bay, twenty-five minutes by boat from Trois-Rivières, with Fort Napoléon, its iguanas, and the sheltered Pompierre beach.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Bois Joli€230 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Accras: salt cod fritters with chilli and herbs, served with the aperitif.
- Bokit: fried bread split open and filled with cod, chicken or tuna, the street food of Guadeloupe.
- Colombo: chicken, pork or goat cooked with a spice blend brought by Indian workers in the nineteenth century.
- Court-bouillon: fish simmered in a sauce of tomato, lime and chilli.
- Sorbet coco: coconut sorbet churned by hand in a wooden bucket and sold on the beaches.
- Ti-punch: white agricultural rum, lime and cane sugar, mixed to taste by whoever is drinking it.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Keep away from the manchineel tree on the beaches, often marked with a red band. Its sap burns the skin and its small green apples are poisonous, so do not shelter under it in the rain.
- Stay out of rivers after heavy rain: flash floods come down from the Basse-Terre mountains with no warning.
- Check the sargassum reports before choosing a beach. When the seaweed washes up and rots, it smells and gives off gas.
- Rent a car. Buses are few and stop early, and cars run short in high season, so book ahead.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €120 a day, mid-range
Best seasonDecember to April (the dry season)
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink, but supply cuts are frequent, so keep bottled water in reserve
TippingNot expected, rounding up is appreciated
Emergency112 (15 ambulance, 17 police, 18 fire service)
EntryGuadeloupe is part of France and the EU but outside the Schengen area: EU citizens need only an ID card, and UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports get 90 days visa-free. Carry a return ticket, you may be asked for it.
HealthHepatitis A is recommended. There is no malaria, but dengue circulates and chikungunya returns at times: use repellent. Avoid fresh water after heavy rain because of leptospirosis.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/guadeloupe
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.