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Visit Guadaloupe

Visitar isla Guadalupe, turismo en guadalupe

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Guadaloupe

Guadeloupe mixes the best of France – a fully modern infrastructure and fantastic food – with a local culture that people here are proud of and want to share. Guadeloupe’s two main islands look like the wings of a butterfly and are joined together by a mangrove swamp.

Grande-Terre, the eastern wing of the island, has a string of beach towns that offer visitors every variety of fun in the sun known to humankind. From surfing schools to beach bars to long stretches of beautiful sand where azure water laps at the toes of French mademoiselles, it’s all here.

Mapa de Guadalupe

Basse-Terre, the western wing, is home to the national park, crowned by La Soufrière volcano. Hiking trails and a Jacques Cousteau underwater reserve offer adventure for those who want more go than slow in their holidays. But for the gourmets and sun worshippers there are still plenty of places to recharge while everyone else tires themselves out.

South of the butterfly-shaped ‘mainland’ of Guadeloupe are a number of small archipelagos that give a taste of Guadeloupe’s yesteryear. Ranging from sheer chill on La Désirade to the cosmopolitan Terre-de-Haut and the largely rural Marie-Galante, the smaller islands each have their own character and round out the long list of ingredients that make Guadeloupe.

Pointe a Pitre, Guadalupe

Terre-de-Haut

Lying 10km off Guadeloupe is Terre-de-Haut, the largest of the eight small islands that make up Les Saintes. Since the island was too hilly and dry for sugar plantations, slavery never took hold here. Consequently, the older islanders still trace their roots to the early seafaring Norman and Breton colonists and many of the locals have light skin and blond or red hair.

Terre-de-Haut is unhurried and feels like a small slice of southern France transported to the Caribbean. Lots of English is spoken here thanks to a big international sailing scene, and it’s definitely the most cosmopolitan of Guadeloupe’s outlying islands.

Terre-de-Haut is only 5km long and about half as wide. Ferries dock right in the center of Bourg des Saintes, the island’s only village. The airstrip is to the east, a 10-minute walk from the village center.

Grande-Terre

The southern coast of Grande-Terre, with its reef-protected waters, is Guadeloupe’s main resort area. The eastern side of the island is largely open Atlantic, with crashing surf, and in comparison to the southern coast is barely touched by tourism.

Northern Grande-Terre doesn’t have much in the way of accommodations but it’s probably the best place to spend a day driving around – sea cliffs on one side and swaying fields of sugarcane on the other. Pointe-à-Pitre, the island’s biggest city, is in the southeastern corner of Grande-Terre.

Saint Francois, Guadalupe

Désirade

About 10km off Grande-Terre, La Désirade is the archipelago’s least-developed and least-visited island. Even the nicest beaches are nearly deserted; for the ultimate do-nothing vacation it’s a place that’s hard to beat.

Looking somewhat like an overturned boat when viewed from Guadeloupe, La Désirade is only 11km long and 2km wide, with a central plateau that rises 273m at its highest point, Grand Montagne.

The uninhabited north side of the island has a rocky coastline with rough open seas, while the south side has sandy beaches and reef-protected waters. There are no dive shops on the island or places to rent snorkeling equipment, so those who want to get below the surface of La Désirade should bring their own gear.

La Désirade’s harbor and airport are on the southwest side of the island in Beauséjour, the main village. The island’s town hall, post office and library are also in Beauséjour. There are smaller settlements at Le Souffleur and Baie Mahault.

In 1725 Guadeloupe established a leper colony on La Désirade, and for more than two centuries victims of the disease were forced to make a one-way trip to the island. The leprosarium, which was run by the Catholic Sisters of Charity, closed in the mid-1950s. Its remains, a chapel and a cemetery are just to the east of Baie Mahault.

La Désirade’s main road runs along the southern coast and ends at an art deco–style weather station on the eastern tip of the island. Nearby is a lighthouse. The trip is worthwhile for the scenery, if nothing else. Gangs of goats that apparently don’t see many cars wander the windswept fields here – it’s an area of desolate beauty that feels a lot like Brittany in northern France.

Terre de Haut, Guadalupe

Marie-Galante

Marie-Galante, 25km southeast of Guadeloupe proper, is the largest of Guadeloupe’s outer islands. Compared with the archipelago’s other islands, Marie-Galante is relatively flat, its dual limestone plateaus rising only 150m. It is roughly round in shape with a total land area of 158 sq km. Because of its shape, the island is often referred to as ‘La Grande Galette, ’ which means ‘the Big Crêpe.’

The island is rural in character; it’s pretty much sugarcane, manioc fields and cows outside of Grand-Bourg, the surprisingly large main city. There are some lovely, uncrowded beaches and pleasant country scenery.

Basse-Terre

Shortly after entering the island of Basse-Terre from Pointe-à-Pitre, you have a choice of three main routes: north along the coast, south along the coast, or across the interior along the Route de la Traversée, through the national park. Most of the destinations in Basse-Terre offer a nice balance between nature – including the national park and plentiful diving – and amenities for visitors.