Tips & Tricks
Guadeloupe’s Creole Eco-Museum (Route de Sofaïa, Sainte-Rose, Basse-Terre) — If there was ever a place where originality was rivaled only by a desire to preserve heritage, it’s in the Creole garden along Sainte-Rose’s Route de Sofaïa. Guadeloupe’s Creole eco-museum is a kaleidoscopic botanical garden that features a collection of tropical species, including medicinal plants, as […]
Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve (Basse-Terre) – established in the late 1980s, the National Park manages a 3,700-hectare nature reserve at the heart of a vast bay closed off by the longest coral reef in the Lesser Antilles. With a myriad of different coastal features, le Grand-Cul-de-sac Marin boasts mangroves, swampy forests, grassy marshes, herbaceous […]
Les Saintes (islands) — Les Saintes consists of two inhabited islands, Terre-de-Haut (5 km2) and Terre-de-Bas (8 km2), and seven islets. The first European inhabitants of Les Saintes were Bretons and Normans. Fort Napoléon has a panoramic view and beautiful exotic gardens in what used to be the fort’s ramparts. Baie des Saintes in Terre-de-Haut […]
L’Habitation La Grivelière (Vallèe de Grand Rivière, Vieux Habitants, Basse-Terre) – this is a coffee and cocoa plantation in Vieux Habitants (located in the southeast coast of Basse-Terre) that dates back to the 1700s. This place gives visitors a glimpse of the French Caribbean economy during the colonial period. Admission: €7.50 (adults), €4.50 (children). Those […]
Engraved Rock Archaeological Park (Trois-Rivières, Basse Terre) — Inhabited by the Arawaks and the Carib people before being discovered by Christopher Colombus in 1493, Guadeloupe still bears many signs of these ancient civilizations. The archaeological park in Trois-Rivières is home to many of them and offers a stunning peek at pre-conquest Guadeloupe, not to mention […]
The eastern Caribbean island of Guadeloupe was first discovered by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage to America in 1493. He named that island Santa María de Guadalupe de Extremadura (which would later be shortened to Guadelupe). Although he himself never settled on the island, Spanish settlers eventually did make their way to Guadeloupe. With […]