Region

Grande-Terre

Land at Pointe-à-Pitre, spend a morning in town, then sleep at the beaches on the south coast by car; do the national park on Basse-Terre as a separate base.

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Key facts · Guadeloupe

Best months: Dec–May
Visa: Depends on your passport
Currency: Euro (EUR)
Language: French official
Plugs: C · E · 230 V
Time zone: UTC−4 all year

Month by month here

Rules in force · 7Several islands (Turks and Caicos above all, also the Bah…

Caribbean ↗Several islands (Turks and Caicos above all, also the Bahamas and Jamaica) jail visitors for a single stray bullet or cartridge in their luggage; empty every bag and pocket before you pack.
Caribbean ↗From August to October keep a free last day before your flight home and check the national hurricane centre daily; airports close when a named storm approaches.
Caribbean ↗Wearing camouflage clothing is illegal for civilians in several islands, including Barbados, Antigua, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenada, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica; leave it at home, children's clothes included.
Guadeloupe ↗Entry follows French rules for overseas departments, which can differ from mainland France and the Schengen area: a Schengen visa alone is not valid unless it is endorsed for Guadeloupe. Check France-Visas for your passport.
Guadeloupe ↗Sargassum seaweed can pile up on some beaches, mainly in spring and summer: check conditions before booking a beach base.
Guadeloupe ↗La Soufrière is an active volcano: check the alert level and trail status before hiking.
Guadeloupe ↗Tap water supply is unreliable in parts of Guadeloupe, with scheduled cuts and occasional quality warnings: keep bottled water at your lodging.

Grande-Terre is the flat eastern wing of Guadeloupe: the airport, the ferry terminal and the market town are here, and so are the south-coast beaches at Le Gosier, Sainte-Anne and Saint-François. It is a car island: buses are irregular, and traffic around Pointe-à-Pitre at rush hour is heavy. Keep one base on the coast and go to town by car.

Where to sleep

4 places in this region

Sleep base

Le GosierGuide: planned
Nearest beach town to the airport; hotels and restaurants.
Page planned: listed so the region plan is complete.
Sainte-AnneGuide: planned
Long beach and a quieter village on the south coast.
Page planned: listed so the region plan is complete.
Saint-FrançoisGuide: planned
Marina, golf and the road to Pointe des Châteaux.
Page planned: listed so the region plan is complete.

Arrival + day trip

Pointe-à-PitreTrip line
Airport town, covered market, cathedral, memorial museum and the ferry terminal.
Best Dec–May
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Pointe-à-Pitre →

Plan the nights

How to split the nights, day-trips and what to do with your bags

Open Plan the nightsClose Plan the nights3 partsNights · Day-trips · Bags

Night sequences

4 nights: Pointe-à-Pitre morning, then 4 nights at the south-coast beaches
7 nights: Grande-Terre 4 + Basse-Terre 3

Grande-Terre 4 nights + Basse-Terre 3 nights in 7 days without a car is mostly waiting for buses.

Day-trips door to door

To	From	Door-to-door p50	Last return	Note
Pointe-à-Pitre	Le Gosier	25 min	unknown	By car or taxi; traffic decides the time.
Pointe-à-Pitre	Sainte-Anne	45 min	unknown	By car; buses are irregular.

Bags between cities

No luggage forwarding culture: keep the big bag at your hotel and take a day pack.

When to go

Months and weather

Open When to goClose When to go1 partSeasons

Seasons at a glance

From each city's month table

Pick a month to see where to go.

Only good-now countries

Show all 12 months, country by countryHide the 12-month table

Country	JJan	FFeb	MMar	AApr	MMay	JJun	JJul	AAug	SSep	OOct	NNov	DDec
Pointe-à-Pitre	go	go	go	go	go	ok	ok	×	×	×	ok	go
Guadeloupe (country-wide)	go	go	go	go	go	go	ok	ok	×	ok	ok	go

Go: the good monthsFair: workable, mixedPoor: heat, rain or hazeAvoid: storms, floods, closuresno data yet

Computed from each country’s own data; hover a country name for the source. Advisory countries are left out.

Eat and move on

Regional food and where to go next

Open Eat and move onClose Eat and move on1 partGo next

Go next

Other regions of the country

Basse-Terre

planned

3–4 nights

National park, La Soufrière, waterfalls, Deshaies and the Cousteau reserve

Les Saintes, Marie-Galante and La Désirade

planned

1–3 nights

Smaller islands by ferry; day trips or 1–2 nights

Grande-Terre: what we know, and what is coming

1 of 4 places open

On this page

4 places with their role: where to sleep, what to do as a day trip
How to split 4 or 7 nights
2 day trips with door-to-door time
Seasons month by month, from the cities’ own tables
What to do with the big bag between beds

Coming as the guide grows

Climate strip by zone, with the storm and haze months
Get in: airports and stations with door-to-door times
Regional passes and cards, with a buy / skip verdict
Regional food: what, where and when it works
A page for Le Gosier — Nearest beach town to the airport; hotels and restaurants.
A page for Sainte-Anne — Long beach and a quieter village on the south coast.
A page for Saint-François — Marina, golf and the road to Pointe des Châteaux.

Meanwhile

Planning aids

Built from this guide's own data

Open Planning aidsClose Planning aids3 partsIn numbers · Trips here · Local time

Region in numbers

Where to sleep: 4 bases
Day trips: 2, 25 min to 45 min
Nights suggested: 4–7 nights

Trips that stop here

From the Guadeloupe guide

Archipelago
14 days · 1 night here
Pointe-à-Pitre → Saint-François → Marie-Galante → Terre-de-Haut (Les Saintes) → Deshaies

All Guadeloupe trips →

Local time

What time it is there now, compared with the clock on your device.

Pointe-à-Pitre
…
Checking your clock…America/Guadeloupe

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