Tour Overview
| Duration | 7 Days / 6 Nights |
|---|---|
| Destination | Guadeloupe — The Butterfly Island (France Overseas, Caribbean) |
| Price From | $2,195 per person (twin share) |
| Tour Style | Island Discovery: Nature & Culture |
Itinerary Highlights
Day 1: Arrive Pointe-à-Pitre
Arrive at Pôle Caraïbes Airport. Guadeloupe is shaped like a butterfly: Grande-Terre (the eastern wing, flat limestone with sugarcane fields) and Basse-Terre (the western wing, volcanic and mountainous with rainforest and La Soufrière volcano). Transfer to your hotel in Le Gosier, the island’s main tourist hub. Welcome dinner: boudin créole (spicy blood sausage), accras, and a ti’punch ritual presided over by your guide. Overnight in Le Gosier.
Day 2: Grande-Terre — The Eastern Wing
Explore the flat, dry eastern wing. Visit Pointe des Châteaux, the dramatic easternmost point where waves crash against limestone cliffs. The view encompasses Désirade, Petite-Terre, and Marie-Galante islands. Continue to the Saint-François marina and the white-sand beaches of Grande-Terre’s southern coast. Lunch at a family-run restaurant in Sainte-Anne, famous for its market. Visit La Porte d’Enfer (Hell’s Gate), a natural arch carved by the Atlantic into limestone cliffs. Overnight in Le Gosier.
Day 3: Basse-Terre Rainforest & Waterfalls
Cross the Rivière Salée (Salt River) — the narrow strait separating Guadeloupe’s two wings — into Basse-Terre. Enter the Guadeloupe National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve protecting 17,300 hectares of tropical rainforest. Hike to the Chutes du Carbet, three spectacular waterfalls plunging from the slopes of La Soufrière — the second cascade drops 110 meters, one of the tallest in the Caribbean. The trail winds through giant tree ferns and towering gommier trees, with the constant sound of cascading water. Afternoon: visit a traditional cocoa plantation. Overnight in Bouillante (west coast).
Day 4: Cousteau Reserve & Pigeon Island
Morning at the Cousteau Underwater Reserve, named for Jacques Cousteau who filmed “The Silent World” here in 1956. Snorkel or dive among the famous coral gardens of Pigeon Island, where Jacques Cousteau’s team first introduced the world to underwater cinematography. The reserve protects one of the Caribbean’s healthiest reef systems — parrotfish, angelfish, barracuda, and sea turtles are regulars. Glass-bottom boat for non-swimmers. Afternoon: relax at Malendure Beach, the black-sand shore that marks the volcanic west coast. Hot springs at the nearby Ravine Chaude. Overnight in Bouillante.
Day 5: La Soufrière Volcano & Saintes Islands
Morning: ascend La Soufrière (1,467m), the “Old Sulfur Lady” — an active volcano you can hike to the summit of. The trail passes through cloud forest, elfin woodland, and finally a lunar landscape of fumaroles and sulfur vents at the crater’s edge. The last major eruption was 1976 (72,000 residents evacuated — the very dramatic evacuation inspired the film “La Soufrière” by Werner Herzog). Afternoon: ferry to Les Saintes, an archipelago of tiny islands south of Guadeloupe. The main island, Terre-de-Haut, is a car-free paradise of pastel houses, scooters, and devastatingly beautiful bays. Visit Fort Napoléon, a 19th-century fortress turned museum high above the bay, home to a botanical garden of cacti and iguanas. Overnight on Terre-de-Haut (Les Saintes).
Day 6: Les Saintes & Pain de Sucre Beach
Morning snorkeling at Pain de Sucre (Sugar Loaf) beach — a perfect crescent of sand beneath a distinctive conical rock. The snorkeling here rivals the Cousteau Reserve, with large schools of blue tang and sergeant majors in crystalline shallows. Walk the island’s quiet roads to the Marigot Bay viewpoint, where the bay is so perfectly circular it looks like a crater lake that the sea breached. Afternoon: ferry back to Basse-Terre. Drive to Le Gosier. Farewell dinner: colombo de cabri (goat curry), a Guadeloupean classic blending Indian and Creole traditions. Overnight in Le Gosier.
Day 7: Depart Guadeloupe
Morning visit to the Mémorial ACTe, the Caribbean’s largest slavery museum — a striking black building on the site of a former sugar factory. Transfer to airport.
Inclusions
- 6 nights accommodation (3 nts Le Gosier, 2 nts Bouillante, 1 nt Les Saintes)
- Daily breakfast + 3 dinners
- Cousteau Reserve snorkeling excursion (equipment included)
- La Soufrière guided hike
- Ferry to Les Saintes
- Fort Napoléon entry
- Chutes du Carbet entry
- Mémorial ACTe entry
- All transfers
