Pointe-à-Pitre is the economic capital of Guadeloupe, on the eastern wing of the archipelago, at the hinge of the butterfly. It is not a beach town: it is a port, a market, a ferry terminal and a museum that ranks among the most important in the Americas on the history of slavery. You spend half a day there, and the airport is ten minutes away.
The essentials in four lines
- About five hours non-stop from Montreal to Pôle Caraïbes (PTP), ten minutes from the centre.
- A French department: euro, French language, right-hand driving, European-standard hospital care.
- No beach in the town. The beaches at Le Gosier and Sainte-Anne are fifteen and thirty minutes away.
- December to April is the dry season. Hurricane season runs June to November.
The Mémorial ACTe
Opened in 2015 on the site of the former Darboussier sugar factory, it is the largest centre devoted to the slave trade and slavery in the Caribbean. The building itself is a work of architecture: a black volume threaded with silver roots, facing the sea.
The permanent route covers four centuries, from pre-colonial African societies to contemporary struggles, with objects, archives and installations. Allow two to three hours. It is the most important visit in Guadeloupe, and one of the most affecting in the Caribbean.
The Saint-Antoine market
The spice market occupies a nineteenth-century iron hall near the port. Vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon bark, colombo, turmeric, bay rum leaf and infused rums are sold by weight, in a smell that catches you at the door. The vendors, in madras, offer tastes and negotiate.
It is the best place in the archipelago to bring something home, provided you buy in the morning, when the market is stocked and the town has not yet heated up.
The centre
Place de la Victoire, planted with century-old sandbox trees, forms the historic heart, ringed by colonial houses with iron balconies. The church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, nicknamed the iron church, was reinforced with a metal frame after the earthquakes and cyclones of the nineteenth century: its exposed columns and tie rods make it a building unlike any other in the Caribbean.
Rue Frébault and the surrounding streets form the archipelago’s main shopping district. The town empties in late afternoon: evening life happens elsewhere, at Le Gosier or Sainte-Anne.
The ferries
This is the town’s other essential function. From the maritime terminal, fast ferries serve Marie-Galante in an hour, Les Saintes in an hour, Dominica in two hours and Martinique in four.
Those links make possible a day trip to Marie-Galante and its distilleries, or to Terre-de-Haut and its bay, ranked by UNESCO among the finest in the world. Book ahead in high season.
Where to stay
Few travellers sleep in Pointe-à-Pitre itself. The hotels are at Le Gosier, fifteen minutes away, at Sainte-Anne and Saint-François on the south coast of Grande-Terre, or across on the leeward side of Basse-Terre at Deshaies and Bouillante.
All-inclusive exists but remains a minority in Guadeloupe: one large holiday village at Sainte-Anne and a few hotels offering an all-inclusive option. Our criteria for choosing an all-inclusive hotel help judge what the format actually adds on an island where you eat well and cheaply everywhere.
When to go
The dry season, December to April, brings trade winds, little rain and calm water on the Caribbean coast. From July to November, heat and humidity climb, showers turn daily but brief, and rates fall markedly.
Carnival fills January and February, with parades every Sunday. In August, the cooks’ festival puts Creole cooks in costume through the streets of the town, carrying their dishes. Our guide on when to travel south from Montreal sets out the pricing calendar.
To plan this trip, see also our Guadeloupe page and judging value for money.
