Pointe-a-Pitre

Introduction

Pointe-a-Pitre is the largest city on the island of Guadeloupe and although it is the economical centre of the island, the administrative capital remains Basse-Terre.

Sights and Activities

• Schoelcher museum: the man who has contributed to abolish slavery in the french colonies.
• St John Perse museum: a famous writer who has lived in Guadeloupe.
• The market place, typical of the creole atmosphere.
• In Bas du Fort district, you can of course visit the Fort on the top of the hill. In the same area stands the Aquarium where you can contemplate a lot of fishes.

Events and Festivals

Carnival

A week before Ash Wednesday, islanders dress in colorful and extravagant costumes and parade the streets. The main events are held in Basse-Terre and Pointe-a-Pitre. On the day before Ash Wednesday, people are dressed as white and black devils and go outdoors to dance.

Guadeloupe International Zouk Festival

This internationally renowned festival honors the zouk music genre and is held in July. Spectators can enjoy local performances by renowned artists and traditional musicians.

Fete des Cuisinieres

The Festival of Women Cooks in August is one of the most spectacular events on Guadeloupe. Contestants serve a banquet of French and Creole foods, and everyone is welcome to participate and sample the dishes. Parades and dances also take place, and the attendees dress in traditional Creole costumes.

Creole Week

International Creole Day is the highlight of a full week which honors the Creole heritage in Guadeloupe in October. Festivities include theater performances, concerts and poetry readings.

Documentary Film Month

An event that should not be missed for movie buffs and fans of independent films, every year in November French films that are rarely shown to the public are screened in Guadeloupe’s theaters, libraries and schools for all to appreciate.

Weather

Pointe-a-Pitre has a hot and humid tropical climate with average daytime temperatures throughout the year of 30 °C and average nights around 23 °C. Most rain falls between June and October with a change of hurricanes from August onwards. Therefore, the drier (and slightly cooler) December to April period is the best time to visit weather wise. Unfortunately prices rise sharply during this period and the months of November and May still have good weather. So budget wise these latter months may be a good option as well.

Getting There

By Plane

Air Caraibes has direct flights to Cayenne in French Guiana and to Paris in France. Other destinations include Stockholm, Copenhagen, Havana and Panama City. Air Antilles serves Saint Lucia and several French islands.
There are domestic services to La Désirade, Terre-de-Haut and Marie-Galante with a number of airlines, including Air Caraibes and Air Guadeloupe.

By Bus

Most major towns and cities are connected by road from Point-a-Pitre and many other places on both Grande Terre as well as Basse Terre.

By Boat

• Guadeloupe - Dominica vv

L'Express des Iles operates almost daily services between the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe. They leave Roseau, the capital of Dominica on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 3:00pm (Saturday 1:00pm) and take about 2.5 hours. In the opposite direction, they leave Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe at Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 8:00am (Sundays 10:00am) and take under 2 hours.

• Guadeloupe - Martinique vv

L'Express des Iles has regular services between Pointe-a-Pitre and Fort-de-France, the capital of Martinique. They leave almost daily around 8:00am and arrive around 11:45am. The ferries first go to Dominica, travelling onwards to Martinique.

• Guadeloupe - Saint Lucia vv

L'Express des Iles has at least 3-4 weekly services to Castries. It's the same ferry which goes to Dominica and Martinique, thus leaving around 8:00am from Pointe-a-Pitre. It arrives in Castries around 3:00pm.

• Domestic

L'Express des Iles has daily services between the main island of Guadeloupe and several other islands. To the Iles des les Saintes, there are daily connections leaving Pointe-a-Pitre (Grande-Terre) for Terre de Haut at 8:00am. In the opposite direction they leave Terre de Haut at 4:00pm. There are two crossings daily (one in the morning and one in the late afternoon) as well between Terre de Haut and Trois Rivières (Basse-Terre) and between Terre de Bas and Trois Rivières. From Terre de Haut you can take another local ferry to Terre de Bas as well.

Other connections include the ferry from Point-a-Pitre to Grand Bourg on the island of Marie Galante, which travels 3 times on weekdays, one of which is via Saint Louis. During weekends, especially on Sundays, there are less services.

Sleep

Keep Connected

Internet

There's wifi available in some places like hotels and restaurants. It might be free, but sometimes there's a charge.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Guadeloupe's international country code is 590.

Few foreign mobile phone companies offer international roaming to Guadeloupe so double-check before leaving. Your company should provide specific roaming to Guadeloupe since it has deferent mobile phone companies than in mainland France.

Alternatively, you should be able to get a Pay-as-you-go SIM card from various locations. There are two companies offering wireless services: Bouygues Telecom Caraïbe and Orange Caraïbe.

Post

Post offices are found in all cities. Letter boxes are colored in yellow. In most Post Offices you will find an automatic machine (yellow) with a scale and a screen. Just put your mail on the scale, tell the machine (French or English) the destination, pay the indicated amount and the machine will deliver a printed stamp.

External Links