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Voykit pocket guide · Guadeloupe
Pointe-à-Pitre
Pointe-à-Pitre is a half-day-and-morning town: do the market before it gets hot, the memorial museum in the middle of the day, and sleep on the beaches or in the countryside if you want a beach holiday — the town itself is for arrivals, ferries and one good day.
Pointe-à-Pitre is the commercial centre of Guadeloupe and the airport town: it has the covered market, the cathedral, the Place de la Victoire and the Mémorial ACTe, and it is where ferries leave for the smaller islands. It is not a beach town, traffic on the ring roads is heavy at rush hour, and the centre is quiet on Sundays and after dark. Four small clusters cover a first visit; a car or taxi links them to the Grande-Terre beaches.
- Country
- Guadeloupe
- Best months
- Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Dec
- Time zone
- America/Guadeloupe
- Stay
- 1 days: Victoire and market in the morning, Mémorial ACTe after lunch
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- EUR
- Money
- Cards work in shops and cafés; keep €30–50 in small notes for market stalls and take cash from bank ATMs in daylight.
- Daily spend
- Budget €40–70 excl. bed · Mid €70–150 excl. bed · High €150+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- Orange, SFR Caraïbe, Digicel and Free Caraïbe SIMs in Pointe-à-Pitre and malls.
- Emergency
- European emergency 112 · Medical emergency (SAMU) 15 · Police / gendarmerie 17 · Fire and rescue 18 · Sea rescue (CROSS Antilles-Guyane) 196
- Plugs
- Types C, E · 230 V · 50 Hz · European plugs.
- Tipping
- Restaurants: Service included; round up.; Guides and dive crews: €5–10.
- Water
- Tap water supply is patchy, with scheduled cuts ('tours d'eau') in some communes; drink bottled.
- Toilets
- In cafés, malls and some beaches.
Get in
By air
- Pointe-à-Pitre – Pôle Caraïbes Airport (PTP)
- PTP to the centre: one taxi, 15–35 minutes for about 5 km — the risk is a late landing with no ride arranged and traffic on the ring road at rush hour.
Get around
Walk inside a cluster by day; taxi or rental car between clusters and after dark.
- Passes
- No pass. Buses are irregular and stop early; use taxis for short rides and a rental car for Grande-Terre.
- Late at night
- No rail. Buses thin out early in the evening and on Sundays: ask your hotel to book the ride back before you go out.
See and do
01Mémorial ACTe
A large memorial museum of the slave trade and slavery on the old sugar-factory site: two hours indoors, a good midday choice.
02Marché Saint-Antoine
The covered market of spices, vanilla, madras cloth and lunch counters: go early on a weekday morning.
03Cathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-PaulCathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul
The town's cathedral on the square: twenty minutes inside as part of the Victoire morning; opening hours are not published here.
Hours and prices are desk estimates (checked 2026-09); anything marked (check) is not confirmed. Coordinates open in any map app.
Eat
- Creole lunch counters at the market
- Walk-in Creole plates (fish, accras, rice and beans) at the market counters; go at midday and carry small notes.
Sleep
- Darboussier waterfront
- Next to the memorial and the marina side: quiet, car-oriented, a short ride to the centre.
- Around Place de la Victoire
- First stop before a ferry or an early flight: town hotels are walkable to the square, the cathedral and the market; the streets are quiet after dark.
Language
French everywhere, Creole in daily life. English is thin outside dive shops and bigger hotels.
- 'Ka ou fè?' is 'how are you?' in Guadeloupean Creole.
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Bonjour on entering; kisses among friends; avoid: Skipping the greeting
- Dress: Cover up in town; avoid: Swimwear in shops
- Dining: Relax; ask for the bill; avoid: Expecting fast service
- Talking: Food, rum, Carnival; avoid: Treating it as a foreign colony
Red lines
- Mémorial ACTe: quiet and respectful behaviour; ask before photographing displays.
- Cover up in the cathedral and in town: beachwear is for the beach.
- Ask before photographing market sellers.
Scams (Guadeloupe page)
- Car break-ins: Leave nothing in the car.
- Unofficial taxis: Use the rank.
- Fake ferry-ticket sites: Book with the operator directly.
One and two days
1 day
The first day of the timed plan.
Day 1 — Place de la Victoire, the cathedral, a 12:30 lunch table
- 08:00place de la victoire
- Cathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul
- 12:30Lunch table 12:30 (town centre)
- Hotel or AC café 13:00–16:00; the quiet streets are for walking early or at dusk.
2 days
The first two days of the timed plan.
Day 1 — Place de la Victoire, the cathedral, a 12:30 lunch table
- 08:00place de la victoire
- Cathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul
- 12:30Lunch table 12:30 (town centre)
- Hotel or AC café 13:00–16:00; the quiet streets are for walking early or at dusk.
Day 2 — The market at 07:30, then the ferry terminal
- 07:30Marché Saint-Antoine
- Creole lunch counters at the market
- bergevin ferry terminal (optional)
- Afternoon: rest indoors; the centre shuts early and on Sundays.
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Guadeloupe Islands Tourist Board (official): www.lesilesdeguadeloupe.com/
- Wikivoyage — Pointe-à-Pitre: en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Pointe-%C3%A0-Pitre
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Pointe-à-Pitre
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
Take me to
- Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-PaulCathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul
- European emergency112
- Medical emergency (SAMU)15
- Police / gendarmerie17
- Fire and rescue18
- Sea rescue (CROSS Antilles-Guyane)196
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/pointe-a-pitre). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.