So much to do, so little time
Forts and museums, rum distilleries, a royal palm avenue and a boat ride to the little island you can see from the terrace — Guadeloupe rewards curiosity.
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Forts, and the Caribbean’s biggest museum on memory and slavery
Fort Fleur d’Épée, just outside Le Gosier, is the closest historic site to the apartments — 18th-century ramparts with sweeping views over the bay, free to wander. On Les Saintes, Fort Napoléon looks out over the postcard Pain de Sucre bay and houses a small museum and botanical garden. In Pointe-à-Pitre, the striking Memorial ACTe stands on the site of a former sugar factory as the Caribbean’s largest memorial and museum dedicated to the history of the slave trade and slavery — a moving, essential stop for understanding the islands’ history.
Follow the rhum agricole trail
Guadeloupe’s rum — made from fresh-pressed cane juice rather than molasses, which gives it a distinctive grassy character — regularly wins international gold medals, and several distilleries welcome visitors for free tours and tastings. Damoiseau, on Grande-Terre, is the biggest and easiest to combine with a day near the apartment; Bologne (the island’s oldest, founded 1654) and Longueteau on Basse-Terre are smaller and closer to the waterfalls and rainforest, easy to pair with a hiking day.
Hop across to the Îlet du Gosier
The little island with the lighthouse you can see from the terrace is the Îlet du Gosier — a five-minute boat hop from the marina, with a beach, a snack bar and good snorkelling around its edges. Boats run regularly through the day in season; it’s an easy half-day out and one of the most convenient island excursions anywhere in Guadeloupe, precisely because it’s the view you already wake up to.
The Allée Dumanoir and the Route de la Traversée
Near Sainte-Rose on Basse-Terre, the Allée Dumanoir is a dead-straight avenue of towering royal palms planted in the 19th century — a favourite photo stop and a taste of the island’s plantation-era history. The Route de la Traversée, the mountain road that crosses Basse-Terre through the national park, is one of the Caribbean’s great drives, with hiking trailheads, waterfalls and viewpoints all along the way.
For every energy level
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