How long to drive around Guadeloupe ?
To choose where to stay in Guadeloupe, you need to have an idea of the distances you will have to travel in one day to visit the island. To help you realize this, I have traced here the route that goes around the entire island by estimating the travel time and the mileage.
Distances by car Guadeloupe
To give you some reference points, Guadeloupe measures, as the crow flies, 80 km wide and 60 km high, for an area of approximately 1500 km2. The longest road distance is 98 km between Saint François (Pointe des Chateaux in the east of the island) and Saint-Claude (commune of the Soufrière volcano, south Basse Terre). On the Pointe-à-Pitre / Basse-Terre axis, the road network is largely made up of two-lane national roads. Everywhere else, they are mainly single-lane departmental or municipal roads. We therefore prefer to express journeys in time rather than distances, as roads and traffic are not the same everywhere. For example, the roads on the leeward coast of Basse Terre are mountainous and winding, but do not suffer from traffic jams. In Grande Terre. it's quite the opposite... In our page dedicated to car rental, I tell you more about how long it takes to go around Guadeloupe.
Driving in Guadeloupe
Note that, and this is not a negligible point, from the JADEN KREYOL gîte you are driving against the traffic jams of Grande Terre. Indeed, in the morning the road from Saint François to Pointe-à-Pitre (one lane) has many traffic black spots between 6:30 and 9 am. Yes, there are some who work and go to school! The same goes for the road from Morne-à-l'eau to Pointe-à-Pitre, because the traffic converges towards Jarry, the economic hub of the island, next to Pointe-à-Pitre, just after the Gabarre bridge which separates Grande Terre from Basse Terre. During the tourist season, the flow of tourists, numerous in Saint François and Sainte Anne, adds to the flow of residents and traffic towards Basse Terre often becomes difficult, both on the way there and back. Leaving JADEN KREYOL towards Grande Terre in the morning, once you have passed a slowdown at the entrance to Jarry, you are traveling in the right direction.
Guadeloupe 10-day tour
As an indication, here are some estimated travel times by car in Guadeloupe from JADEN KREYOL to Lamentin (Prix d'Eau section), except for exceptional traffic of course. This will help you plan nice tours in Guadeloupe.
BASSE TERRE
Small town (Crayfish Waterfall / National Park): 7'
Sainte-Rose (Morne Rouge port, departure point for excursions): 15'
Deshaies Cluny Beach: 20'
Deshaies (town): 30'
Bouillante (Cousteau Reserve): 30'
Pointe Noire (Zoological Park): 20'
Pointe Noire (town): 30'
Trois Rivières (pier for Les Saintes): 40'
Vieux Habitants (town): 50'
Basse Terre (city center): 50'
Saint Claude (Soufrière): 60'
GRANDE TERRE
Pointe à Pitre (city center): 20'
Abymes (airport): 20'
Gosier (Datcha Beach - Gosier Island): 30'
Sainte Anne (town): 40'
Le Moule (center): 40'
Saint François: 50'
Port-Louis: 50'
Anse Bertrand (La Vigie): 60'
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