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Is located at the central region of the Little Antilles, south of Antigua, and north of Dominica. Is an island of the French archipelago, including St Barthélémy, St. Martin, Les Saintes, La Desirade and Marie-Galante. (map)
Official Holidays
January 1st New Year
February Ash Wednesday
March/April Holly Week
July 14th Independence Day
July 21st School Teacher Day (Emancipation Day)
August 15th Ascension Day
November 1st All Saints
November 11th Armistice Day
November 22nd Saint Cicely Day
December 24th Christmas Eve
December 25th Christmas
December 28th Holy Innocents / Children Parade
December 31 New Year Eve
Events calendar
Carnival is celebrated in February. At the end of May is celebrated at Ste-Anne, the Fête de la Musique Traditionnelle, a traditional music festival. Pointe-à-Pitre hosts on August the Fête des Cuisiners (cook’s festival). Also in August takes place the Tour de la Guadeloupe, an international cycling race. The first Saturday of November is staged at Pointe-à-Pitre, the Creole Music Festival.
PLANNING THE TRIP
Banks and exchange
The official currency is the French franc (FF), though American dollars are also accepted. Most credit cards are also accepted. Within Guadeloupe you’ll find also some banks with ATMs.
Tourist Information Abroad
To obtain information contact with:
La Maison de France,
Alcalá, 63, Madrid.
Phone No. 91 541 88 08
PRACTICAL TIPS
News
France-Antilles is the daily newspaper of the island. RFO (Radio France Outre Mer), is a public broadcast that also has a TV channel.
Post Services
At Pointe-à-Pitre, mail offices are in Boulevard Hanne and Boulevard Legitimus.
Phone and Fax
The area code is 590. You can make international calls from public phones, and from almost all hotels. The biggest also have a fax service. You can also send telegrams and faxes, and call from the main post office.
Tourist Information Local Offices
Office du Tourisme de la Guadeloupe,
5 Square de la Banque, BP 422 m 97163
Pointe-à-Pitre. Phone no. 82 09 30
Office du Tourisme, Basseterre,
phone no. 81 24 83
Office Municipale de St Francois,
phone no. 88 48 74
Medical Assistance
Guadeloupe has several hospitals and clinics. Your hotel or tourist information office, can help you find a doctor in case of emergency.
Emergency numbers
Shopping
Those looking for high quality art and handicraft local works, perfumes, fashionable clothes and French articles won’t be disappointed. At the ferry’s station in Pointe-à-Pitre, is a modern mall with restaurants and shops, surrounded by beautiful tropical gardens. There are also lots of shops at the St John’s Perse Center and at the Cora en Bas-du-Fort Center. Likewise, is worth to go to the Marche Couvert, and a walk by the Rue Frebault, a street with boutiques having all about prevailing fashion.
Voltage: 220 volts, 50 cycles
Religious Services
Guadeloupe inhabitants are mostly Catholics, though there are small communities of Adventists, Evangelic, Methodist and Hindus. The tourist office will provide you with all the necessary information.
Nightlife
There are two casinos in the island, one in Gosier, and another in St Francois. The bigger hotels use to have music and shows at nights, specially on weekends. At the most visited places of the island usually are bars and discos.
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