Creole flavors, volcanic trails & French Caribbean bliss
When to go
November-May
Trip length
8 days / 7 nights
Typical investmentPrice
from $4,050 pp
Discover two beautiful sides of Guadeloupe on a journey from Basse-Terre’s lush rainforest to Grande-Terre’s sunlit coast. Begin in a garden hideaway, exploring forest trails, freshwater pools, and the volcanic highlands of La Soufrière. Follow a Creole cook through a local market before rolling up your sleeves to prepare a delicious meal together. Continue east for private boating, reef snorkeling, and drives past limestone cliffs and coastal villages. Conclude your stay with a romantic private dinner and a final day enjoying the sea. Eight days of island flavors, forest adventures, and a little French Caribbean indulgence.
Along the way
Share a private market visit and Creole cooking experience
Soak in warm river pools after walking the La Soufrière highlands
Snorkel quiet reefs along Grande-Terre's calm Caribbean coast
Hike rainforest trails to freshwater pools beneath Guadeloupe's volcanic slopes
Your route
Rainforest paths and volcanic flows
Arrive in Guadeloupe and travel toward the forested slopes of Basse-Terre. Rivers wind through the valleys and thick greenery lines the roads to your garden hideaway. Spend the afternoon swimming, wandering the grounds, or relaxing to the sounds of rain and birdsong.
Explore Guadeloupe National Park with your private guide, following shaded trails beneath towering trees. Stop at freshwater pools for a refreshing swim where conditions allow, then return to your hotel for an afternoon at leisure.
Head into the volcanic highlands toward La Soufrière, following a route chosen around the conditions. Walk through mist and wind, with sulfur vents along the way and wide views when the clouds lift. Later, enjoy warm river pools and natural hot springs before returning to your forest retreat.
Rainforest paths and volcanic water
Browse stalls of fruit, herbs, fish, and spices with your Creole cook, gathering an introduction to Guadeloupe’s flavors. Continue to a private kitchen to prepare a meal together and learn the stories behind the dishes. This afternoon, travel east to your seaside retreat on Grande-Terre.
Head out by private boat along Grande-Terre’s coast, stopping at a reef chosen around water clarity and the day’s conditions. Snorkel among tropical fish, swim, and float before returning for a leisurely afternoon by the sea or pool.
Explore Grande-Terre by car, passing limestone cliffs, open landscapes, and small coastal villages. Pause where the scenery catches your eye, then return for a swim or some downtime. Tonight, enjoy a private romantic dinner in a setting chosen for privacy and atmosphere.
Spend your final full day enjoying the French Caribbean. Walk the coast, swim in the sea, or settle into a shady spot with a book and the sound of water nearby. No plans today, just a little more time in Guadeloupe.
Transfer to the airport for your onward travels. Bid farewell to Creole kitchens, volcanic highlands, and beautiful Caribbean shores.
Let's discover your next adventure
Our top picks
Guadeloupe's only 5-star hotel, run by the same family for three generations since 1983, set on a private clifftop beach in Sainte-Anne with an infinity pool over the Caribbean Sea. The base bungalows date to the hotel's original 1983 construction and read as more boutique-charming than newly built, and with just 48 units and two restaurants, it is an intimate resort rather than a large-scale one.
Every one of its 24 rooms and suites has a private plunge pool on the terrace, facing the Pigeon Islands and the Jacques Cousteau Underwater Reserve just offshore, an unusually high private-pool ratio for a property this size. It's a small, 24-room property with a single restaurant, on Basse-Terre's volcanic, dark-sand coast rather than Grande-Terre's white-sand beaches, roughly an hour's drive from the airport and the island's main tourist hub, and the 14-and-up policy rules out family travel entirely.
A restored 1927 Creole plantation manor set inside a lush botanical garden, with panoramic views of La Soufrière's foothills and the Îles des Saintes archipelago. It's a very small, nine-room property with fairly simple interiors and no full spa or gym, on a rural hillside about 2 kilometers from the nearest beach rather than directly on the water.
Au Jardin des Colibris is scattered through a private tropical garden where hummingbirds are regular visitors. Individually named cottages, treehouses, and a suspended canopy-bed cabin give the property the feeling of a small village rather than a conventional hotel.
Keep exploring
Let’s start planning
Tell us a little about your plans. We’ll be in touch to talk through this trip with you.
