French Guiana
Visiting the Centre Spatial Guyanais and (if you're lucky) seeing a rocket launch are two of French Guiana's biggest highlights. Both need to be arranged…
Must-see attractions in French Guiana
French Guiana
The eerie Camp de la Transportation, where prisoners arrived for processing, was the largest prison in French Guiana. Convicts arrived exhausted after 20…
French Guiana
Inside Cayenne's market, shoppers will find a vibrant jumble of Amerindian basketry, African-style paintings and carvings, piles of spices at great prices…
French Guiana
This long stretch of beach is a very important nesting ground for giant leatherback turtles, which can grow up to 600kg. The females come ashore from…
French Guiana
The Trésor Nature Reserve is one of French Guiana's most accessible primary rainforest areas, and wandering its 1.75km botanical trail is a great way to…
French Guiana
Once the administrative headquarters of the penal settlement, Île Royale has several restored prison buildings, including a fine prisoner-built chapel and…
Maison de la Reserve Naturelle l'Amana
French Guiana
Amerindian settlements and thick clouds of mosquitoes populate Awala-Yalimopo and Plage Les Hattes, one of the world's most spectacular nesting sites for…
French Guiana
Off the gardened Place Léopold Héder are the remains of Fort Cépérou, perched on land bought in 1643 from the Galibi people by the first French colonists…
French Guiana
With its eerie solitary-confinement cells and guards' cemetery, Île St Joseph is overgrown with coconut palms, though it does have a good white-sand beach…
French Guiana
Don't miss the excellent Musée de l'Espace within the Centre Spatial Guyanais, with informative displays in English and French.
French Guiana
The Camp de la Relégation, aka St Jean, is another abandoned prison camp 17km from St Laurent. It's accessed via two-hour tours offered by various…
French Guiana
Explore the Amerindian and Maroon cultures that inhabit the shores of this great river. You'll usually also visit the island of an old leper colony …
French Guiana
The Musée Départemental features a frighteningly large stuffed black caiman, as well as other preserved local critters, an ethno-botanical display and an…
French Guiana
This 234m hill rises steeply behind Matoury and is covered with thick primal forest. Two well-marked walking routes take you up to the top and make for a…
French Guiana
Covered with a thick foliage of palms, rocky Île du Diable (Devil's Island) was where the most high-profile prisoners were kept, including Alfred Dreyfus…
French Guiana
The small and unexceptional Musée des Cultures Guyanaises is devoted to Guiana's early history, from its geologic formation through precolonial,…
French Guiana
In the village of Iracoubo, 30km eastward on the RN1 highway from Sinnamary, do stop off and visit the Eglise d'Iracoubo, a 19th-century church with an…
French Guiana
The best beach in the area gets busy on weekends and holidays but is otherwise empty. The water is shallow and murky but there are a few deeper areas that…
French Guiana
A fun museum featuring lots of insects, dead and alive. Myriad species of butterflies flutter around the butterfly garden, and you can even hold a live…
French Guiana
This breezy old house holds a very interesting history display (in French and English), including some old photographs from the penal colony days.
French Guiana
The sizable Botanical Gardens, built in 1879 and renovated in 2009, today flourish with tropical Guianese flora, including many species of palms.
French Guiana
The renovated historical ruins at Fort Diamant, an old coastal battery dating from the early 19th century, are along the main beach road.
French Guiana
This small museum gives an interesting overview of Hmong culture, history, tools and handicrafts.
