About the Guadeloupe Islands:
Guadeloupe (often called the Guadeloupe Islands or Îles de Guadeloupe) is a French overseas department and archipelago in the eastern Caribbean. It features a distinctive butterfly shape formed by its two main islands—Grande-Terre (flatter, with many beaches and tourist infrastructure) and Basse-Terre (mountainous, with rainforest, waterfalls, and the active La Soufrière volcano)—plus smaller islands including Marie-Galante, Les Saintes (Terre-de-Haut and Terre-de-Bas), and La Désirade.
It offers a mix of white- and black-sand beaches, hiking, snorkeling/diving, Creole culture, French-influenced cuisine, and rum distilleries, with less overdevelopment than some neighboring destinations. Official tourism information is available at lesilesdeguadeloupe.com.
Although many people associate Guadeloupe with just Basse Terre and Grand Terre (two islands that are nearly joined together), there are several other smaller islands that make up Guadeloupe as well. Christopher Columbus visited Guadeloupe in 1493 and gave the island its name, after Guadalupe, Cáceres in Spain.
The native language is Guadeloupean Creole known as “Kréyòl Gwadloup”.
It is an overseas department of France (overseas departments have exactly the same status as European France’s departments and regions, and so the language spoken is French and the currency used is the Euro. The largest city is Pointe-a-Pitre and its population is approximately 133,000.
According to their chamber of commerce, most visitors come from mainland France.
Catholic churches in the Guadeloupe Islands:
Not surprisingly, being a part of France, there are quite a few Catholic churches on the islands. You can click on the map below to find them.
We recommend the Chapel of Our Lady of Calvary, located on Desirade. Built in 1905, it is a winding path up to a chapel that is the last step of the Way of the Cross. From here you also get a magnificent view of the islands and sea.
You will also find the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Deshaies, a beautiful place to attend Mass.
Those of you who are fans of the BBC series “Death in Paradise” will possibly recognize some of the locations that are used for filming the series: The town of Deshaies doubles as Honore, the center of the fictitious island of Saint Marie. And, in fact, the police station shown in the series is actually the office of the local priest, who vacated it when the series was being filmed. if you happen to see re-runs of the show, when you see the “Police Station”, just look a bit to your left and you will see the steeple of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul.
Visit the official website of the Diocese of Guadeloupe.
Traveling to The Guadeloupe Islands:
By plane: The main international gateway is Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport (PTP / Guadeloupe Pôle Caraïbes) on Grande-Terre, near the commercial center. From mainland France (especially Paris-Orly) there are direct flights of about 8–9 hours with Air France, Air Caraïbes, or Corsair.
From North America: There are direct flights from Miami and Montreal (and sometimes others); flight times are roughly 3–5 hours depending on the origin.
Regional connections exist from other Caribbean islands.
By ship: Major cruise lines stopping in Guadeloupe include Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival, MSC, Costa, Ponant, Oceania, Princess, and Marella, with most itineraries calling at Pointe-à-Pitre between November and March. Most cruise lines visit Guadeloupe November–March, avoiding hurricane season and offering ideal weather. cr