- This headline is not quite correct. Better to refer to this French department as “the Guadeloupe islands,” because not only is the famous butterfly island really two islands, but each of the five inhabited islands is dramatically different from the others, both topographically and to some extent, even culturally.
- Norwegian has expanded from four to six flights weekly from JFK to PTP, Guadeloupe. Moreover, this discount airline is actually a good airline, with WiFi, no hidden taxes, etc.
- The hurricanes did no notable damage to the infrastructure on any of the islands. Everything’s clean and working.
- The Guadeloupe Islands now have a 5-star hotel—and that’s by the French ratings system, which actually means something. It’s La Toubana Hotel & Spa, long praised by Recommend as a resort that manages to be both open to families and stylishly romantic.
- A new four-star hotel, the Arawak Beach Resort, will open with 106 rooms and six suites on Grande-Terre. That’s the relatively flat, beachy “right” wing of the Guadeloupe “butterfly.”
- There’s a new bike-on-a-zipline at Habitation Cote Sous-le-Vent on Basse-Terre. A bicycle zipline? You can’t do that in Central Park. FYI, Basse-Terre, the “left” wing of the “butterfly,” is the volcanic island where “Death in Paradise,” the British-French crime-and-comedy TV series that’s now in its sixth season, is filmed.
- Speaking of television, Raw Travel TV will spotlight the Guadeloupe Islands Oct. 21 and 22, with repeats in December and March. A second episode will air Dec. 18 and 19, with repeats in March and June. See details on where and when to watch them here. To watch the episode’s official trailer, click here.
- These islands offer beautiful and varied hiking environments, and now a new mobile app, Rando Guadeloupe, features tri-lingual guides to 44 hiking trail itineraries replete with 3D maps.
- A new fine arts museum on Grande-Terre, the Musee des Beaux Arts, spotlights works by Guadeloupean artists, many working in the French classical tradition.
- In 2018, the Schoelcher Museum, in the home of the great 19th-century abolitionist Victor Schoelcher, will be expanded with new exhibition rooms and interactive content.
- The duty-free shop in the airport has tripled in size. Just in time, too, because among other things, the Guadeloupe Islands produce some of the finest rhum (aka rum) in the Caribbean. Guadeloupe’s farm-distilleries make it by the French method: directly from sugar cane rather than from molasses.
For further information about the Guadeloupe Islands click here.