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Cayenne is the largest city in and capital of French Guiana.

Understand

Cayenne
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Cayenne is located on the Atlantic coast, on marshland surrounded by hills. The city was founded in 1643 by the French and was part of the Dutch, English and Portuguese colonial empire during the following century. Today a third of the department's inhabitants live in Cayenne. Downtown is small and the houses are typically Caribbean.

On Sundays, almost everything is closed. If you arrive on a Sunday, the only thing to do on your first vacation day is walking around in an almost deserted city.

Climate

The climate is what you would expect this close to the Equator. The temperature is constant around +25-30°C while it's raining heavily for most of the year.

Get in

Cayenne Cathedral

By plane

French Guiana's main international airport is 1 Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY IATA). located in the commune of Matoury, a southern suburb of Cayenne. There are two flights a day to Paris Orly Airport (not CDG) served by Air France and Air Caraïbes. Moreover there are flights from Martinique, Guadeloupe, Paramaribo and Belém. Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (Q794542) on Wikidata Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport on Wikipedia

There are no buses to the airport, so your alternatives are to rent a car or take a taxi (€35 to central Cayenne).

By road

From both neighboring countries, you will need to cross a river by ferry into French Guiana. From Brazil, you will arrive in Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock from where you can travel by bus to Cayenne with a transfer in Régina. From Suriname you will step off the ferry in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni from where you can take a bus to Iracoubo and transfer to another going to Cayenne.

If you've brought a car, the road is paved from both borders towns to Cayenne.

Get around

  • Cayenne has a public bus network of five lines. The fare is €1,10.
  • Your other options are obviously car, taxi, foot or bike.

See

Place des Palmistes.
Fort Diamant
  • 1 Place des Palmistes. A park with high palm trees, lively in the nighttime. place des Palmistes (Q3390536) on Wikidata
  • Place des Amandiers. A square frequented by young couples in the evening.
  • Jardin botanique (The botanical garden). The well kept botanical garden of Cayenne is worth a visit.
  • Cayenne city hall.
  • 2 Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur de Cayenne (Cayenne cathedral). Cayenne's cathedral is a major landmark, the seat of the Diocese of Cayenne and a National Monument of France. Cayenne Cathedral (Q847490) on Wikidata Cayenne Cathedral on Wikipedia
  • [dead link] Musée Départemental Franconie, 1, avenue du général de Gaulle (in the same block as the library), +594 29 59 13. Mo and Th 8:00-13:15, 15:00-17:45, We and Fr 8:00-13:15. A museum of the animals of the region, Amerindian and Creole art, and exhibitions about the history of French Guiana, daily life in the penal colony and the colonial administrator and humanist Félix Éboué, perhaps the most significant person from the region. €3.
  • Musée des Cultures Guyanaises, 78, rue Madame Payé, +594 31 41 72. M-F 8:00-13:00, 15:00-17:45 (We afternoon closed), Sa 8:00-11:45. Exhibitions of the daily life of the different populations in the region including traditional clothing and art, a reconstruction of a carbet (traditional shelter) as well as a documentation center. €2.
  • 3 Salines de Montjoly (in Rémire-Montjoly a few km east of Cayenne). A conservation area consisting of a sand beach, dunes and a mangrove forest. Salines de Montjoly (Q3469807) on Wikidata Salines de Montjoly on Wikipedia
  • 4 Fort Diamant (in Rémire-Montjoly). A 19th century fort, nowadays a Monument Historique (French National Heritage Site). Fort Diamant (Q3077844) on Wikidata

Do

Touloulous

There are sand beaches in the eastern part of Cayenne, and the sea is good for surfing.

Carnival

Guianese Carnival takes place between Epiphany in early January and Ash Wednesday in February or March. On the weekend people put on their carnival dresses and dance in the streets through the night. The most remarkable are the ladies' colorful touloulou dresses. The dancing groups show the ethnic diversity of French Guiana. In the main parade that is held on the last Sunday of the carnival dancing schools (similar to those in Rio de Janeiro) perform. The most famous of them are Chiré Band, Réno Band, Kassialata, Manaré and Piraye.

Buy

  • Le Marché aux légumes (The vegetable market). We, Fr, Sa 5:00-13:00. A place to buy local agricultural products, or just to expericence a lively market in the tropics.
  • Marché d'Intérêt Régional (le M.I.R.). daily except Sunday. At the fish market you can buy fresh fish.
  • For souvenir shopping head for the Trois Fontaines shops and other shops in the downtown. Good souvenirs are objects carved out of wood and exotic objects of art.

Eat

Market in Cayenne

The restaurants of Cayenne reflects the ethnic mosaic of the Guyanese society; you will find Creole, French, Chinese, Lebanese and Javanese restaurants here.

Budget

In general the Chinese restaurants are the most affordable places to have a meal with dishes around €15-20. On Place des Palmistes there are also carts selling hamburgers and Javanese dishes.

  • Jin Le Yuan, 33 rue Lieutenant Brasse, +594 43 17 88. Chinese restaurant.
  • Le Vrai Régal, 60 bd Jubelin, +594 27 16 31. A sandwich joint.
  • Abriba, 33 rue des Dahlias (quartier Bonhomme), +594 31 98 73. Creole restaurant

Ice cream

  • Iceberg, rue Lalouette.

Mid-range

  • Hippopotamus, 23 rue Léon Gontrand Damas (place des Palmistes), +594 27 40 16. French restaurant.
  • La Taverne, 26 rue Mole, +594 29 04 66. French restaurant.
  • Mille Pâtes, 52 rue Justin Catayée, +594 28 91 80. French restaurant.
  • Bar des Palmistes, 12 av du Gén de Gaulle (place des Palmistes), +594 300 050. Creole and French restaurant.
  • L'Entracte, 65 r Justin Catayée, +594 30 01 37. French restaurant.
  • La Petite Maison, 23 r Félix Eboué, +594 38 58 39. French restaurant.

Splurge

  • Le Paris Cayenne, 59 rue Lallouette, +594 31 76 17. French cuisine, likely the finest restaurant in Cayenne.

Drink

Night view of the city hall

Except for the carnival weeks, the nightlife isn't as wild as in many other Latin American destinations. There are some nice bars in Cayenne downtown. Nightclubs are generally located in the periphery of the city.

  • Le Moonlight Discothèque, route de Montabo chemin Grant.
  • Le Bar des Palmistes. A bit expensive, for instance a Ricard is €5. This is however one of the few places open on Sunday.
  • La Bodega. A small sympathetic bar with good ambience.
  • Le Lido Night.
  • L'Exotica.
  • L'Iguana Café. An air conditioned bar lounge in central Cayenne.

Sleep

Good hotels exist, but they can be relatively expensive.

Budget

  • Hotel Ket Tai. Nothing fancy but clean and a few minutes walk from Place des Palmistes. Single room for €43, double for €50 and triple for €60.

Mid-range

Splurge

Go next

From Cayenne you can relatively easy get to other parts of the department or to the neighboring countries overland. Kourou boasts a space centre and the Devil's Island archipelago. To get a taste of the rainforest of inner Guiana you can take a domestic flight for instance to Saül.

This city travel guide to Cayenne is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.