Guadeloupe on a budget might not sound possible. After all we are talking about a popular Caribbean islands. But do not give up too fast. We have prepared some tips and tricks on how to do Guadeloupe on a budget.
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How to do Guadeloupe on a budget
Cheap flights to Guadeloupe Island
Flights often represents the higher travel costs, especially if you are traveling as a family, so check out some promo fares. If you are flexible with dates, error fares will do the trick to do Guadeloupe on a budget for sure. We would suggest to follow Air France airline as Guadeloupe is a French island, so they often offer good value flights.
Accommodations in Guadeloupe on a budget
Some travelers always book accommodation through Airbnb, but we admit that we are keener on using booking.com. We have found a great deal for a studio in Le Gosier – popular tourist town. The price was 50 EUR/night in high season. The studio with a kitchen was very basic and could use a renovation, but if you are doing Guadeloupe on a budget, you got yourself a good deal. There are many other apartments available through booking.com with similar floor plans and same apartment building, but are a bit more modern, so the prices are quickly 70-100 EUR/night.
We have checked the following apartments / studios:
- Tropic Detente: very basic and a bit dated, but cheap
- Residence Archipel et Savanne: sea view, but still basic and simple studio
- Appartement de Charme: ocean view and similar floor plan then the above studios, but with modern touch and newer equipment /furniture. That’s also why it costs a bit more.
If you are not looking for an apartment but still want to do Guadeloupe on a budget for Caribbean, check out the Karaibes hotel and make sure to book the renovated room. If you are booking well in advance, you can get a double room for 75 EUR/night. We spent first 5 nights in their studio, which was very basic and dated, but functional and with a nice sea view.
We spent next four nights in Canella Beach Hotel, where we did collaboration with Go4global accommodation portal. The studio was similar to the one in hotel Karaibes, but modern and much nicer. The Canella Beach Hotel has also a nice pool, a private sandy beach, good Wi-Fi connection and breakfast. Check out for prices on Go4global, as you will find better prices than on booking.com.
If you want to do Guadeloupe on a budget, you might want to travel there off-season, but it is more humid and rainy then. And note August and September is a hurricane season. The best weather is from December until May.
Low budget transportation in Guadeloupe
The cheapest option is of course local transport, but you will be very limited with it, so we do not really recommend it. Your best bet is to rent a car (you can find the cheapest offers on www.economycarrentals.com). Go for the smallest model (if you are traveling light) as this will be the cheapest and also much more convenient to park. Nevertheless how low budget you will try to do Guadeloupe, you will still need around 40-45 EUR/day for the car, with full insurance.
Parking spots are mostly free of charge, except in Point-a-Pitre, the capital. But even the capital offers free parking spots if you visit it on Saturday afternoon or on Sunday / public holidays. And honestly, weekends are also the best time to visit the city, as during weekdays it is almost impossible to find a parking space.
Eating in Guadeloupe low budget
The Guadeloupe Island is a French island so it can easily be compared with French prices. The best way not to stay hungry and if you are doing Guadeloupe on a budget is making your own food – that’s also why we recommend staying in a studio with a kitchen. But if you are like us and still want to try the local food, your best bet is to eat lunches outside and prepare breakfast/dinner yourself. A good low budget option on Guadeloupe is also take-away BBQ. Prices for lunches are very diverse and depend on location and restaurant – we have paid from 7 EUR to 18 EUR per menu. We had the cheapest three course menu for 10 EUR (appetizer, main dish and desert). But in average we paid 25-35 EUR per meal, including 2 main dishes and three drinks. But as already mentioned, you cannot miss with their take-away BBQ and that is not only if you are doing Guadeloupe on a budget. The price for half of the chicken was around 4 EUR, small portion of French fries was 2-2,50 EUR, the big portion (enough for all three of us) was 4 EUR. You can prepare your own salad too (2,50 EUR – 1 kg tomato).
If you like fast-food like KFC and McDonalds, you will have plenty of those in Guadeloupe. If you will eat there a lot, you will also be able to do Guadeloupe on a budget as the menu in McDonalds cost 5,60 EUR only (hamburger, drink, fries). A good snack is also its local street food Bokit – somehow like toasted sandwich with different fillings. The prices for them start at 2,50 EUR.
Tourist attractions in Guadeloupe on a budget
A good news for everyone wanting to do Guadeloupe on a budget is the fact, there are many sights for free. You can do amazing treks completely free of charge, including the one taking you all the way up to the active volcano. You can even snorkel for free at the Malendure beach, where you can see sea turtles already 100 meters away from the beach. Visiting different beaches will cost you nothing and they are amazing. Don’t forget to stop at the gorgeous viewing points, cute towns (our favorite is Desheies), picturesque markets (Le Gosier, Point-a-Pitre, Saint Anne), carnival (January, February only – sometimes March too), swimming underneath the waterfall of Cascade aux Ecrevisses. There are few sights with an entrance fee, but nevertheless you can still do Guadeloupe on a budget if you decide to visit them – 115 meters high water fall Chutes du Carbet in national park (2,50 EUR/pp) and the small island Gosier (5 EUR/return boat ride).
Any additional costs?
If you are a citizen of any European Union countries, you can travel to Guadeloupe with an ID card or a passport and there are no visas required for many nationalities, but do check if you are among the ones, needing a visa. A good fact, if you are coming from EU is also the currency is Euro, so forget about exchange rates. You can even use Maestro card for payments and money withdraws from ATM without any additional provisions. Some mobile operators in EU also offers hosting with no additional costs, so do check that out before the travel to use the right network. There are also not any necessary vaccinations required.
Traveling to Guadeloupe will not be cheap as traveling around Asia, but if you know some tricks and are willing to say no to some comfort, you can also do Guadeloupe on a budget. After all, Caribbean will for sure not disappoint, no matter what your budget is.
Even you will do Guadeloupe on budget, you will have a blast – check out our video here and see it for your self.
