Tourist Places to Visit in Les Saintes, Guadeloupe, America
Les Saintes (Iles des Saintes) is an archipelago belonging to Guadeloupe, one of the special collectivities of France. It is surrounded by Marie-Galante Island in the east, Basse-Terre Island in the north, and in south by the island country, Dominica. Fond-du-Cure is the capital and Petite-Anse is the largest city of Les Saintes.
Geography of Les Saintes:
Les Saintes coordinates with 15°51′ N latitude and 61°36′ W longitude and occupies an area of 12.8 sq. kms.
History of Les Saintes:
The literal meaning of Îles des Saintes in French is ‘Islands of the Saints’. The history of Les Saintes dates back to 1648, when it was conquered by French along with other Caribbean Islands such as Basse-Terre, Marie-Galante, Grande-Terre and La Desirade. Later British captured Les Saintes in 1759 but it came back to the control of French in 1763, finally it was merged with Guadeloupe as an overseas territory of France on 19th March 1946.
Culture, Food and Shopping in Les Saintes:
Les Saintes is rich in culture housing many French architectural style colonial buildings and monuments. A Salako is a traditional hat and Tourment d’amour is special tartlet, which are unique features of Les Saintes.
There are different types of shops selling clothing, souvenirs and perfumes sited in main island Terre-de-Haut and other typical shops offer colorful paintings by local artists. Credit cards are widely accepted in all the major shops of Les Saintes.
The prominent food corners in Les Saintes are:
- Ti Kaz La
- Ti-bo Doudou
- La Saladerie
- Kaz a man Albe
Tourist Attractions in Les Saintes:
Fort Napoleon des Saintes:
Built on the bluff on Terre-de-Haut Island, the Fort Napoleon was initially constructed by French with name ‘Fort Louis’ but British demolished it in 1809. It was reconstructed in 1867, named in the honor of Napoleon III. Now it has been converted into a museum with lots of historical and cultural artifacts of Îles des Saintes.
Notre Dame de l’Assomption:
Notre Dame de l’Assomption is a Roman Catholic Church of Les Saintes is situated in the Terre-de-Haut Island. It was added to the National Heritage Site of France on 31st December 1979.
Les Saintes beaches:
The archipelago of Les Saintes houses numerous splendid beaches and the famous beaches include Pompierre, Anse Rodrigue, Anse Figuier, Grande-Anse, Anse à Dos and Crawen.
Other places of interest in Les Saintes include:
- Cool l’Heure des Saintes
- Le Chameau
- Pisquettes Plongee
- Clear Blue Caraibes
- Caroline Artillery battery
- Joséphine Fort
- Terre-de-Haut lighthouse
- Chapel of the Calvary
- Abymes hill
- St Nicholas’ Church
- Pain de sucre
Best time to visit Les Saintes:
The ideal time to travel Les Saintes is from December to April while the weather will be supportive for beach exploration.
Accommodation options in Les Saintes:
Being one of the best tourist destinations in Caribbean, Les Saintes has some prominent hotels offering top class facilities and services to the tourists visiting the place all round the year. Hotels provide the best hospitality services such as free internet with Wi-Fi, hot water bath, spa and sauna, body massages and therapies as well as delicious and healthy local and international cuisines. Other than these facilities and services, hotels also arrange different entertainment and recreational activities and tours as well. The major prominent hotels in Les Saintes are listed below:
- Les Petits Saints
- LoBleu Hotel
- Chambres d’Hotes Amarelao
- Pain de Sucre
- Anse Figuier
- Residence Anse Caraibe
- Hotel Bois Joli
- Hotel Bois Joli
- Chez Viviane
- COCO FESSE