Marie-Galante
Guadeloupe · 20 m
Description
Marie-Galante is a flat round limestone island an hour by ferry from Pointe-à-Pitre, and it is called the island of a hundred mills because that many windmills once ground its cane. Some stand ruined in the fields and one at Bézard has been restored to working order. Three distilleries still make rum here at fifty-nine degrees, the strongest sold in France. Ox carts are used on the smallholdings. The beaches on the west coast are long and empty, and the cliffs at Gueule Grand Gouffre are undercut into a collapsed arch. Grand-Bourg is the ferry port and the largest of three villages.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 2 to 7 days (optimal 4 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: December – April
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Plage de la Feuillère
- Distillerie Bielle and the 59 degree rum
- Moulin de Bézard windmill
- Gueule Grand Gouffre collapsed arch
- Habitation Murat sugar estate museum
- Plage de Vieux-Fort
- Ruined mills standing in the cane fields
- Ferry from Pointe-à-Pitre
- Ox carts on the smallholdings
- Grand-Bourg and its church square
- Caye Plate cliffs and the north coast
Getting there
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry