French Guiana
Cayenne
France on the edge of the Amazon: a Creole capital with a two-month carnival, pho in the market and turtles nesting on its beaches.
The capital of French Guiana is a small French city on the edge of the Amazon, where Creole wooden houses with shuttered balconies line a grid laid out from a square of royal palms. Creole, Brazilian, Haitian, Chinese, Hmong and Maroon communities share its markets and kitchens, and its carnival is one of the longest anywhere. It is also the gateway to everything else: the penal colony islands, the space centre at Kourou, the Kaw marshes and the rainforest all start here.
Suggested stay
2–4 days
Language
French
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC-3
Why you'll love Cayenne
Carnival Weekend after weekend from Epiphany to Ash Wednesday, with costumed Sunday parades and the masked Touloulou balls where the disguised women choose their dance partners.
Melting-pot food Creole blaff and colombo, Hmong market gardens, Chinese grocers, Brazilian grills and the pho stalls of the covered market that locals treat as an institution.
Turtle beaches On the beaches of Remire-Montjoly, minutes from the centre, sea turtles haul ashore at night to nest through the first half of the year.
Rainforest on the doorstep Trails climb through rainforest above the sea on the outskirts, and the Kaw marshes and the Hmong village of Cacao are an easy drive.
Best time to visit
Sep-Oct
32-33° days
4.937° N, 52.326° W
UTC-3 · America/Cayenne
whenywhere contains ads and partner links that we think are helpful and that earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Weather & when to go to Cayenne
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Sep-Oct
Watch for Dec-Jul monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Cayenne
December to July is the rainy season, wettest around May, with heavy downpours most days and thick humidity. September and October are the driest months. Two big reasons to come anyway fall in the wet season: Carnival, from early January to Ash Wednesday, and turtle nesting on the Montjoly beaches from about April.
Top things to do in Cayenne
-
Place des Palmistes - the square of royal palms
history culture arts 👍 PopularThe heart of Cayenne is a wide square planted with tall royal palms, with a statue of Felix Eboue, the Cayenne-born colonial governor who rallied French Africa to de Gaulle in 1940. Creole houses with wooden balconies and the old colonial buildings line its edges, and the old town grid runs off it toward the sea.
-
Cayenne Market - pho, spices and the morning bustle
food shopping 👍 PopularThe covered market is where the city's communities meet: Hmong growers with greens and fruit, stalls of spices, cassava couac and hot pepper sauces, and at its centre the Vietnamese-style pho counters where Cayenne queues for a bowl of soup for breakfast or lunch. Go early, when it is busiest.
-
Cayenne Carnival - Sunday parades and Touloulou balls
culture arts nightlife music ⭐ Highly recommendedFrom Epiphany to Ash Wednesday the city gives its weekends to carnival. Costumed groups and drum bands parade through the centre on Sunday afternoons, and at night the Touloulous, women disguised head to toe so no one can tell who they are, choose their partners at the dance halls. It ends with the burning of Vaval, the carnival king.
-
Montjoly beaches - turtles nesting at night
nature wildlife scenic 👍 PopularThe beaches of Remire-Montjoly, just east of the city, are among the few places where sea turtles nest on an urban shoreline. Leatherback, green and olive ridley turtles come ashore after dark in the nesting season, and local conservation groups run evening watches. Keep lights off and your distance.
-
Fort Ceperou - the hill where the city began
history scenicFrench settlers built their first fort on this low hill above the harbour in 1643, and the town grew below it. Little more than old walls remains, but the lookout gives the best view over the rooftops, the mouth of the Cayenne River and the islets offshore.
-
Musee des Cultures Guyanaises - the peoples of the Guianas
culture arts historyA compact museum of Amerindian, Maroon, Creole and Hmong life: carved and painted Maroon woodwork, featherwork, basketry and everyday tools. It is the best short introduction to who lives in French Guiana and how the communities came to be here.
-
Musee Alexandre-Franconie - the colonial house museum
history culture artsSet in a nineteenth-century Creole mansion beside the Place des Palmistes, the departmental museum covers the territory's natural history, gold-rush past and the penal colony, with paintings by convicts among its collection.
-
Rorota trails - rainforest above the sea
nature wildlife hiking ⭐ Highly recommendedOn the slopes of Mont Mahury behind Remire-Montjoly, marked trails climb through real rainforest to lookouts over the Atlantic and down to the Rorota lakes. Expect birdsong, butterflies and the chance of monkeys, and start early before the heat and the afternoon rain.
Best areas to stay in Cayenne
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Centre-ville
First-time visitors $$Creole wooden houses around palm squares
Explore hotels in Centre-ville →
Montabo
Quiet sea views $$Quiet hillside hotels above a city beach
Explore hotels in Montabo →
Remire-Montjoly
Beaches and nature $$Beach suburb of villas and forest trails
Explore hotels in Remire-Montjoly →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Cayenne
Getting to & around Cayenne
Getting there
Fly into Cayenne Felix Eboue Airport at Matoury, about 20-30 minutes south of the centre by car.
Flight
Cayenne Felix Eboue Airport (CAY)
About 15 km south of the city at Matoury, 20-30 minutes in by taxi or hire car, and most visitors collect a car here. Direct flights come from Paris Orly and the French Caribbean, with regional links to Brazil.
Drive
From Brazil, the bridge over the Oyapock links Oiapoque to Saint-Georges, then a few hours west on the road to Cayenne by car or shared minibus.
Ferry
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni
From Suriname, a ferry or pirogue crosses the Maroni from Albina to Saint-Laurent, then a long drive east along the coast road by car or shared minibus.
Getting around
Walking
The old centre, the market and the Place des Palmistes are compact and flat, but the midday heat is real.
Free
Car hire
The practical choice. Beaches, trails, Cacao, Kaw and Kourou are all a drive away, and roads are good on the coast.
TBC
Taxi
Taxis wait at the airport and ranks in the centre, or your hotel can call one. The sensible way home after dark.
TBC
Bus
Local buses link the centre with Remire-Montjoly and Matoury, but services are thin, especially in the evening and on Sundays.
TBC
Shared minibus
Taxis collectifs run the coast road to Kourou, Saint-Laurent and Saint-Georges, leaving when full rather than to a timetable.
TBC
Day trips from Cayenne
Iles du Salut
Full dayPenal colony islands
The three islands of the old penal colony: Ile Royale with its prison blocks, chapel and guards' houses under coconut palms, Ile Saint-Joseph's overgrown cells, and Devil's Island, where Alfred Dreyfus was held, seen from the water. Agoutis, monkeys and macaws roam the paths.
Getting there
car | ferry | tour
About 1 hour by car to Kourou, then about 1 hour by catamaran
Kaw marshes
1-2 daysWetland reserve
A vast freshwater marsh beyond the forested Kaw mountain, home to black caimans, scarlet ibis and the hoatzin. Most visits are overnight on a floating lodge, with dusk boat trips to spot caiman eyes in the torchlight. The road up crosses rainforest rich in birds.
Getting there
car | ferry | tour
About 1.5-2 hours by car via Roura, then by boat
Cacao
Half dayHmong village
A village in the forested hills founded by Hmong refugees from Laos in 1977, now the market garden of the region. Come on a Sunday morning for the market of noodle soups, fresh produce and embroidered textiles.
Getting there
car
About 1-1.5 hours by car via Roura
Guiana Space Centre
Half dayRocket launch base
Europe's spaceport at Kourou, where Ariane rockets launch. Guided tours of the base and the space museum need booking ahead, and on launch days viewing points along the coast draw a crowd.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1 hour west by car
A little history of Cayenne
Kalina and Arawak peoples lived along this coast before Europeans arrived. French settlers built a fort on Ceperou hill in 1643, and after decades of contest with the Dutch and English the colony settled into a small plantation economy of sugar, annatto and spices worked by enslaved Africans. A Portuguese and British force from Brazil held Cayenne from 1809 to 1817, and slavery, briefly abolished in 1794 and restored in 1802, ended for good in 1848.
From 1852 France shipped convicts to Guiana, and for a century the name Cayenne was shorthand for the penal colony. Gold rushes drew prospectors inland in the late 1800s. Felix Eboue, born here in 1884, became the first Black governor in the French colonies. Guiana became an overseas department in 1946, the last convicts went home in 1953, and the space centre at Kourou reshaped the territory from the 1960s.
French settlers build a fort on Ceperou hill, the founding site of Cayenne.
Slavery is abolished during the French Revolution, then restored by Napoleon in 1802.
A Portuguese and British force from Brazil takes Cayenne, holding it until 1817.
Slavery is abolished for good across the French colonies.
The first convict ships arrive, opening a century of penal colony.
Felix Eboue is born in Cayenne.
French Guiana becomes an overseas department of France, with Cayenne as its prefecture.
The last convicts are repatriated, closing the penal colony era.
France chooses Kourou, west of Cayenne, as the site of its space centre.
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Rare
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type C / E
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+594
Monsoon flooding risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Cayenne
▸ When is the best time to visit Cayenne?
September and October are the driest months and the easiest for getting around. December to July is the rainy season, heaviest around May, with downpours most days. Carnival falls in the wet season, from early January to Ash Wednesday, and turtle nesting on the Montjoly beaches runs from about April to July, so plenty of visitors come in the rain on purpose.
▸ How many days do I need in Cayenne?
Two days covers the centre, the market, the museums and Fort Ceperou, with an evening on the Montjoly beaches. Add a day for the Iles du Salut, a night in the Kaw marshes and a Sunday morning at Cacao, and plan the whole trip around a hire car.
▸ Do I need a car in Cayenne?
For anything beyond the old centre, realistically yes. Local buses are sparse, and the beaches, trails, Cacao, Kaw and Kourou are all a drive away. Shared minibuses run the coast road between towns, but they leave when full rather than on a timetable.
▸ What language do people speak in Cayenne?
French is the official language and is used everywhere. French Guianese Creole is the everyday language of many locals, and you will also hear Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Sranan Tongo, Hmong and Chinese. English is not widely spoken outside tourism, so some French goes a long way.
▸ Is Cayenne safe to walk around?
The centre is fine to explore on foot by day. Street crime runs higher than in mainland France, so keep phones and bags out of sight, leave nothing in a parked car, and take a taxi after dark rather than walking empty streets. Check your own government's current advice before travelling.
▸ What should I eat in Cayenne?
Try blaff, fish poached in a lime and herb broth, colombo curries and fricassees with rice and red beans, and couac, the toasted cassava grain. Bouillon d'awara, a slow-cooked stew built on palm-fruit paste, is the Easter dish, and local lore says whoever eats it will return. The market's pho counters are a Cayenne ritual.