Few destinations in South America confuse a traveler’s wallet quite like Cayenne. You arrive expecting the reais, dollars, or Surinamese guilders of the surrounding region, and instead the price tags read in euros, the receipts carry French value-added tax, and the cash machine dispenses the same banknotes you would withdraw in Lyon or Marseille. French […]
Month: June 2026
Getting Around Cayenne and the Coast Without Renting a Car
Guidebooks tend to insist that a rental car is essential in French Guiana, and for travelers who want to reach every remote trailhead on their own schedule, that advice holds. Yet plenty of visitors move around Cayenne and the populated coastal strip perfectly well without ever signing a rental agreement, saving money and sidestepping the […]
Watching a Rocket Launch from the Guiana Space Centre
Of all the reasons to travel to Cayenne, few match the strange thrill of standing in a South American savanna at night and watching a rocket climb off the planet. The Guiana Space Centre near Kourou, about an hour west of the capital, is Europe’s principal gateway to orbit, and for a visitor willing to […]
Getting Your Health Ready for a Trip into the Guianese Rainforest
French Guiana rewards the traveler who ventures beyond Cayenne with some of the most intact rainforest on Earth, rivers threading into the interior, and wildlife that most people only ever see in documentaries. It also asks that you take your health preparation seriously, more so than a typical European trip, because this is genuinely equatorial […]