Route de la Traversee
Route de la Traversee
Route de la Traversee
4
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Take a scenic drive through the mountains and feast your eyes on the tropical landscape of the Caribbean.
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4.0
607 reviews
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299
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76
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zara1213
Montreal, Canada1,136 contributions
Jan 2025 • Friends
I was lucky enough to go this way in both directions. If you only do it one way, prefer to do it from east to west. Winding road, but beautiful. Possibility to make stops on the course, but be careful, several shops, restaurants, cafes are closed on Monday-Tuesday and Wednesday. The ideal time is Thursday morning. The closer the weekend, the more tourists there are.
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Written 3 February 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steve H
Katy, TX62 contributions
May 2023
This is a high quality road through the center of Basse Terre. It is often faster than going around the north coast route through Ste Rose. It's worth doing at least once. The rain forest at the top and the ag land on the east side are nice. Good change of scenary.
Written 23 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SZ
Covington, KY261 contributions
La Route de la Traversee is the road that crosses through the middle of Basse Terre and the Parc National. Coming from Pointe a Pitre, signs on the highway indicate when you are approaching the Route, but the actual turn off is not clearly marked. Have the route number to be certain.
You will acend quickly into the mountains with beautiful vistas of many peaks, but not many of the sea. There are numerous hiking trails but we found these to be really hot and humid since the sea breezes were blocked by the mountains and we preferred the trails accessible from the coast. The drive is quite easy, unlike many of the winding, steep roads that enter the Parc from the coast and fog was not a problem.
Descending on the west coast after about one hour, you will pass many flamboyant trees which are magnificent when in blooming season. You will be quite close to Pigeon Island which is a few miles to the left.
You will acend quickly into the mountains with beautiful vistas of many peaks, but not many of the sea. There are numerous hiking trails but we found these to be really hot and humid since the sea breezes were blocked by the mountains and we preferred the trails accessible from the coast. The drive is quite easy, unlike many of the winding, steep roads that enter the Parc from the coast and fog was not a problem.
Descending on the west coast after about one hour, you will pass many flamboyant trees which are magnificent when in blooming season. You will be quite close to Pigeon Island which is a few miles to the left.
Written 20 November 2003
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
alanw258
Haute-Garonne, France260 contributions
Jan 2020 • Couples
A tropical forest bisected by this linking road , beware of gullys on sides of road , can be quite steep in places . Use this to go to Basse Terre and back from Pointe a Pitre rather than the perimeter of the island road .
Written 23 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Benjamin E
Pas de la Casa, Andorra4 contributions
Mar 2016 • Couples
This is an amazing road cutting across the "rainforest" and over the mountain from Basse terre, guadeloupe. It's really an interesting (quick) and beautiful drive and the "maison de la foret" is a really nice attraction on the way, but be careful: since the road cuts through the rainforest and mountain (where it rains a bit more than on the coast) the road tends to be perpertually wet. Also, since this is a shortcut used by many locals when goint west to east or vice versa, you could meet a crazy driver on the road (this happened to us) which can get pretty scary.
Written 5 April 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LaraKZ
Prague, Czech Republic216 contributions
Apr 2017 • Family
The Route is actually a short cut going up and down through the national park. As the road makes a lot of curves you`ll have to pay attention but it`s a very nice drive through forest and you can stop in a good weather at view points and take very nice panoramic pictures with views that go down to the shoreline.
There are more attractions on the way but the main one are on one side the busy with tourists easy to access waterfall (Cascade aux Ecrevisses) and on the other the zoo (Parc de Mamelles).
So probably you will take this road for practical reasons but our recommendation is to enjoy a bit the views and take some beautiful pictures from the top of the island.
There are more attractions on the way but the main one are on one side the busy with tourists easy to access waterfall (Cascade aux Ecrevisses) and on the other the zoo (Parc de Mamelles).
So probably you will take this road for practical reasons but our recommendation is to enjoy a bit the views and take some beautiful pictures from the top of the island.
Written 15 March 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Phil M
Bicknacre, UK95 contributions
Apr 2015 • Couples
We headed down the coast road, refuelling in Pointe Noire before heading up into the mountains on the D23 Route de La Traversee. There are some wonderful hairpin bends so our trusty Kia Picanto hire care was struggling a bit. We decided to give the Parc des Mamelles (Mamelles appear to be local hills, not mammals!) a miss, having already been to a botanic garden and not really wanting to see sad animals cooped up in small enclosures and being fleeced to do so. As we drove further up into the rainforest the scenery could be described as green and large! Bamboo the thickness of my thigh and over 50' tall in places and incredible trees with enormous buttress roots. We stopped at the Maison de la Foret, an excellent information centre where you can wander round various trails within the forest. One of the staff was able to speak a little English. Nice but when you've seen a few trees.......... Moving on we came to the Cascade aux Ecrevisses. This waterfall is clearly a must do for any visitor to Basse Terre so we joined in and took the short walk. I have to say it was not that impressive. The fall is about 20' and comes into a pool full of people making lots of noise before flowing out into the main river. Not really my idea of a nice quiet wild swim!
We wished we had chucked our walking shoes in as there were some nice looking trails.
In short, a good scenic route to take and as a nice variation to the coast road. Not too much traffic and a good surface with a few tight hairpins and steep drops just for fun!
We wished we had chucked our walking shoes in as there were some nice looking trails.
In short, a good scenic route to take and as a nice variation to the coast road. Not too much traffic and a good surface with a few tight hairpins and steep drops just for fun!
Written 12 April 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter d
Bari, Italy77 contributions
Jan 2020 • Business
very nice parc, you can leave the car and go up, in the green by foot for a fantastic immersion in real green , natural and wild.
Written 21 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Katie F
Washington DC, DC3,701 contributions
Feb 2018 • Couples
We spent more time on the D23 than we expected since our luggage was delayed for several days and to avoid waiting for delivery some in our party traveled the D23 several times during our week-long stay in Basse Terre. The road is scenic and well maintained, if narrow and curvy in places. We did see one bad accident on the road near the waterfalls where people were coming in and out of the parking lot. So, be careful when driving by the waterfalls, the zoo, and other places where you will see many cars parked along the road. Also, if it's your first time in Guadeloupe, be wary of driving the D23 at night or during the rain. Otherwise, it is well maintained and the signage is pretty good though we often passed places and had to turn around. So, go slow and don't expect to see a whole bunch of signs before you get where you're going; there may only be one.
Written 22 February 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Graido
Zurich, Switzerland1,796 contributions
Mar 2016 • Friends
The road is very new and smootz to drive. It goes trough the middle of Base Terre. It's a nice shortcut trough the island.
But if you are looking for driving with jungle feeling try the D4 to the waterfalls.
But if you are looking for driving with jungle feeling try the D4 to the waterfalls.
Written 29 March 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bonjour, quelle route me conseillez vous, pour re joindre Pigeon (près de Bouillante) en venant de l'aéroport ? en sachant que nous arrivons vers 16h et serons pressés de découvrir notre maison de location.merci à vous. Christine
Written 11 October 2019
La grande traversée est le meilleur chemin !
Written 9 January 2020
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