An early start is in order, as we have an island tour ahead of us today — more precisely, a tour of Grande Terre (the right, drier part of Guadeloupe). Our first stop is Plage de Bois Jolan — a gorgeous beach, completely unspoiled with just a few sunbathers. The next dream beach is in Saint-Francois: Plage des Raisins Clairs.

Next stop is the eastern tip of Guadeloupe: Pointe des Chateaux. Simply park up and walk the roughly one-hour trail to the cross and back. From the cross you get a magnificent view of the entire surroundings. Here you find the wild, Atlantic side of the island. On the way back, a short detour to the beaches is worthwhile: Anse Tarare — a beautifully located nudist beach that ends at the gorgeous viewpoint Point de Tartare.

We leave the peninsula and continue heading north.

In Le Moule we make a quick stop in the town center. If you're thirsty, you can pay a free visit to the local rum distillery Damoiseau.

If you want to continue the tour, head straight to the next highlight: Porte d'Enfer — or translated, the Gate of Hell! Park up and follow the signs along the stunning lagoon. On a roughly one-hour walk you get to know the raw power of the Atlantic. We see the Gate of Hell and the unique cliffs. A few hundred meters further you reach the Trou de Souffleur. On a clear day you can see as far as the islands of Desirade, Montserrat and Antigua.

After all that hiking and heat, we've earned a cool-down: we stop in Port-Louis at Anse de Souffleur — a wonderful beach, perfect for refreshing and relaxing. The small reefs also invite you to go snorkeling.

After our swim we feel reasonably cooled down and drive a bit further to Petit-Canal. Here we go in search of the L'Ancienne Prison de Petit-Canal. We had seen a photo of the old, crumbling and overgrown prison in a magazine and knew we had to see it in person. Below the church we ask a local, since nothing is signposted — (just pronounce the word "Prison" with a bit of a French accent and that does the trick...) — We are immediately understood and led to the unique masonry that has been taken over by a banyan tree — the scene is truly impressive.

Our last stop for today is the cemetery in Morne a L'eau, famous throughout the Caribbean. It is enormous and absolutely stunning — especially the black and white tiles. We walk around the cemetery for a while, enjoying the silence before our drive back to Sainte-Anne begins.