Guadeloupe Holiday Rentals

The fabled L'IlePapillon – the Butterfly Island – of the French Antilles masterfully packs in all those enticing tropical draws you were hoping for from the Caribbean. First, there are the misty rainforests, where colourful woodpeckers flit across vistas draped by ribbon-like waterfalls. Then there are the soaring volcanic heights of La Soufriere, capping one half of the archipelago with rugged mud ridges and smoke-belching holes. And the beaches? How does white-hued sand, laced with pink coral dust and lapped by turquoise Caribbean waters sound? The whole place is an overseas department of France, spread over a dozen islets and coral cays, the largest of which are Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre – home to the majority of the holiday homes in Guadeloupe.

Holiday homes, Guadeloupe: a place to rest and rejuvenate and explore, tropical style

From glitzy villas to palm-shaded cabanas by the sloshing Caribbean Sea, surf-washed shacks to deluxe apartments with doorstep access to white-sand beaches, there's a huge range of accommodations on offer on Grande-Terre – the eastern of Guadeloupe's 2 main islands. It's the most popular place to base your adventure in this French Caribbean archipelago and has the most luxurious pads of all. Looking to set aside loads of hammock time? That shouldn't be a problem in the seaside spots on the south coast, where places with exotic gardens offer opportunities to laze in the sun. If you prefer sunning yourself by the side of a private swimming pool, then there are swish apartment complexes and jet-setter villas in the mix that can oblige. Others, meanwhile, have beachside locations that promise sparkling sands just seconds after rolling out of bed.

Basse-Terre beckons with more off-the-beaten-track holiday rentals in Guadeloupe. They still sit next to glowing beachfronts and lapping aquamarine seas, but they tend to be in less-well-trodden villages or more remote coastal locations. Luxury still isn't a problem, with infinity pools and sunning terraces common throughout, while intrepid travellers might just love the prospect of bagging a stay that's on the cusp of the orchid-spotted, waterfall-carved Guadeloupe National Park. Taken by the tropics? No worries – holiday homes in Guadeloupe aren't your only choice. There are coral gardens and blinding beaches in Mexico's rambunctious isle of Cozumel, too. And there are rugged cliffs and white-sand bays aplenty in the other Caribbean escape of Curacao. Which will you choose?

Get sandy feet and a sense of adventure in holiday rentals, Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe might not be the Caribbean's most famous destination, but therein lies its charm. Off-the-beaten-path attractions pepper this speck on the map of the Antilles chain, starting with the wild and misty reaches of the Guadeloupe National Park. It covers over 170 square kilometres in the heart of Basse-Terre island, and encompasses murky mangroves and emerald rainforests. Here, you can hike to dazzling cataracts, like the Carbet Falls, and encounter uber-rare orchids, hummingbirds and other exotic life. At its highest point, the reserve splinters upwards with the peak of La Soufriere volcano, where the trekking trails reveal smoky calderas and lava chutes.

Over on Basse-Terre, the attractions take a turn for the more human. You can bag holiday homes in Guadeloupe's bustling hub of St. Anne, where fishermen and trinket sellers meet throughout the week to create buzzing markets by the shore. Talking of the shore, some say this is where the beaches of Guadeloupe hit their zenith. Plage de la Caravelle is one of the most celebrated, shaded by clusters of coconut palms and fringed with glowing cotton-white sand, all peppered by salt-washed cocktail shacks and Carib bars.