Cayenne
Cayenne is the capital, prefecture, and largest city of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America.
Cayenne is the capital, prefecture, and largest city of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's motto is "fert aurum industria", which means "work brings wealth". Cayenne is the largest Francophone city of the South American continent.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Cayenne
8 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Cayenne Cathedral
Cayenne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral, seat of the Diocese of Cayenne. It is a national monument of France, located in the town of Cayenne, capital of French Guiana.
700 m · cathedral located in Guyane, in France · Wikipedia - 02University of French Guiana
The University of French Guiana is a French public university, created in 2014 in French Guiana. It was formed from two existing campuses of the University of the French West Indies and Guiana.
2.7 km · public university in French Guiana · Wikipedia - 03Jardin botanique de Cayenne
The Jardin botanique de Cayenne is a botanical garden located at the end of the Avenue Charles de Gaulle, adjacent to the university, in Cayenne, French Guiana. The garden measures 3 hectares.
700 m · garden in France · Wikipedia - 04Fort Cépérou
Fort Cépérou was a fort that protected the city of Cayenne, French Guiana. It is named after Cépérou, a celebrated indigenous chief who ceded the land.
1.2 km · fort that protected the city of Cayenne, French Guiana · Wikipedia - 05Prefecture hotel of French Guiana
The French Guiana Prefecture Building is the seat of the Prefect of French Guiana. It is located in Cayenne, French Guiana, France.
700 m · French administrative building · Wikipedia - 06Hôtel de Ville, Cayenne
The Hôtel de Ville is a municipal building in Cayenne, French Guiana, on the northern coast of South America, standing on Rue de Rémire. It has been included on the Inventaire général des monuments by the French Ministry of Culture since 2002.
1 km · town hall in Cayenne, French Guiana · Wikipedia - 07Statue of Victor Schœlcher
The Statue of Victor Schœlcher is a bronze statue sculpted in 1896 by Louis-Ernest Barrias, then dedicated the following year in Cayenne in French Guiana, then a colony of France. The work celebrates Victor Schœlcher, who played a leading role in the abolition of slavery in 1848, representing him alongside a recently emancipated slave.
1 km · sculpture by Louis-Ernest Barrias · Wikipedia - 08Town hall of Matoury
The Hôtel de Ville is a municipal building in Matoury, French Guiana, on the northern coast of South America, standing on Rue Victor Ceide.
9.7 km · Town hall in French Guiana · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Place des Palmistes
A park with high palm trees, lively in the nighttime.
- 02Fort Cépérou
Remains of a historic fort on a hilltop right on the west side of downtown Cayenne.
- 03Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur de Cayenne
Cayenne's cathedral is a major landmark, the seat of the Diocese of Cayenne and a National Monument of France.
- 04Salines de Montjoly
- 05Fort Diamant
A 19th-century fort, nowadays a Monument Historique (French National Heritage Site).
From Wikivoyage: Cayenne, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
There are sand beaches in the eastern part of the Cayenne area, and the sea is good for surfing. The water is rarely, if ever, clear enough for snorkeling, but is often more green/blue than in the neighboring countries of Suriname and Guyana (the whole region tends to have brownish seawater due to the large amount of mud coming down through the many rivers). Hiking. There are some nice hikes right around Cayenne.
From Wikivoyage: Cayenne, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
The restaurants of Cayenne reflects the ethnic mosaic of the Guyanese society; you will find Creole, French, Chinese, Lebanese and Javanese restaurants here. In general the Chinese restaurants are the most affordable places to have a meal with dishes for €15-20. On Place des Palmistes there are also carts selling hamburgers and Javanese dishes. Jin Le Yuan, 33 rue Lieutenant Brasse,. Chinese restaurant.
From Wikivoyage: Cayenne, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Cayenne
- Airports
- Cayenne – Félix Eboué (CAY), 14 km
- Paramaribo → Cayenne330 km · quickest by air, 7h 2m · $280–420
- Georgetown → Cayenne676 km · quickest by air, 8h 50m · $310–460
- Belém → Cayenne829 km · quickest by air, 5h 55m · R$650–1,000
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Cayenne
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Cayenne. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inFrom Suriname you have to make a river crossing by boat, and you'll step off the ferry in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, from where you can take a bus to Iracoubo and transfer to another going to Cayenne.
From Wikivoyage: Cayenne, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01334 km
- 02677 km
- 031,760 km
- 041,845 km
- 052,008 km
If you know how people move in Cayenne – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Cayenne
- Résidence Arc-en-cielhuman settlement in France6.6 km