Gustavia
Gustavia is the main town and capital of the island of Saint Barthélemy.
Originally called Le Carénage, it was renamed in honor of King Gustav III of Sweden.
Getting to Gustavia
Visitors can reach St Barts by commuter airlines, e.g., flying from St. Maarten (Princess Juliana International) airport and St Martin airport Grand Case. Pilots must be certified as proficient to use the modest runway under less than optimum winds. Ferries run regularly from Marigot and Philipsburg on St Martin. With any appreciable wind, crossings can be quite rough.
Worth seeing
Wall House Museum, 2 rue de Pitea, contact@museesstbarth.com. T 2PM-7PM, Wed-Sat 9AM-Noon/2PM-7PM. Musée du Patrimoine Le Brigantin, 13, Rue Jeanne d'Arc, contact@lebrigantin.fr. Tue-Fri 08:30-12:45/15:00-19:00, Sat 08:30-13:00. Small local museum free.
Where to eat
Gustavia has quality restaurants serving American, Italian, Swedish, French and other types of food. Most restaurants have a 10-15% service charge in addition to steep prices for superbly-prepared dishes. They must use all-imported ingredients except for seafood.
Getting around Gustavia the local way
- Get inFerries run regularly from Marigot and Philipsburg on St Martin.
From Wikivoyage: Gustavia, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.