Caiena · French Guiana
In the destination Caiena, Kourou and the Ilhas da Salvação.
In the photo: Tour Dreyfus
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The city
Kourou is on the coast, about 60 km from Caiena, and grew up around the Centro Espacial Guianense, Europe’s launch base. The base offers guided tours by reservation; the Guyaspace Expérience shows how rockets and satellites work, and boats to the Ilhas da Salvação, with the ruins of the old prison, depart from the port. On the waterfront, the Pointe des Roches shelters the Tour Dreyfus.
There's no accommodation in the guide yet in Kourou.
There are no restaurants in the guide yet in Kourou.
Know a good one? Recommend it to ushow to get there · how many days · itinerary · questions
The local experience
The base from which Europe launches its rockets, close to the equator. The guided tour, by bus and by reservation, goes through the facilities and the Ariane 6 launch area, and on launch days there are viewing areas open to the public with registration.
The visitor space of the Centro Espacial Guianense, in place of the former Museu do Espaço: interactive rooms about the history of the base, launch preparation and the use of satellites, with a planetarium and a lunar mission workshop.
Three islets 14 km from Kourou with the ruins of the former French penal colony. On Île Royale, jungle trails pass the chapel, the cells and the museum; Île Saint-Joseph houses the isolation cells; Île du Diable can only be seen from a distance.
Small signal tower on the Pointe des Roches, on Kourou's seafront, which communicated with Île Royale during the penal colony era. From the promontory you can see the Ilhas da Salvação and the sea.
Brazil
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
Germany
Belgium
Spain
France
Greece
the Netherlands
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Portugal
the United Kingdom
Switzerland