Cap-Haitien is located in the Northern Province of Haiti. It is a Port city where one will find; a vibrant market place; lot's of history; beautiful coastlines(especially in the west); and expensive houses on the mountain sides. On the other hand however; one will find extreme poverty, the smell of despair, sewage and garbage.
Cap-Haitien has more relaxed casual atmosphere than PaP. It is very easy to get around there also. E-W running streets numbered Rue1-24 beginning in the south of the city. N-S streets are parallel with the coastline lettered A-Q
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| Favourite spots: |
Market tourist with it's wildly overpriced voodou dolls, paintings and carvings Rue 17 and the Boulevard along the coast.
Iron market between Rues I and K and Rues 9 and 11.
Domestic market between RuesI and K and Rues 2 and 4
La Badie(very nice white sand beach owned by Princess Cruise lines) LaBadie has the potential to bring tourism to Cap Haitien however the road leading to it; although very scenic is very terrible--literally!
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| What's really great: |
My extended family lives there. Since "Au Cap is more relaxed than PaP, it is quite safe to walk around at night time. We often hang around the Cathedrale de Notre Dame to eat icecream (at an outrageous price!) and people watch. Many of the students study by street light and the church choirs practice around the park.
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| Sights: |
Haiti is Sans Souci Palace and Le Citadel Ferriere. Take Rue de l'Aeroport to Milot, 20km from Au Cap.
Sans Souci:
Built in 1810 by Henri Christophe, and virtually destroyed in an earthquake 1842 it's skeletal shell is an awesome sight in the rolling countryside.
At the base of Sans Souci there is a small craft market and a place to rent horses for the trek up. (make sure you have $ to give the guides for their food etc.. they don't want to share what you have.
Le Citadel Frerriere: Built in 1807, the shape of the Citadel is stunning! When you first get a look at it, it looks like a huge ship bursting through the mtn. It has walls 13ft thick, and has a height of 130ft in some places. There are many cannons and stockpiles of ammo throughout the Fortress. 20000 conscripted former slaves walked each stone up 2,950ft Mt. La Ferriere.
You can see the ocean 20kms away all around. It is a truely awesome sight as it sits on the very peak of this mtn.
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| Accommodations: |
Mount Jolie (very pricey, Not worth the $ in my opinion $100US/night)
Roi Christophe(from the $50-$100 range) worth it..
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a chinese restaurant in the city center, that doesn't sell chinese... go figure...
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If you have the means (4x4) or tap tap, take the time to visit outlying villages such as Plain du Nord, Gonaives and Grand Rivere. The underlying smell of sewer is practically non-existant, and there is more foliage because most of the villages are in the mountain side.
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Published on Friday May 2th, 2003
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Thu, Dec 22 2005 - 04:00 AM
 by rangutan
| Interesting report with pictures an tips. I love reports outside the capital/hub type. |
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12 votes
