How to travel overland across the 3 Guianas

Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, popularly known as ‘’the 3 Guianas’’, are three countries located on the eastern shoulder of South America – and probably the least visited countries in the all the Americas.

Whether you are overlanding across Latin America or just traveling here for a few weeks, it’s easy to combine the 3 countries in one single trip.

This guide will show you how to cross the 3 Guianas (Guyana-Suriname-French Guiana) overland, from Georgetown to Cayenne.

In this Guyana travel guide, you will find:

Introduction to travel in the Guyanas: Why are they called the 3 Guianas?

The Guyana is a geographical area comprised of the Guiana Shield.

Politically-speaking, this area today refers to Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana but, theoretically, it also includes the Guayana region in eastern Venezuela and Amapá state in Brazil.

In fact, during colonial times, Venezuelan Guayana was referred to as Spanish Guyana, while Amapá state was Portuguese Guyana.

Similarly, Guyana (the country) was known as British Guyana, and Suriname as Dutch Guyana.

French Guiana never got its independence and today, this tiny country is an overseas department and region of France, and as such is part of the European Union.

Canaima National Park is part of The Guyana

How to get to the 3 Guianas

Where to start from, Guyana or French Guiana?

From a logistical perspective, it really doesn’t make any difference you should start from wherever is more convenient for your kind of trip.

I personally started from Georgetown (Guyana), and the only advantage I can think of is that I liked ending my trip in Cayenne (French Guiana), where I found pretty amazing restaurants serving decent French food and wine, something which is hard to find in the other 2 Guianas.

How to travel to the 3 Guianas by land

Traveling to Guyana by land

From Venezuela: There’s no official border between the two countries, not even roads, just thick jungle.

Check our travel guide to Venezuela.

From Brazil: The border is open at Lethem, easily reached by public transportation from Boa Vista. If you are traveling in Venezuela, you should get yourself to the southern city of Santa Elena de Uairén – there are direct buses from Caracas – and then cross into Brazil to Boa Vista.

The journey from Lethem to Georgetown is a very long one, over 500km of mainly unpaved road including a river crossing by ferry, and it’s difficult to do it in one go, so do stay somewhere in between, like the area of Rupunini or Iwokrama.

Traveling to Suriname by land

Suriname has a border with Brazil but there aren’t any roads, so you can only get in from either Guyana or French Guiana.

Traveling to French Guiana by land

Macapá, a city that lies on the Amazon delta, is the main transportation hub to Saint-Georges, the border town from this part of French Guiana.

How to travel to the 3 Guianas by flight

Before getting into the Guianas, I was traveling in Trinidad and Tobago for a couple of days, and from there I flew into Georgetown.

From Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago) there are inexpensive daily flights to Georgetown, meaning that adding Trinidad and Tobago onto your 3 Guianas adventure is quite feasible, especially because from a cultural perspective, they are similar.

Traveling to Georgetown by flight

Georgetown has two international airports – Eugene F. Correia International Airport (OGL) and Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

Besides Port of Spain (POS), common connections are Panama (PTY), Miami (MIA), New York City (JFK) and Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI).

Traveling to Cayenne by flight

Besides a daily flight to Paris (CDG) with Air France, the International Airport of Cayenne (CAY) has barely any connections, only to the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.

How to travel the 3 Guianas overland: Georgetown-Paramaribo-Cayenne

The route Georgetown-Paramaribo-Cayenne

The distance between Georgetown and Paramaribo is 840 km.

Remember that the countries are not connected by road, and are separated by a river with no bridge, meaning you can only cross by boat.

How to get from Georgetown to Paramaribo (Guyana to Suriname)

Here are the steps you need to follow to travel from Guyana to Suriname by land.

Step 1: Get your Suriname e-visa and complete the online immigration form

Suriname is the only country in the Guianas that requires a visa.

You can get your e-visa at this portal. It costs 58 USD.

The portal recommends applying 72 hours in advance, but I applied the day before and got mine right there and then.

After securing your visa, you need to fill out the following online form and show the respective QR code upon arrival in Suriname.

A yellow fever certificate is also an entry requirement for Suriname

Step 2: Georgetown to Molson Creek

Molson Creek is the border town with Suriname, where you need to catch the ferry.

The journey takes 3 to 4 hours, depending on the type of vehicle used.

You have two options:

1) Booking a shared taxi in advance

This has the added benefit that they will pick you up from your hotel. A second shared taxi will be waiting for you across the border to take you to Paramaribo.

For this, you should book a couple of days in advance to secure your spot.

Pick-up is between 4 am and 5 am and the journey takes about 3 hours. It costs 50 USD, including the second leg of the journey, from the border to Paramaribo.

Note that the ferry ticket isn’t included in the price.

I can recommend a man named Rudolf, a very easy-going, kind local guy from Georgetown. You can message him on WhatsApp: +592 641 6010

2) Going by local bus

The advantage of going by bus isn’t really the price difference but personally, I prefer going by public transportation, as it’s usually a great way to meet locals. Option 1 is just too easy.

Important: there’s only one daily ferry crossing the river, so if you want to catch it, you’ll have to be at the station extra early, no later than 4 or 5 am.

The problem, however, is that the minivans depart from Stabroek market, one of the sketchiest areas in the city, and you’ll have to be there when it’s still dark.

Georgetown is well-known for its violent crime so, if possible, try to get there by taxi from your hotel don’t walk alone around this area!

Alternatively, you could just show up in the middle of the day, and spend the night at the border town.

Step 3: Immigration and ferry crossing

In Molson Creek, you’ll need to get to the ferry terminal, where you’ll go through immigration and purchase your ferry ticket, costing 20 USD.

In my experience, the border was quite busy, but the whole process didn’t take more than 25 minutes.

After getting your passport stamped, all you have to do is wait for the ferry. Apparently it departs at any time between 9:30 am and 1 pm. In my case, it departed at 11 am.

The journey by ferry takes 1 hour 30 minutes, and it’s incredibly slow.

Step 4: Suriname immigration and South Drain to Paramaribo

As soon as you cross the river, get off the boat quickly to skip the immigration line.

On leaving customs, you’ll be approached by several shared-taxi drivers looking for passengers to Paramaribo.

The journey shouldn’t cost more than 20-25 USD.

From the border to Paramaribo takes another 3 to 4 hours.

How to get from Paramaribo to Cayenne (Suriname to French Guiana)

Here are the steps you need to follow for overland travel from Suriname to French Guiana.

Step 1: Complete your online immigration form

Similarly to what you did when entering Suriname, you will also need to fill out the same online form to exit the country. Here’s the link.

Step 2: Paramaribo to Albina

To travel to French Guiana, you can easily take a local shared taxi to the border town of Albina.

The taxi terminal is located right here.

The journey takes 2 hours and costs 20 USD. Too easy…

Step 3: Look for the actual customs

This could prove confusing for some.

The local shared taxi will drop you at a very busy spot by the river banks, an area packed with small boats that take you across the river.

These boats take people into French Guiana illegally, but I was never able to understand why there isn’t any control over it.

While you are sure to be approached by some of their captains, remember that first, you’ll need to get your exit stamp at the actual customs, located 500 meters away from where you probably are. Right here.

After obtaining your exit stamp, it doesn’t matter whether you take the official boat or go back to the ‘’illegal’’ port.

In fact, the guy who stamped my passport encouraged me to take one of the illegal boats, since it’s way faster, but he told me to make sure I go through French immigration.

I went back to my initial location and, when I got on one of the boats, the guy said: Do you want to be dropped off at the French customs?

I was the only person who actually got off at the customs, the rest entered French Guiana somewhere else.

Step 4: Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni to Cayenne

The French have invested very little in their South American colony/enclave, especially when it comes to public transportation.

Moreover, this is a rarely-transited border crossing, so the chances of not seeing any drivers at all are pretty high.

You have 2 options:

1. Walk to the center of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and take the 1 pm bus to Cayenne. There are 2 daily buses, one at 6 am and another at 1 pm.
2. At the customs, you’ll see a few boat owners. If you can’t see any taxi, ask them to call a shared taxi for you.

In my case, I decided to spent the night in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, which I can strongly recommend.

The town is packed with street vendors most likely from Suriname, there’s a nice market and the Transportation Camp for the prisoners going to the Salvation Islands (remember the book/movie Papillon?). It’s hard to believe the town belongs to the EU.

The next day, at around 10 am, I headed to the bus station only to find out that I’d already missed the first bus (it was at 10 am) so I went back to customs, where I managed to find a shared taxi thanks to one of the boat men.

You can either try your luck there or just call this number: +594 694 21 18 28 (Nell)

The journey takes 3 hours by car and costs 40 USD. French prices!

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