Things to do and see in Haiti for a one-week itinerary

The Caribbean is home to the most authentic West African culture, stunning landscapes and beaches and world-class architecture. Haiti is the most unique destination of the Americas. It’s packed with exciting sites and backpacking adventures. After traveling around Haiti for 10 days, here is a 7-day itinerary that includes the best places to visit and things to do.

Things to do in Haiti within a seven-day itinerary

Here’s what you can do in Haiti for a week.

Day 1 – Traveling from Santo Domingo to Cap-Haïtien

Our Haiti itinerary will be centered around this area because I overlanded into Haiti from Dominican Republic. In any case, remember that both Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien have an international airport with connections to different cities in the USA – especially Miami – but flights tend to be more expensive than any flight into Santo Domingo.

The best way to travel from Dominican Republic to Haiti is by taking the direct bus that runs from Santo Domingo to Cap-Haïtien via Santiago de los Caballeros. This Haiti travel itinerary will focus on the other route.

Step 1: Arrive at the bus terminal one day prior to your departure date.

• Buses to Cap-Haïtien depart in the morning, between 7am and 8:30am.
• It is important to book tickets at least a day in advance and to confirm the departure time.
• A one-way ticket will cost you between 30-35 USD. You can also pay in Dominican Pesos.

Step 2: On your departure day, you will need to go to the terminal and pay the border fees.

• Before boarding the bus, you will need to pay certain border fees.
• The border fee is 37 USD. It must be paid in USD.
• If you don’t carry US dollars, you can exchange your Dominican Pesos for USD at a fair rate in the money exchange office located on the first level of the bus terminal.
• The office will likely be closed when you arrive, so buy your $ before you go.
• The bus journey officially takes 7 – 8 hours although it can easily take up to 12. Potential delays can be caused by border crossing issues, but also by bus breakdowns.
• The bus stops for a while in a town called Santiago de los Caballeros.
• On board, they also serve a meal consisting of Dominican style grilled meat with rice. I found this to be particularly bad.

Step 3: Dominican Republic – Haiti border crossing

• The border is chaotic, but there’s a tour leader/attendant on the bus that will guide you through the process. This includes paying the border fees.
• On the Haitian side, some locals will offer to help you with filling out the forms – looking for a tip – but just ignore them.

Step 4 – Arriving in Cap-Haïtien

• The bus will take you to your destination at this terminal.
• Arriving at 7pm, it was already dark. It was dark because the street lights were not on. This is common in Haiti.
• The station has a lot of motorbike taxis, but my hotel, Habitation des Lauriers was only 1.7kms away. I decided to walk.

Day 2 – Exploring Cap-Haïtien

Cap Haïtien is the second most important city after Port-au-Prince, housing the top tourist attractions in all Haiti.

The area is also far more important from a historical perspective than the capital for the following reasons.

1. It was here in Cap-Haïtien – in Bord de Mer de Limonade, just outside of the city – where Colombus built the first settlement ever in the New World.
2. The area was the epicenter of the slave revolt against their French masters.
3. Cap Haïtien served as the French headquarters during colonial rule.

The Habitation des Lauriers offers the best view of the city skyline. There is no better place to begin your day. Other than that, Cap-Haïtien is a pleasant city to walk around while checking out some pretty cool local markets and old colonial French architecture.

Things to do in Cap-Haïtien

• Place d’Armes & Notre Dame Cathedral: the central square with its respective cathedral, colonial buildings and gingerbread houses.
• Iron Market: East the Place d’Armes lies the Iron Market which covers several streets. This is a fascinating, bustling market, unlike any other in the Americas. It is also very similar to the local markets of West Africa.
• Around Place de la Résistance: This is a pretty random place that won’t be mentioned in any guidebooks, but at the entrance to the city, just before reaching the bridge, there’s a huge outdoor market, one that tourists never see and the best place in Haiti for people-watching. This market is almost directly on the beach and reflects the images of Haiti that we see on the news. It’s a huge outdoor market with a lot of people.

Half-day trip from Cap-Haïtien: Bois Caïman

Bois Caïman is one of the most important places in Haiti.

On 14th August 1791, a group of black slaves from the sugar plantations of Cap-Haïtien and nearby areas gathered at a site called Bois Caïman to perform a Vodou ceremony, while also planning a mass uprising that quickly turned into the Haitian Revolution which freed the country from its French overlords.

Bois Caïman is located 10km from Cap-Haïtien.

How to visit Bois Caïman?

If you want to do it the backpacking – hard – way, first take a tap tap towards Vaudreuil. It’s about a 2km hike to the village. However, you can also take a taxi motorbike.

In the village there is a painting that commemorates the Haitian Revolution. And you can visit the cave, where the Vodou ceremony was held and where rituals still take place.

Day 3 – Day trip to Citadelle la Ferrière

In my opinion, Citadelle la Ferrière is the most beautiful place to visit in Haiti. Less than 20km from Cap Haïtien, there’s a place called Milot, a rural town home to an absolutely astonishing fortress built on top of a mountain with superb views of the mountains around the region.

This is the largest fortress in the whole American continent, and a symbol of Haiti’s independence, built by black slaves who had gained their freedom – the first of its kind – and the reason Citadelle la Ferrière is today a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the most famous place to visit in Haiti.

It was built during the 19th century by Haitian revolutionary Henri Christophe to thwart possible French invasions.

How to get to Citadelle la Ferrière?

1. Take a tap tap to Milot
2. The tap tap station is designed for Milot.
3. Around 100 Gourdes is charged per person.
4. Arriving in Milot and ticket office
5. You will be approached on your motorbike by young men who are very aggressive and want to take you to the Citadel. They won’t leave.
6. The ticket office is located 10-15 minutes away from where you drop off your tap tap.
7. The motorbike riders will follow you up the mountain, insisting that they take you to the top.
8. The entrance fee is 1000 Gourdes.
9. Going up to the Citadel
10. Walking up to the top is possible but would take several hours.
11. You can also hire a motorbike to take you to the airport. A round-trip ticket shouldn’t cost more than 1000 Gourdes, but you may have to negotiate a little.
12. Motorbikes are not able to reach the top. Therefore, the last 1 or two kilometres have to be done by foot. Horses are also available for those who prefer to be more relaxed.

Day 4 – Hiking to Labadee

Many travelers agree Labadee is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Haiti.

Labadee is the bit of coast west of Cap-Haïtien, on the other side of the small peninsula. This is the most beautiful stretch of coastline in Haiti. It’s not only because it has white-sand beach and crystal-clear water, but because it is also clean and plastic-free.

Labadee, a village in the province of Quebec, is a very laid-back place. It’s most notable for its tourist resort named after it. Many Caribbean cruises that pass the islands include this resort as a must-see on their itinerary.

Don’t worry. The resort is quite far from the village, and only cruise passengers are allowed to enter. Moreover, many cruise passengers don’t want to leave their resort or think it’s dangerous. Actually, you won’t even notice there’s a resort here unless you climb one of the hills or come from Cap-Haïtien on foot.

How to visit Labadee?

The 10km hike that follows the coast from Cap-Haïtien to Labadee is an excellent day trip, and one of the best things to do in Haiti. You can also get to the airport by motorbike, but you will miss out on a lot.

To get to Labadee you will have to first climb a steep hill through a slum. There are also no marked streets, making it easy to get confused. I found that locals were very helpful in pointing me to the right direction. You’ll reach the main road once you leave the slum. Then you can just follow the trail.

There are many things to do in Labadee

Labadee, as mentioned earlier, is a small town. There’s also a small area called the commercial district, where you can find locals and buy a drink.

Local boats depart from there to reach different beaches and settlements on the peninsula. One-way rides cost the equivalent of one or two USD.

I took a boat to a beach called Belly Beach. You can order drinks here and seafood. It was not busy when I went, and most of the people were either wealthy Haitians or cruise ship crew members.

Day 5 – Travel from Cap-Haïtien to Port au Prince

Everyone in Cap-Haïtien will think that you are crazy wanting to travel to Port-au-Prince.

Maybe they are right, but I don’t really know. Some will even claim that it is impossible to travel by land into the capital, claiming that the gangs control the road access.

I was convinced by their words, so I decided instead to fly in. Domestic flights are run by a local airline called Sunrise Airways, and the Cap-Haïtien – Port-au-Prince route is a short 30-minute flight. It was only after I booked my ticket that my local contact told me that buses run regularly between Port-au-Prince and the major cities. However, they take a completely different route. The bus journey will take approximately 9 hours.

Day 6 – Port-au-Prince

The capital of Haiti has to be one of the most chaotic places I’ve been. The city’s infrastructure is only able to support a quarter of the population. What infrastructure is there isn’t very good either, as it was built in a crumbling city since the earthquake in 2010.

Port-au-Prince’s streets are filled with dust, noise and extreme poverty.

To be honest, this isn’t a place for most travelers, although readers of Against the Compass might find a certain appeal to its chaos, art scenes and unique nightlife.

• Pétionville: Originally a residential suburb in the mountains, Pétionville flourished after the 2010 earthquake, becoming the most prominent neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince, housing the best restaurants and hotels. This is an area that’s safe to walk in, with a vibrant market, a beautiful road where local art can be purchased, and a number of bars and restaurants.
• Atis Rezistants: is a workshop where they create art from trash, mostly Haitian Vodou related pieces. This was a very interesting place to visit.
• National Pantheon Museum: This museum, among others, displays the anchor from Santa Maria – the largest boat used by Christopher Columbus on his expedition to New World in 1492. Remember that the first land where Christopher Columbus set foot on was today’s Haiti.
• Cité Soleil: The poorest slum in all of the Americas and one of the largest in the world.

How to visit Cité Soleil?

The most infamous place to visit in Haiti is Cité Soleil.

Cité Soleil is perhaps the most dangerous place in the Americas, and far more dangerous that infamous destinations such as Syria, Yemen or Afghanistan. The reason is that today, Cité Soleil is a battlefield for gangs On a daily basis, people are attempting to kill eachother.

Despite the current situation, however, I did visit Cité Soleil with the help of a local fixer who personally knows the gangs controlling the area, and I actually had the chance to meet the sub-chief of G-PEP. After 2 hours, they showed me around the slum. I had a couple of beers with gang members.

There are two things that I want to emphasize:

Firstly, that I’ve never felt so intimated in my life as, the time I visited Cité Soleil. When we arrived at the main checkpoint for the slum to enter, a group very young Haitians came rushing towards us. However, as soon they saw our fixer they all calmed.

It’s important that we emphasize that, unlike checkpoints like those in Iraq, these Haitians actually use their firearms every other day.

Second, kindly note that I won’t be sharing my fixer’s contact details as I don’t want Cité Soleil to become a playground for backpackers since eventually, someone will get shot and I really don’t want to be involved. Street shootings happen every day, and stray shots are a reality.

Day 7 – Mirelabais and Dominican Republic

On day 7, I recommend returning to Dominican Republic unless you want to continue exploring Haiti beyond the itinerary included here.

Instead of taking a direct bus, I recommend backpacking through Mirebalais. You can see a different, more rural side of the country.

Step 1: Take the bus to Mirelabais.

The buses run throughout the day, starting in the early morning. The station is situated here.

Step 2: Get onto a tap tap and head to Lascahobas.

We could not find a public tap tap.

Step 3: Tap the border with a final tap.

No need to be a detective, you will easily find the required transportation.

On the Haitian part, there is no exit fee, but the Dominican part has a 10 USD charge. This border was very corrupt. Make sure you pay at an official stall and get a receipt. The police may later ask for the receipt.

Step 4: Bus Elias Pina – Santo Domingo

Elias Pina can be reached in about 20 minutes, or even more. This town is not very interesting, but has a vibrant market and a local feel. Santo Domingo’s transportation is easy to find, but it might be worth staying the night there or traveling somewhere else. One word of advice: I took the 6pm last bus to Santo Domingo. The ride was long, and they dropped me in the middle night at a very sketchy part of Santo Domingo where muggings were not uncommon.