Saint-Denis Historic Centre

Saint-Denis was laid out on a grid on a narrow shelf between the mountains and the sea, and the streets running back from the Barachois seafront hold the best concentration of creole architecture on the island: nineteenth-century mansions with varangue verandas, lambrequin fretwork and formal gardens, along with the prefecture in a former Compagnie des Indes warehouse, the cathedral, a mosque of 1905 and a Tamil temple. The Léon Dierx museum holds a good art collection.

What you actually see

• The creole mansions - nineteenth-century houses along Rue de Paris with verandas and fretwork.
• The Barachois - the seafront promenade with cannon and the mountain behind.
• The Noor-e-Islam mosque - the 1905 mosque, among the oldest in France.
• The Leon Dierx museum - the island's fine art collection.

When to go

May to November is the drier season. Mornings are best for walking before the heat. Museums close on Mondays and shops close for a long lunch.

Honest expectations

Many of the historic houses are private and seen only from the street. The city is hot and the shade on the streets is patchy. Traffic and parking in the centre are difficult.

Nearby

La Roche Ecrite is above, and Sainte-Suzanne is east.