Things to do in Haiti - Cap Haitien Sunset

It’s also the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

Times are very tough for the people living here, yet the resilience they show is astounding.

But if you’re an experienced traveller or somebody seeking adventure, Haiti might be just the destination you’re after. One of the best things to do in Haiti is to visit Cap Haitien.

Note: Haiti has experienced some security issues in parts of the country, so it’s recommended to check with government advice before travelling there.

Things to do in Haiti

We crossed the land border via bus from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic into Cap Haitien, Haiti.

Friends recommended it as one of the best things to do in Haiti. We spent a few days in this crumbling colonial city that we instantly liked.  

Suppose you can see beyond the garbage, the polluted water and broken buildings.

In that case, there are colourful shops oozing with character, well-dressed Haitians going about their daily tasks, and people getting on with the far-from-easy lives here with a smile and respect for each other.

Things to do in Haiti, Cap Haitien

Do you need a visa for Haiti?

I’m travelling on an Australian passport and Marty has an EU passport – both are visa-free. This is the same for residents of the USA. Check if you need one for travel to Haiti as things change.

Languages: The people speak French and Creole. (Even knowing the basics in French will greatly help you during your time here). You will also meet some people who speak Spanish and a little English.

Currency: Haitian Gourde (HTG). USD are also used frequently.

At the time of writing, USD 1 = 85 HTG.

Can you drink the water?

No. But instead of relying on purchasing bottled water, bring a reusable bottle and fill it up at your hotel. (Our hotel offered free water to drink at any time – always a bonus in tropical destinations where water isn’t drinkable).

Or better yet, get yourself a filtered water bottle for travel and start saving money and the planet at the same time.

Where to Stay in Cap Haitien?

There are not many options for decent hotels to stay at in Cap Haitien and it’s really important to book a hotel with good security.

We booked a room at Hotel Des Lauriers from the recommendation of friends who had recently stayed here.

In fact, this could be one of the things to do in Haiti even if you aren’t staying here – come up here for a drink and the epic views.

Things to do in Haiti - Cap Haitien best hotel
View of Cap Haitien from our hotel

Hotel Des Lauriers is located on a hill that overlooks the city of Cap Haitien. The city is located next to a beach (I wouldn’t recommend swimming here, yet Labadee Beach is ok), which curves around into a large bay. Such fantastic views from here!

The rate was USD 54 p/n for a budget room with a good breakfast. The hotel also has standard rooms from $60 (single) and $110 (double).

Make a reservation on Booking.com for the best rates at this hotel.

The Canadian owner of this hotel is very helpful and is happy to arrange a guide or driver for you to see some of the surrounding sites. Alternatively, if you’re confident to get out there on your own, he has some useful information about the area, costs and local information.

There are two main sites in Cap Haitien, both must-do things in Haiti. And you can see them both in one day.

What are the main things to do in Cap Haitien?

  • Citadelle Laferrière – This is the largest fortress in the western hemisphere, located on top of a mountain. It was built in the 19th century by 20,000 people. This huge structure was created by war and for war, but fortunately, the attack of the French army never came.
  • Sans Souci Palace – Built in 1810, the Sans Souci Palace is located in the town of Milot. This was the royal residence of King Henri Christophe I of Haiti. Now a ruin, the palace was once a bustling whirlwind of feasting and dancing, with grandiose gardens, artificial springs, and a system of waterworks.

Book a private driver or do it independently?

We chose to go on our own (as we most often do) and that is mostly due to our budget. To hire a trusted driver to take you to both sites below, the cost would be about USD $60 for the car. This doesn’t include a guide or entrance to the sites, it’s comfortable and convenient transport only.

For some visitors, this may seem inexpensive, yet for us and our adventure of aiming to visit every country in the world, we can’t afford it.

We decided to go to the Citadel first and Sans Souci afterwards. All the details for how to catch local transport to the two main sites in Cap Haitien are below. But trust us, no matter how you get here – you don’t want to miss these two places, the things to do in Haiti for every visitor.

Things to do in Haiti local transport
The local taxis in Cap Haitien are called ‘tap-taps’. Great way to meet locals.

How do you get to the Citadel using local transport?

We needed to make our way to the town of Milot, this is where you need to get out and then make your way to the Citadel. There is an area in downtown Cap Haitien where the ‘tap-taps’ (local taxis) pick passengers up and then drive towards that destination.

Our hotel manager kindly offered for his hotel driver to take us there (no charge) so we could catch the local transport to Milot.

The drive from our hotel to the downtown area was about 3 km. Once we reached this ‘taxi stand’, our driver asked the guys which one was headed to Milot. He pointed to a car and it was almost full!

We jumped in and squeezed past the locals sitting in the back of the tap-tap, over their bags of goods purchased from the markets and nestled ourselves into a seat.

The first thing I noticed was that each and every person in the back of this taxi was dressed very well. They all gave a shy smile and looked a little puzzled. I’m sure they wondered why these two blonde women are catching this cheap car to Milot with them.

Sure, for one reason it’s certainly much cheaper than a private car, and secondly, Marty and I like the local encounters when we travel. As we often say, the key to travelling all over the world on a budget is to move like a local.

What is the cost of a shared taxi to Milot

The price for this ride was 25 HTG or 30 cents. The 18 km journey took about 30 mins. It was fine and we even got to see some of the green countryside on the way as the taxi is open in the back.

Once we reached Milot. the guy hanging off the back of the taxi and who we paid let us know that this was our stop. This is as far as you can go using a local shared taxi.

The next 5-7 km to get us to the car-park closer to the Citadel was quite steep and can only really be done with a motorcycle taxi. (NOTE: An SUV or taxi could take you to this next part). There were motorbikes and some guys claiming they can guide us at the Citadel for a fee.

How much is the motorcycle taxi to the Citadel carpark

I asked our hotel manager before we departed this morning about what we should pay for this part of the journey. He advised me to pay no more than USD $5 each or HTG 400. We asked the motorcycle taxis how much it was and of course, they quoted us the tourist price of $20. If I’m being honest, I’d do exactly the same, or quote me more!

We negotiated with one driver to take us for 700 HTG for both. He accepted. It was a bumpy and steep ride for 20 minutes straight up, so we had to hold on.

If we did it again, we’d get a motorcycle taxi each as the incline is tough and the motorcycle struggles with three people. We made it to the car park near the Citadel, and we were dropped here.

Get Connected with eSIM

Get connected easily on your travels—buy an eSIM! An eSIM works like an app: buy it, download it, and get connected in minutes! It’s easy, affordable, and convenient. Keep your original phone number, too!

Click below and view which eSIM data plan you need for your next adventure. Use our referral code: RACHEL5045, to get $3 off your first purchase!

Buy an eSIM for your next trip!

Where is the Citadel, and how do we get there?

This car park was a busy place with ladies cooking, souvenirs, and people selling things. You can see the Citadel from here, yet the question is how will you reach it. You have two options for reaching the Citadel from here –

  1. Walk up to the Citadel for free. Sure, you’ll work up a sweat because of the heat and the incline is fair – but in hindsight, it was easy and I’d take this option again. The distance is about 3km, and it took us about 30 min to reach the Citadel. The ground is cobblestone, so it’s easy to walk on.
  2. Pay a guy (I hear they request USD $10 each) to lead a very skinny horse with you on its back up to the Citadel. The ride takes about 45min. Unless you are physically unable or cannot walk up the hill for health reasons, I recommend option 1.

We visited the Citadel on a weekend, and boy, was it busy up there. It looked as though every teenager in Cap Haitien was here with their friends, their music and their rum.

Clearly, this is one of the places and things to do in Haiti for locals as well. Great!

Things to do in Haiti - Cap Haitian - Citadel
The view of the surrounding countryside from the top of the Citadel

How much is the entrance to the Citadel?

Entrance for us was USD $10 each. We were unsure if this was correct as everything we had read to enter and all the guide books said it was USD $25.

The security guy at the entrance requested $10, so we paid and they put a blue paper wristband on us and let us in. Win!

The Citadel was very cool. The views are absolutely epic and exploring the grounds was very interesting.

We spent about an hour here, it’s enough to explore all areas of the fortress.

Things to do in Haiti best site in Cap Haitien
Marty and I inside the Citadel.

Once we exited the Citadel, we walked down the hill for a while and then decided to flag down a passing motorcycle to take us to Sans Souci Palace as it was said to close at 4 pm and we didn’t want to miss it. We paid a motorcycle taxi HTG 500 to drop us at Sans Souci Palace.

It was a downhill ride and again, perhaps we should have got two motorcycles as the decline is steep. I tried not to squash Marty who was sitting in the middle, but it was kind of difficult.

We got there in the end and were happy to arrive and see the beautiful ruins of the Sans Souci Palace.

sans souci palace Things to do in Haiti and Cap Haitien
The abandoned ruins of the Sans Souci Palace

Price for entrance to Sans Souci Palace?

Zero! That’s correct. We were stoked as we expected to maybe pay an entrance fee to go and check out these abandoned ruins, however it was all open and nobody requested any cash from us. So yes, Sans Souci is our second place of the things to do in Haiti.

This place was cool. We sat on the green grass and just admired how opulent this palace would have been many years ago. We explored the inside and took some great pictures.

Things to do in Haiti - Cap Haitien San Souci Palaca
Relaxing on the grass in front of Sans Souci Palace. This place is cool.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Expert travel tips, resources and exclusive discounts worldwide

How to catch local transport back to Cap Haitien

We walked 10 minutes through the town of Milot and found a tap-tap filling up with passengers. They were heading back to Cap Haitien. The taxi is now full with ten young local Haitien guys absolutely loving the tunes blasting at maximum volume.

Marty and I are sitting in the middle of all the guys, catching glances at them wondering what we were doing there. These moments on our travels are priceless.

The fare back to town was again 25 HTG each. The drive was nice and green with clean air, but as soon as the tap-tap approached Cap Haitien, I could smell the downtown area before we saw it. It is here that the rotting garbage sits in huge piles and the smell of sewerage mixed with the heat almost hits you in the face.

I watch as three massive black pigs grunt and bump around in the middle of the pile of trash and sewerage. The tap-tap stops downtown which is still a few km from where our hotel is located. This is the last stop. We jump out of the taxi and look around here.

The downtown area is very busy, maybe you could call it a little hectic. There is lots of traffic, yet it feels very safe. We had a place recommended to us to go and catch an early dinner, so we flagged down another motorcycle taxi and we headed there.

A motorcycle taxi within the city costs around $1 or 100 HTG.

Things to do in Haiti – Eat out in Cap Haitien!

We ate at Lakay Restaurant – a local place that has been there for quite some time. It was still hot and we felt we had earned a beer. We ordered two super cold Prestige local beers (110 HTG each) and some food.

We’d eaten very well at our hotel last night (fillet steak with pepper sauce, very French) so we craved simple easy food today. I ordered a burger (185 HTG) with fries (175 HTG) and Marty ordered a massive baguette with chicken.

It was good food and the total bill was under $10.

Don’t miss our post about 10 foods you must try in Haiti.

Things to do in Haiti - Cap Haitien Lakay Restaurant
Lakay Restaurant in Cap Haitian, Haiti

What else is there to do in Cap Haitien?

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the colourful streets of Cap Haitien. I find the crumbling colonial architecture fascinating and kind of beautiful. The Cathedral of Notre Dame is worth seeing, we sat nearby on a bench and enjoyed this quiet part of the city.

Making our way home on foot, we reached our hotel around 6 p.m.

We wanted to make it home before dark as it’s not recommended to be walking outside at this time, just to be safe. We enjoyed another cold beer on our balcony as we watched the sunset over Cap Haitien.

We enjoyed our visit to Haiti and Cap Haitien

To sum up, our time spent in Cap Haitien was a very positive experience and the city with nearby attractions is one of the best things to do in Haiti. We really enjoyed it and felt very safe the entire time.

This has to be one of the most colourful countries I’ve travelled to, and I really loved the local passion for music and sense of community.

They appear to be a nation that looks out for each other, something I am sure they could be an example to many other countries in the world.

We hope you enjoyed this post on things to do in Haiti and Cap Haitien. Here are 18 interesting things you probably didn’t know about Haiti. It’s always nice to learn a little about the country before you arrive. 

Travel Tips for Haiti

You may be also interested to learn why Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the same island, but why are they so different?

We didn’t know too much about the food of Haiti, but the cuisine really surprised us. I think we almost made it through the 10 most popular foods in Haiti.

If you’re hoping to visit the Dominican Republic while you’re here, our post on crossing the border from the Dominican Republic to Haiti may be useful for you, even if we were travelling in the opposite direction. It will still give you a good idea of protocols at the border and what to expect.

Here are 10 popular dishes in the Dominican Republic that you shouldn’t miss.

Finally, our best travel tips from 20+ years of travel are something that most travellers appreciate. It’s packed with some of the tips and tricks we’ve learned over the years from travelling to some difficult countries as independent travellers.