STAYING Hotels are very expensive. In the low budget category, 1000 gourdes (20 euros) is a minimum. Very difficult to bargain. I recommend the following places : In Jacmel, the hotel Florita. Beautiful old mansion, haitian paintings everywhere, old furnitures, so lovely place. Not so expensive for what it is. In Labadie village, Norm's Place. Guest house owned by an American and his Haitian wife. Both are so lovely. Norman has transformed himself the ruins of a old French fort into a beautiful guest house. Very cheap for what it is. The place to stay in Labadie. Otherwhise I stayed in the cheapest hotels. Not terrible at all. Don't miss the art center FOSAJ in Jacmel, you can speak with young and very interesting artists. Also the Gallery Monnin In Pétionville : Toni Monnin is so funny, interesting and lovely. Landscapes are beautiful, despite the real problem of deforestation. In Jacmel the Bassin bleu is a must see. ---------------------------------- here is a poster from Travel advisor - This is an updated response to the question posted here 8/07. We just did what the poster was asking about, 03/05/09. We boarded a Caribe Tours bus in Santiago, DR and traveled to Cape Haitian via the north coast route. We crossed into Haiti at Dajabon, DR. The road from the border to Cape Haitian is new asphalt and makes the trip go much faster than when it was all ruts and pot holes. The only thing that slows down progress is the numerous speed bumps. The bus has AC, 26 very large comfortable seats...and food and beverage service. The cost for a round trip ticket was $65.00 USD. A $20.00 USD per person fee was charged on the return leg back to the DR. The border crossings were time consuming. Averaging 1-2 hours each way. We stayed at the Hotel Mont Joli and they arranged a driver with a large Land Cruiser to take us to the Citadel. This was my second visit to the Citadel. I hope to go again. This is an incredible structure! I hope this info helps. Okay - here's some great info about this journey: "Hi - The bus service to Haiti originates in Santo Domingo and stops at the main Caribe Tours terminal in Santiago to pick up more passengers. As mentioned in my previous post the buses are very nice...almost like first class airline seats. The buses have a restroom which is needed because the bus will not stop until it gets to the border. This will be about 2 1/2 - 3 hours when it stops at Dajabon. If there are more than 26 passengers another bus will be added. The departure time from Santiago is 12 noon. It is advisable to be there 1-2 hours early as some time is necessary to fill out the tickets. You must have your passports with you as they are necessary for filling out the tickets. You do not buy the tickets at the ticket window. Staff will direct you to the administration office around the corner from the ticket window. Yoy can pay in either pesos or USD. When you get to Haiti it is advisable to convert funds to Haitian gourde or US dollars. I had a lot of Dominican pesos with me but nobody seemed to want to take them. The bus travels through most of Cape Haitian. The route is very close to the bay. The Caribe Tours bus terminal is on what seems, to me, to be the far west edge of Cape Haitian. If you plan to stay at the Hotel Mont Joli it is only about a quarter mile up the hill from the bus station. Steep, but walkable. The bus is locked up in the bus station lot and sits there overnight. You can see the bus below from the terrace at the Hotel Mont Joli while sipping your favorite beverage. Tony at the bar will serve you a bottle of Prestige Haitian beer, for a very modest price of $2.00 USD. This beer rates high in my book! Tony, a resident of Cape Haitian, has spent many years working on cruise ships. He speaks fluent English and can answer any questions you might have about the city or the points of interest. The bus leaves for the DR at 8am in the morning. Once again it's best to be there about a hour early to allow for any problems that may have to be dealt with. When we crossed the border at Dajabon the Dominican customs people searched all the luggage. This took about 1.5 hours. Hope I have answered most questions. If not please let me know." source - poster ghanson55 at http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147308-i3472-k1428121-l16533429-Citadel_in_Haiti_from_Dominican_Republic-Cap_Haitien_Haiti.html#16533429 ---------------------------------- On a previous trip to Cap Haitien we stayed at Hotel du Roi Christophe - which is an attraction in its own right. ---------------------------------- It's fairly safe - lots of folks have done it, but the situation in Haiti is always fluid, and elections are nearing - meaning there could be problems. If you don't speak the language and you are solo, I recommend getting someone to help find the bus/taxi, negotiate the price, etc. I can't speak to the price - but here are some numbers I know: I paid about $2.50 - 3.00 to go from PaP to Jacmel in January on a truck (three bench, open side type). I had no problems other than having a woman sit on my lap for an hour, and a fellow vomiting out the back over my shoulder. There was another poster who recently hired a guide/driver and paid $100.00 per day for that service. Skim through the recent posts for that info. In addition, the fuel availability is spotty right now - diesel is easy to find, not gasoline. Most buses usually run on diesel, but a taxi might not. Haiti is not an easy place to travel - there are always risks, and the situation is fragile, but generally and lately people have not had many problems...that said, a traveler needs to be prepared for a host of difficult situations (breakdowns, food problems, theft...). Another option for travel is flying. I think it would be a great deal less than a taxi. Read through the posts here, and also look over at the DR threads for travel into Haiti - some folks hit the border to see Cap from the DR, and that might help you get a feel for the costs. It is safe. Cap-Haïtien/Port-au-Prince is very cheap by tap-tap but very long and unconfortable. I stopped in Saint-Marc for two days. Maybe taking a bus early in the morning in better : you can arrive in PAP in the same day. ---------------------------------- don don caves The caves around Dondon are worth a look as mentioned in LP guide, however there are more than 20 in different places, some are covered in graffiti, although the countryside around is still beautiful to walk through to get to them. There is now an association with approved guides at 100 gourdes a time, ask for Emil, a local school teacher if needing more info. Also, the Lakou Lakay cultural centre in Mitol is still a way off being finished, although Maurice Etienne will find accommodation for you somewhere. The town is wonderfully peaceful, and people friendly, its great to be able start up to the Citadelle before everyone else in the cool of the morning. ---------------------------------- Phones and phone numbers in Haiti Just a reminder to those who have been to Haiti and have some old phone numbers from contacts - the number system has changed and a digit was added to the beginning of all exchanges in March of 08 For landlines - add a 2 to the beginning of old numbers For cell phones add a 3 to the beginning. There should be 8 numbers. I am pretty sure this is for the entire country, but certainly around PaP. ---------------------------------- http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kris/nostophobia/1180105200/tpod.html it's called Walls international guesthouse, it's cheap for 25usd, has a roof terrace to chill and read, has a swimming pool that i've hardly used and that price includes breakfast and dinner which is off good quality. http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kris/nostophobia/1179246600/tpod.html the hotel colombia (on rue 5k) was a great place to stay and with good location to the store to buy beers which was 3 steps across the road and close to a good place to eat which was about 10 meters to the left on 5L... other places i regularly visited was a good speed internet cafe on rue 15h and hotel christophe to get an immediate cash advance without waiting an hour in the long queues of sogabank ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- ----------------------------------