“The Guianas” are three places with three front doors: English-speaking Guyana through Georgetown, Dutch-speaking Suriname through Paramaribo, and French Guiana, which is part of France, through Cayenne. Our trips start in Georgetown, so how to get to Guyana is the first question, and the easy one. The harder ones come later. No direct flight links Suriname and French Guiana, and the interior is reached by small plane or by river.
Georgetown has two airports. International jets land at Cheddi Jagan International (GEO) at Timehri, about 25 miles (41 km) outside the city. Small planes for the interior leave from Eugene F. Correia International at Ogle, about 7 miles (11 km) out. You arrive at one and fly inland from the other.
Non-stop flights to Georgetown, as of October 2026:
From Europe, KLM has flown from Amsterdam to Georgetown since June 2025, twice a week as of October 2026; otherwise you connect in the Caribbean or the US. And Paramaribo is no longer Guyana’s only South American flight: Avianca flies non-stop to Bogotá, about 3 hours, twice a week.
The UK government advises, where possible, avoiding travel to and from Cheddi Jagan late at night and before dawn. Our Three Guianas itinerary has a guide meet you, and our Guianas safety page covers the rest.
Suriname’s gateway is Johan Adolf Pengel International (PBM), serving Paramaribo. Its strongest link is Amsterdam: KLM flies every day, about 9 h 15 m non-stop, and Surinam Airways three days a week. There is no non-stop from the US; Surinam Airways connects Miami to Paramaribo through Georgetown. Copa flies from Panama City, and Gol and Surinam Airways from Belém in Brazil.
Small planes to interior villages such as Kwamalasamutu leave from a separate airfield, Zorg en Hoop. Our itinerary goes into Suriname’s rainforest by road and river instead.
French Guiana is part of France, a single territorial collectivity with the powers of an overseas department and region, inside the EU and on the euro. So the main way in is a flight within France: Paris to Cayenne (CAY), about 9 hours, daily with Air France from Charles de Gaulle and most days with Air Caraïbes from Orly. The only other non-stops come from Fort-de-France in Martinique and, once a week each, from Belém and Fortaleza in Brazil.
Nothing flies non-stop to Cayenne from North America, Guyana or Suriname. From the US you connect in Martinique or Paris, or you come overland from Suriname, as our itinerary does. Travelers from outside the EU need a passport, and our Guianas visa page has the entry rules.
| Leg | Typical time | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Georgetown (GEO) to Paramaribo (PBM) | About 45 minutes | Non-stop four days a week as of October 2026 |
| Guyana to Suriname by road | Ferry across the Corentyne River | Moleson Creek to South Drain |
| Paramaribo to Atjoni, for the Upper Suriname River | About 118 miles (190 km) by road, then motorized canoe | How our itinerary reaches its rainforest lodge |
| Albina to Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni | About 15 minutes by canoe across the Maroni | Suriname into French Guiana; no flight |
| Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni to Cayenne | About 3 hours by road | Kourou is about 1 hour from Cayenne |
| Cayenne to Belém, Brazil | About 1 h 30 m | Air France, once a week as of October 2026 |
The Corentyne ferry is the weak link. The UK government warns that water taxis from Suriname to Guyana (“backtracking”) are illegal, and the ferry itself was out of service for several days in August 2026. Our Three Guianas itinerary flies this leg.
Guyana’s interior runs on light aircraft, 4- to 12-seat Cessnas and 19-seat Beechcraft flying from Ogle to more than 160 airstrips. Pack for them: scheduled flights allow 20 pounds (9 kg) per person, and extra weight must be arranged and paid for before you fly, with no guarantee of space. Our Guianas packing list helps.
Kaieteur Falls is about an hour by small plane from Ogle, and most visitors fly in and out the same day, with about two hours at the falls. Our Wild Guyana trip stays the night instead, in the only lodging there, a simple guesthouse with hammocks, then takes a charter flight on to Apoteri on the Rupununi River. Scheduled flights also run to Lethem, some stopping at Fairview near Iwokrama. In the rains flights can be rough or canceled; our Guianas weather page has the seasons.
French Guiana’s interior has no roads. Small planes fly daily from Cayenne to Saül, about 45 minutes, and Maripasoula, about 50; otherwise it is the river, by pirogue.
When our co-founder Juergen Keller writes about routing a trip through Argentina, his advice is “Think international!” It fits the Guianas even better. Our 14-day Three Guianas Adventure Tour runs west to east, one country after the next: in at Georgetown, small planes to the Rupununi and Kaieteur, a flight to Paramaribo, the coast road and a canoe into French Guiana, then out of Cayenne on the flight to Belém in the Brazilian Amazon, where our Belém and Marajó Island extension can carry on.
Here the days of the week matter. That itinerary starts on a Tuesday to fit the days certain flights operate, and the market days. Miss the weekly Cayenne to Belém flight and the next non-stop is a week away. Juergen again, writing about South America as a whole: “Some routes are flown only 3 times a week and easily canceled due to bad weather and bad airport infrastructure. Leave slack in your trip!”
International flights are not included; our Guianas tour pages say “Flights priced separately.” The flights inside the trip are different: on the Three Guianas itinerary they are included except Cayenne to Belém, and on Wild Guyana the flights within Guyana are included, so they are planned with the rest of the itinerary. Take travel insurance that covers delays, check the best time to visit the Guianas, and start from our Guianas overview or a custom Guianas trip.
Yes, from New York, Miami and Houston as of October 2026. JetBlue has flown from New York since December 2020. Delta does not fly to Guyana, and there is no non-stop from Atlanta.
About 6 h 15 m non-stop. Caribbean Airlines flies the route most days as of October 2026, and on the other two days it connects through Port of Spain.
No, there is no non-stop from London. British Airways flies from Gatwick with a stop in the Caribbean, and KLM connects through Amsterdam.
Not directly; flying means a detour through Martinique or Brazil. The road is better anyway, with a 15-minute canoe crossing from Albina.
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