Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens
The North
After London's Kew Gardens, the SSR Gardens is one of the world's best botanical gardens. It's among the most popular tourist attractions in Mauritius and…
Must-see attractions in Mauritius, Réunion & Seychelles
Mauritius
Protecting a 400-year-old forest, this reserve is an important habitat for the Mauritius kestrel, one of the world's most endangered raptors, and a visit…
Port Louis
Although dedicated to the world-famous Mauritian one-penny and two-pence stamps of 1847, the Blue Penny Museum is far more wide-ranging than its name…
Mauritius
If you're only going to visit one attraction related to Mauritius' rich colonial history, choose Eureka. This perfectly preserved Creole mansion was built…
Port Louis
The shrine of French Catholic priest and missionary Père Jacques-Désiré Laval is something of a Lourdes of the Indian Ocean, with many miracles attributed…
La Digue
Famed for being one of the most photographed beaches on the planet, Anse Source d'Argent is a sight to behold. Its dazzling white sands are lapped by…
Mauritius
This popular ecotourism destination is a 26-hectare nature reserve on an island roughly 800m off the coast. It preserves very rare remnants of the coastal…
Mauritius
Locals like to wax nostalgic about Tamarin Beach and its surfing heyday, and in many ways this sandy cove still feels like a throwback to earlier times,…
Mauritius
Don't miss the central foire de Mahébourg, near the waterfront. The initial focus was silks and other textiles, but these days you'll find a busy produce…
Victoria
Housed in Victoria's restored colonial-era Supreme Court building (1885), this terrific museum opened in late 2018. While the architecture itself is worth…
Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market
Victoria
No trip to Victoria would be complete without a wander through the covered market. It's small by African standards, but it's a bustling, colourful place…
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Mauritius
This terrific museum is one of Mauritius' best. It contains fascinating early maps of the island and Indian Ocean region, paintings from colonial times,…
Mahé
On this popular tour you learn the story behind the island's main distillery and about the rum-making process. The tour runs for between 30 and 45 minutes…
Port Louis
Port Louis' rightly famous Central Market, the centre of the local economy since Victorian times, is a good place to get a feel for local life, watch the…
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Rodrigues
In 1691 François Leguat wrote that there were so many tortoises on Rodrigues that 'one can take more than a hundred steps on their shell without touching…
Black River Gorges National Park
On a clear day, the views from here across the gorge and down towards the west coast rank among the best on the island.
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Chamarel
One of the most exciting conservation initiatives in Mauritius in the last few years, the Ebony Forest seeks to recreate a small pocket of indigenous…
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Mauritius
St Aubin is an elegant plantation house that dates back to 1819; it originally sat alongside the factory but was moved in the 1970s so that its owner…
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Mauritius
In an effort to protect the area's rich underwater forest of rare corals from encroaching development, the government has given Blue Bay 'marine park'…
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The North
One of the loveliest examples of colonial architecture on the island, restored Château Labourdonnais was completed in 1859. Built in teak and sporting an…
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Seychelles
Quite possibly the world's most beautiful beach, petite Anse Maquereau is flanked by granitic monoliths, backed by palms and caressed by waters of the…
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Chamarel
Set among the vast hillside plantations of Chamarel, the rhumerie is a working distillery that doubles as a museum showcasing the rum-making process. The…
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La Digue
Perhaps the most stunning natural pool and beach combo on the planet, Anse Marron sits nestled behind Gaudíesque granite boulders at the remote southern…
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Chamarel
This eclectic place is utterly unlike anywhere else on the island. Essentially an interactive gallery of illusions and art, it has an upside-down room, a…
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Mauritius
Worth a look, Victoria 1840 is an old sugar mill that has been lovingly refurbished to house some of the works of Yvette Maniglier, a bewitching French…
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Réunion
It would be a sin to visit Les Makes and not take the forest road that leads to this viewpoint, another 10km further uphill. The view over the entire…
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Musée des Musiques et Instruments de l'Océan Indien
Réunion
A great surprise! In October 2015, the innovative Musée des Musiques et Instruments de l'Océan Indien welcomed its first visitors, showcasing hundreds of…
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Rodrigues
The Saturday market is as busy as Rodrigues gets and it's the best place on the island to shop for fresh produce and souvenirs. It's open the rest of the…
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Réunion
Réunion's most beloved museum is dedicated primarily to the sugar industry, but also provides fascinating insights into the history of the island,…
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Rodrigues
One of the loveliest cove beaches anywhere in the Indian Ocean, this isolated spot, enclosed by low cliffs, is accessible only on foot on the coastal…
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Mahé
A beautiful semi-circle of sand backed by palms and takamaka trees, Beau Vallon beach is Mahé's most popular. The swimming is excellent, but there can be…
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Mahé
The idyllic little beach of Anse Soleil is a pocket-sized paradise. You can pause here for lunch – there's a beach restaurant – but beware, you may never…
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La Digue
Nid d'Aigle, the highest point on La Digue (333m), commands sensational views out over the island, as well as out to Mahé, Praslin, Curieuse, Félicité,…
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Conseil Général de la Réunion – Direction de la Culture
Réunion
You can't miss this villa – it's one of the most elegant of St-Denis' Creole buildings, with a superb varangue (veranda), finely crafted lambrequins …
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Victoria
This gallery, in a traditional Creole wooden structure built in 1915 and restored in the 1980s, exhibits the work of George Camille, one of the Seychelles…
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Mahé
One of the most beautiful beaches on Mahé, Anse Major is only accessible on foot from Danzil – few visitors to the Seychelles make it here. The setting is…
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Mahé
The gently curving Anse Takamaka is a gorgeous strand for walking unfettered on white sand and gaping at sunsets. Facilities include Chez Batista's bar…
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Mauritius
Small, perfectly formed and lapped by waters a near-perfect shade of turquoise on a sunny day, this is the pick of the public beaches on Mauritius' east…
Flic en Flac
When you arrive at this 14-hectare nature park, you're greeted with a bewildering range of options – in addition to being a zoo (with big cats, rhinos,…
Mauritius
This half-formed grotto on the side of a cliff spouts a geyser-like fountain (up to 20m high!) when seas are rough. You'll need a bit of gumption (and a…
