the Excellent Itinerary Across the Island

This publish might comprise affilliate hyperlinks. It implies that if you happen to purchase one thing via one in every of these hyperlinks, we’d get a small fee at no additional price to you. Affiliate fee helps us maintain this journey weblog working.

Planning your journey to Mauritius and undecided the place to start out? On this itinerary for 7 days in Mauritius by automobile, I’ll share with you a number of the greatest issues to do in Mauritius. One week in Mauritius is sufficient to see a lot of the island, because it’s very small – you possibly can drive throughout Mauritius in lower than 6 hours. This itinerary will characteristic essentially the most stunning seashores in Mauritius, a pleasant hike with a surprising panoramic view and a little bit of sightseeing and a few culinary highlights.

We visited Mauritius in October and though it wasn’t highly regarded, we nonetheless loved it quite a bit. Actually, cooler climate was a lot better for sightseeing and it was completely attainable to swim through the day on most seashores! We did a full circle round Mauritius and managed to seek out the perfect seashores on the island.

Right here’s a brief overview of the 7-day itinerary for Mauritius by automobile:

Day 1: Arrival, rental automobile choose up and keep at Anantara Iko Blue Bay

Day 2: Bois Cheri Tea Manufacturing facility, Black River Gorges Hike, dinner at Château de Bel Ombre and night time at Dinarobin Beachcomber

Day 3: Morning on the seashore, Flic-en-Flac, Port Louis (lunch) and night time at Veranda Pointe Aux Biches or Beachcomber Trou Aux Biches

Day 4: Exploring Trou Aux Biches, lunch at La Plage Seaside Membership, dinner within the Gran Baie space

Day 5: Exploring Gran Baie, Le Château de Labourdonnais, Pereybere Seaside, night time at Constance Prince Maurice 

Day 6: Looking for souvenirs in a grocery store, drive and keep at C Mauritius (All-inclusive)

Day 7: Morning on the seashore, try, drive again to the airport and flight again 

Helpful hyperlinks to your journey to Mauritius:

Flights: Test costs and availability

Automobile rental: examine availability right here

Lodges: Anantara Iko, Dinarobin Beachcomber, C Mauritius

Earlier than we begin, I simply needed to reply some regularly requested questions on Mauritius: 

Mauritius FAQs:

What time of the 12 months did you go to Mauritius? What’s the perfect month to go to Mauritius?

In case you’re questioning what time of the 12 months we visited Mauritius and what’s typically the perfect month to go to Mauritius, maintain studying this part. We went to Mauritius in the beginning of October, and we felt prefer it was a bit too chilly for our liking. If we had arrived 2-3 weeks later, it will have been excellent! 

Nonetheless, everybody has completely different temperature preferences for his or her excellent vacation. Some individuals want actually scorching climate (if it’s not 33C exterior, is it even a seashore vacation?) – on this case, it’s higher to go to Mauritius in December, January and February – it’s the most popular season, and it’s going to be highly regarded and humid in Mauritius. It’s also the rain season, so that you might need a whole lot of rainfall, particularly in February. 

In case you really feel unwell when it’s scorching exterior and customarily dislike excessive temperatures, then you possibly can go to Mauritius between April and October, because it’s a lot colder there throughout these months(between Could and September, it will get fairly chilly in Mauritius, temperatures may be as little as 18-20C). 

Plenty of locals advised us that their favorite month in Mauritius is October – it’s not too scorching but, but it surely’s very sunny and really nice. Nonetheless, if you happen to like swimming in very heat water (25-27C), then you must wait till the tip of October – the start of November.

Is Mauritius protected?

We discovered Mauritius very protected. The one space that appeared a bit disagreeable was the capital, Port Louis, and naturally, not your entire capital, however just a few areas of it. Nonetheless, if you happen to’re solely staying in Mauritius for 7 days, it’s unlikely that you’ll keep in Port Louis in any respect. 

Which seashore in Mauritius is the perfect one?

In case you’re questioning what’s the perfect seashore in Mauritius, it’s very arduous to say, as it’d rely in your preferences. I’ve seen a whole lot of lists of the perfect seashores in Mauritius and having visited most of them, I can say that I in all probability disagree with half of them. 

Our favorite seashores have been Le Morne Seaside (the seashore of Paradisus Beachcomber and Dinarobin Beachcomber) and the Belle Mare seashore – e.g. the seashore of C Mauritius. 

We discovered Grand Baie a bit disappointing, though lots of people beneficial it. Nonetheless, Pereybere seashore was pretty. I’ll speak about seashores in a separate article and as soon as it’s prepared, I’ll hyperlink it right here. 

The right way to get to Mauritius?

Most individuals purchase flights to go to Mauritius and fly both from London, Vienna or Paris immediately (if you happen to’re in Europe) or have an interchange in Dubai or Istanbul. You too can fly to Mauritius from Reunion, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, India and South Africa. There is perhaps extra constitution flights arriving from numerous locations. You may examine the costs and availability of flights to Mauritius right here > 

It’s additionally attainable to go to Mauritius by boat. There are cruises that depart in Cape City and head to Europe through Mauritius however all of them take 20+ days. 

Renting a automobile in Mauritius

Mauritius has loads of automobile rental businesses and also you simply want to choose the one which fits your funds and has the automobile that you simply’d wish to hire. We normally hire automobiles via Rentalcars.com and so they have fairly a number of choices in Mauritius & you possibly can examine the costs and availability right here >

With out additional ado, let’s get began with the itinerary for every week in Mauritius in October! 

7-day itinerary for Mauritius by automobile (every week in Mauritius: greatest issues to do)

Day 1: Arrival, rental automobile choose up and keep at Anantara Iko Blue Bay

Professionals and cons of Anantara Iko

We landed round 2pm on our first day in Mauritius. Immigration and customs took a really quick time because the airport workers within the airport was very environment friendly, nonetheless, our rental automobile pick-up took some time. We rented a automobile via a neighborhood firm known as Ola and the gross sales affiliate was not there once we arrived. He ultimately arrived after quarter-hour and we may proceed with checking in and checking the automobile. 

The drive from Mauritius airport to Anantara solely look 5 minutes. Anantara Iko is the closest resort to the airport, that’s why a whole lot of crew members keep there (we’ve seen crew members and pilots from Emirates there). Anantara Iko is a really new resort, and the rooms have been very trendy and good. For my part, it’s a bit costly for what you get, however if you happen to ebook upfront, the worth is perhaps superb. You may examine the costs and availability of Anantara Iko right here > I additionally filmed a tour round Anantara Iko, and I’ll hyperlink the YouTube video beneath. 

Anantara Iko has a stunning seashore, some of the virgin and picturesque seashores on your entire island. Nonetheless, it had a black flag on the seashore, so swimming wasn’t allowed. Nonetheless, all of the resort workers advised us that it was okay to swim there. We managed to dip very quick close to the doorway, the place the water was very shallow, but it surely was fairly chilly to swim there due to the wind! 

The primary draw back of Anantara Iko was the truth that it was very windy there, and it felt fairly chilly within the evenings (we regretted not bringing a puffer jacket with us). 

Dinner in Mahebourg

For dinner, we determined to drive to a close-by city, Mahebourg, situated round quarter-hour away by automobile. Mahebourg is just not very touristy, and there isn’t a lot to see, nonetheless, we discovered a few eating places with very down-to-earth native do-it-yourself dishes and it was a stunning expertise. 

Alternatively, if you happen to don’t really feel like driving, you possibly can dine at Anantara, because it has 3 choices for eating, from a really inexpensive pool restaurant to a high-end a-la-cart restaurant (which, sadly, wasn’t nice). 

Day 2: Bois Cheri Tea Manufacturing facility, Black River Gorges Hike, dinner at Château de Bel Ombre and night time at Dinarobin Beachcomber

Visiting Bois Cheri Tea Manufacturing facility

Our second day in Mauritius was in all probability essentially the most eventful and essentially the most tiring day of the journey. We began our day early, and round 10:30 within the morning, we had already completed breakfast and checked out.

Bois Cheri Tea manufacturing facility was our first vacation spot of the day. It took us simply half-hour to achieve it. The manufacturing facility was established within the nineteenth century, nonetheless, it nonetheless produces good black tea utilizing conventional strategies. It has turn into a well-liked vacationer vacation spot for these within the tea-making course of. Guests can take a tour of the manufacturing facility, pattern numerous blends of tea, and buy souvenirs from the on-site store.

The territory of the manufacturing facility may be very spectacular – to achieve the restaurant and the store, you might want to drive via an enormous a part of the territory and, actually, it’s beautiful. You too can see a whole lot of completely different animals there, from monkeys to deer that eat the tea leaves. 

Black River Gorges Hike

After driving for 15 extra minutes, we reached Black River Gorges, Nationwide Park. 

Black River Gorges Nationwide Park is a protected space situated within the southwestern a part of Mauritius. It covers an space of over 67 sq. kilometres and is thought for its lush tropical forest, which is residence to an array of endemic plant and animal species, together with the Mauritian flying fox, pink pigeon, and kestrel. The park additionally provides mountain climbing trails that wind via the forest, providing breathtaking views of the gorges and waterfalls that give the park its identify.

There are a number of entrances with parking and bathroom services, nonetheless, as we had time restrictions and will solely spend 2-2.5 hours mountain climbing, we determined to make use of the Le Petrin entrance and hike part of the Macchabée path all the best way to the Macchabée viewpoint. The view from there was beautiful! The hike was fairly simple; it took us round 55 minutes to go up, 20 minutes to take pictures and one other 45 minutes to go all the best way again. 

Earlier than heading to our resort, Dinarobin, we determined to cease at a grocery store and purchase some meals for a fast lunch and a few snacks for the journey. Simply circa 10 minutes driving away, in Chamouny, you will discover a big grocery store known as Winner’s. 

Dinarobin Beachcomber and dinner at Château de Bel Ombre

It took us round 1.5 hours (or virtually 2 hours, together with the grocery store break) to achieve the Le Morne peninsula. On the best way, we drove through the Southern coastal street of the island. The Southern a part of Mauritius seems to be very laid-back and relaxed. It’s actually not as busy or as developed because the Northern a part of the island. 

Our resort, Dinarobin Beachcomber and its sister resort Paradis Beachcomber, the place our buddies stayed, is likely one of the most stunning lodges that we have now ever visited! It’s situated on an attractive seashore with views of the Le Morne Brabant. The rooms are a bit dated, however the whole lot else was unbelievable! Dinarobin is a bit bit extra upscale in comparison with Paradisus, because it has 6 heated swimming pools. Nonetheless, the seashore is best at Dinarobin as there are fewer rocks and the doorway to the ocean is way simpler. Dinarobin is likely one of the hottest resorts in Mauritius and will get booked out fairly early (truly, the one motive why our buddies picked Paradisus is that Dinarobin was totally booked). You may examine the supply right here >

For dinner, we drove to Bel Ombre (circa half-hour) to some of the iconic eating places in Mauritius situated in a historic Château – Château de Bel Ombre. Whereas it was very pricy and the meals wasn’t extraordinary, the place itself was beautiful, and it was positively well worth the drive, for my part!

Day 3: Morning on the seashore, Flic-en-Flac, Port Louis (lunch) and night time at Veranda Pointe Aux Biches

As we liked the seashore at Paradis & Dinarobin, we determined to remain there till 1pm. Whenever you try, you possibly can nonetheless use the services of the resort for a few hours, in order that wasn’t an issue.

Round 1:30pm, we left the resort and headed to the North of Mauritius, the place our subsequent resort was situated. For the reason that journey was over 1.5 hours, we determined to cease at Flic-en-Flac after which at Port Louis for late lunch.

Flic-en-Flac is a big seashore, which I discovered in a few lists telling about essentially the most stunning seashores in Mauritius. Nonetheless, for my part, Flic-en-Flac wasn’t spectacular in any respect – practically each seashore we noticed in Mauritius was higher than Flic-en-Flac, so I might suggest simply skipping it and persevering with straight to Port Louis for lunch.

Lunch in Port Louis

Port Louis is the capital of Mauritius; nonetheless, it’s not a really spectacular metropolis. There are a number of eating places which are value stopping by and one in every of them is Wapalam La Place. We had a really good meal there, and the costs have been rather more inexpensive than within the extra touristy areas of the island. 

Heading to the North of the island. Pointe Aux Biches

Our last cease for the third day in Mauritius was within the North of the island, in a spot known as Pointe Aux Biches. Initially, we have been hoping to remain nearer to a a lot nicer seashore, Trou Aux Biches, however lodges promote out fairly rapidly there, so there was nothing out there inside our worth vary. We booked Veranda Pointe Aux Biches for 2 nights and it had good parking and good rooms. Veranda Pointe Aux Biches is a a lot easier resort in comparison with Dinarobin; nonetheless, if you happen to’re on a tighter funds, it’s nonetheless a pleasant possibility. In case you’re reserving your vacation early sufficient, there may nonetheless be resorts nearer to Trou Aux Biches that I might suggest over Veranda, e.g. Trou Aux Biches Beachcomber or Royal Palm Beachcomber in Gran Baie! 

Day 4: Exploring Trou Aux Biches, lunch at La Plage Seaside Membership, dinner within the Gran Baie space

Exploring Trou Aux Biches

Our fourth day in Mauritius was fairly laid again. We determined to take a break from driving within the first half of the day and simply walked all the best way to Trou Aux Biches from our resort, Veranda. It was a pleasant 30-minute stroll and a lot of the stroll was on the coast. Nonetheless, the seashore between Veranda resort and Trou Aux Biches is just not developed – it’s not attainable to swim there, as the doorway to the ocean may be very rocky. Nonetheless, the views are very good there!

As soon as we reached Trou Aux Biches, we went for a stroll on the seashore – it’s truly very lengthy and clear, nonetheless, it’s not as spectacular as another seashores in Mauritius! The sand is just not as white and the water is just not as turquoise as in Blue Bay, Belle Mare and even Pereybere seashore.

For lunch, we met with our buddy, who was initially from Mauritius and was coincidentally visiting her household across the similar dates once we have been in Mauritius, so we had a stunning lunch at La Plage Seaside Membership. La Plage had a number of the greatest meals we’ve tried in Mauritius and the place was beautiful! Because it’s a well-liked seashore restaurant, I like to recommend reserving it upfront. 

We spent the remainder of the daylight on the Trou Aux Biches seashore. Whereas it’s not attainable to hire umbrellas and sunbeds, there, you possibly can truly carry your personal. For instance, we purchased this inflatable solar lounger from Amazon and it was very comfortable. 

Dinner within the Gran Baie space

For dinner, we drove to the Gran Baie space. We discovered a pleasant seafood restaurant that had score on Google known as La Kaza. It wasn’t too troublesome to seek out parking close by, nonetheless, take into account that the restaurant doesn’t have its personal parking, you might want to park within the streets close by. The meals was good and never too pricy, so general, it was a stunning place I’d suggest. 

Day 5: Le Château de Labourdonnais, Pereybere Seaside, night time at Constance Prince Maurice

Château de Labourdonnais

On our fifth day, we had our breakfast comparatively early, round 8:30am, checked out and drove to Château de Labourdonnais. It took us round half-hour to get there. Château de Labourdonnais is a museum situated in a surprising colonial-style château constructed over 150 years in the past. You could purchase a ticket to go to Château de Labourdonnais, nonetheless, the tickets are fairly inexpensive (beneath $8) and so they additionally embrace a rum tasting! We couldn’t style a lot, as Jose was driving, however they offer you very beneficiant parts of rum! 

There may be additionally a pleasant restaurant situated proper subsequent to the Château, nonetheless, we didn’t have an opportunity to go to it; therefore, I can’t say whether or not we’d suggest it or not. 

Pereybere seashore

After visiting the Château, we headed again to the Gran Baie space, this time through the daylight. We had a fast lunch in a small spot serving recent falafel after which drove for five extra minutes to the Pereybere seashore. Pereybere seashore is a really picturesque public seashore that may be very in style amongst locals. Really, it was our buddy who beneficial Pereybere seashore to us – she mentioned that it’s one in every of her favourites. We favored it quite a bit – it was very fairly, and because it was a weekday, it wasn’t too crowded! Pereybere might be in my high 3 seashores in Mauritius! 

Transferring to the following location in Mauritius

Within the afternoon, we determined that it was time to move to our subsequent resort. We truly booked Zilwa Perspective situated only a quick 20-minute drive away from Pereybere seashore, however having stayed at Zilwa, I can’t carry myself to suggest this resort to anybody. Each our buddies and we had points there which have been fully ignored by the workers, they tried to overcharge us on the checkout, and general, the angle of the workers was very dangerous (therefore the identify Zilwa Perspective, maybe? You’ll be getting fairly an angle) – so not like different resorts in Mauritius the place everybody was very pleasant and useful! 

Since we had such a foul time at Zilwa, I like to recommend reserving Constance Prince Maurice as a substitute – it’s situated a bit additional away, but it surely’s a a lot nicer resort with a nicer seashore (the seashore at Zilwa was very dangerous).

Day 6: Looking for souvenirs & staying at C Mauritius (All-inclusive)

On our 6th day in Mauritius, we wakened fairly early (as we needed to go away Zilwa as early as attainable) and began driving in the direction of our final vacation spot, Belle Mare. 

On the best way, we truly discovered a pretty big grocery store, Tremendous U, the place we purchased some souvenirs for family and friends. In case you’re questioning what you should buy there that may be thought-about a memento, effectively, these are largely edible issues akin to dried fruits, tea, rum, and jams. We actually favored black tea in Mauritius and rum was nice as effectively, so we purchased a number of small bottles of rum and a whole lot of tea.

Staying at C Mauritius 

We arrived in C Mauritius simply in time for lunch and a bit sooner than the check-in time. C Mauritius is a compact, all-inclusive resort situated on a surprising seashore (which was a bit windy however a lot hotter than Blue Bay seashore at Anantara). The rooms have been very trendy and regarded fairly new, and the resort services have been nice. There was a small spa that the friends may use freed from cost (the hammam was damaged, although) and a gymnasium with the newest tools. 

The seashore space had a whole lot of bean baggage and even a pleasant swing and regarded fairly boho. The seashore of C Mauritius was my second favorite seashore on the island after Le Morne! The one draw back was the wind – it was fairly windy there, however the water temperature was optimum for swimming in the midst of October.

What impressed us essentially the most, nonetheless, was the meals. The number of the dishes wasn’t enormous, however the high quality and uniqueness have been unmatchable. From the wonderful salad bar to the mains and sweets space, the meals choices in C Mauritius have been very spectacular! 

Day 7: Morning on the seashore, checkout & driving again to the airport  

On our final day in Mauritius, we spent the morning on the seashore and simply after the checkout, we headed in the direction of the airport, as our buddies had an earlier flight than we did. It took us simply over an hour to achieve the airport from C Mauritius. Nonetheless, even throughout this final journey in Mauritius (which meant we did a full circle across the island), Mauritius managed to impress us because the vegetation on this a part of the island was once more completely different to what we had seen earlier than, and the landscapes have been very distinctive. Total, the route was very scenic, and we seen that there’s building happening alongside the route, and the federal government is constructing a biking monitor, which is fairly wonderful!

Once we dropped out buddies on the airport, we nonetheless had a few hours to kill, so we determined to spend these hours on the Blue Bay seashore – not the seashore of Anantara, however the public one. Because it was Sunday, it was completely packed, nonetheless, we nonetheless discovered a sport for our inflatable mattress and spent a few hours there. Surprisingly, the seashore wasn’t as windy because the seashore of Anantara, in truth, it wasn’t windy in any respect! 

At round 5pm, we drove again to the airport, dropped the automobile, and it was time for us to fly again to London. 

Abstract of 7-day itinerary for Mauritius – street journey

Total, I believe that 7 days in Mauritius are sufficient to see the island. Mauritius is fairly small, so you are able to do a full circle across the island in lower than 6 hours. Nonetheless, numerous elements of the island have their distinctive vegetation and landscapes and even inhabitants and tradition. The South of Mauritius is fairly laid-back, rural and has a low-density of inhabitants. Nonetheless, it has essentially the most stunning seashores for my part (Le Morne peninsula). Gran Baie may be very busy and dense. Belle Mare doesn’t have a dense inhabitants, but it surely’s an space with a whole lot of upscale resorts and a number of the most stunning seashores. 

In case you assume that this itinerary is a bit too intense and also you would favor to drive much less and loosen up a bit extra, I like to recommend staying 2-3 nights at Le Morne, 2 nights across the Gran Baie and a pair of nights in Belle Mare! 

Ought to you’ve gotten any questions, be happy to drop me a message on Instagram, you will discover me as @lizatripsget

Listed here are another articles that you simply may like:

1 week in Seychelles on a funds

The final word information to Seychelles 

The information to Cancun and Riviera Maya

Itinerary for Tulum

Sardinia, Italy – the place with the perfect seashores in Europe