Mauritius beyond the beaches: towns, markets and heritage

People come to Mauritius for the lagoon, and rightly so. But after three or four days on the beach, most of my guests want to see something else — and those are often the days they bring up afterwards.

Here is what I suggest when someone tells me they want to step outside the postcard.

The highland towns

Curepipe and Quatre Bornes sit five hundred metres up, in the middle of the island. It is cooler, it rains more often, and there is not a tourist in sight. This is everyday Mauritius: the markets, the fabric shops, the roadside eateries.

Shopping day: Curepipe, Quatre Bornes & Bagatelle, from 95 €. The Quatre Bornes market for textiles, the Curepipe shops for cashmere and model ships, and the Bagatelle mall for everything else.

This is the day I recommend when it rains — and it rains more often in the centre, which is precisely when to go, since you spend most of it indoors.

The Trou aux Cerfs crater at Curepipe is on the way. Twenty minutes to walk around, and on a clear day you see a good part of the island.

The capital

Port Louis is like nothing else on the island. It is loud, dense, and nothing like a postcard: that is exactly the point.

Port Louis & Trou aux Cerfs crater — city tour, from 34 €. The cheapest thing in my catalogue. The Citadel above the harbour, the central market, Chinatown, the Caudan Waterfront.

Two things to know: the city is shut on Sundays, and the central market is liveliest on Saturday morning — and most crowded.

If you want to combine it with the Pamplemousses garden, see which northern day tour to choose.

The option for those who want to see it all

There is one special case in my catalogue: three excursion days + your airport transfers, from 50 €.

It is not an excursion but a package: three full days spread across your stay, plus the airport run both ways. The days are chosen by weekday — Port Louis and Pamplemousses on Tuesday or Thursday, Ile aux Cerfs on Wednesday or Sunday, Curepipe and Chamarel on Monday or Friday.

It is the most economical way to see the island without renting a car. Send me your flight times and I will arrange it so there is no dead time.

Heritage, elsewhere on the island

Two days are worth the detour if history interests you:

• Mahebourg, Rault biscuit factory & Ile aux Aigrettes — a cassava biscuit factory unchanged since 1870, and a reserve where the giant tortoise and the pink pigeon have been reintroduced. I cover it in my guide to the south-east.
• The Tea Route — Bois Cheri & Saint Aubin — the highland plantations and an eighteenth-century colonial house. See the southern excursions.

Do you need a car for this?

Not necessarily. All these trips collect you at your hotel. But if you want to stop where you please and come back when you like, a car changes everything — I have written a guide on renting a car in Mauritius, driving on the left included.

And for the overall cost of a stay, there is what budget for a trip to Mauritius.