Reunion

Join the Hipporoller Challenge

Help the Travel Guide reach 20,000,000 characters and we'll donate 63 hipporollers worth over $6000. Read more.

Quick Facts

[edit]

Capital

Saint-Denis

Population

755,000

Government

Overseas Department of France

Religions

Christianity (Catholic), Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism

Languages

French, Creole

Calling Code

+262

Nationality

Réunionese

Local name

Ile de la Reunion

Contributors

• Utrecht (72%)
  from http://utrecht.travellerspoint.com
• Peter (27%)
  from My Shout

as well as dr.pepper (1%)

Help contribute to this article to share the ad revenue.

Introduction

Cirque de Mafate

© All Rights Reserved el.moe

Unlike the Seychelles and Mauritius, its two Indian Ocean neighbours, Reunion's main attraction is not its beaches. True, St-Gilles-Les-Bains is packed up with bathers and bakers during holiday periods and it is a mighty fine beach, but if beaches are what you want, you'd be better off in either of Reunion's neighbours. That said, Reunion's volcanic origins grant it an extraordinarily beautiful landscape, one characterised by high peaks, deep canyons and plains. Trekking is the most obvious activity and is perhaps also the most rewarding: whether you're gazing up at proud volcanic peaks, or staring down from those same peaks, you're in for fantastic scenery. The towns are adorned with colonial architecture and are excellent starting points for inland adventures.

Reunion is unfortunately an extremely expensive destination, one which is more or less off-limits to the budget traveller.

Brief History

Geography

Regions/Arrondissements

Réunion is made up of 4 arrondissements.

• Arrondissement of Saint-Denis
• Arrondissement of Saint-Pierre
• Arrondissement of Saint-Benoît
• Arrondissement of Saint-Paul==

Cities

• Saint-Denis, the capital of Reunion
• Saint-Gilles
• Saint-Leu
• Saint-Pierre
• Etang-Salé
• Saint-Benoit

Sights and Activities

Les Cirques

The Cirques (mountain basins) of Reunion are a fine exemple of geology with three huge excavations a dozen kilometres in diameter, bounded by vertical almost unclimbable walls. For example there is the Cirque de Salazie, which can accessed by road on the northeast coast. The vegetation here is extremely lush and waterfalls tumble down the mountains and in some plaes even over the road. Salazie is the wettest of the three cirques that Reunion has and has even holds several world records for rainfall including the records for most rainfall in one hour and one day!
Cirque de Cilaos is almost equally as beautiful but less lush and less popular and Cirque de Mafate is the third one and has some great viewpoints.

The Plains

Located in the east of the islands are the plains, with heigh moutains and volcanoes. The Plaine-des-Cafres and the desert volcano country with the Plaine-des-Palmistes are the most impressive. There even is Volcano Road and there are several hiking trails to Piton-des-Neiges and Cilaos. The most fantastic viewpoint is at Plaine-des-Sables which is a vast extent of red and black colours and resembles almost a lunar landscape. You can climb back up to some old craters and enjoy a even greater view from the balcony which is 300m high. From here you can see the almost perfect cone of the Fournaise, at a hight of 2631 metres above sea level. It last erupted in 1998 which was great for the visitors being there at the moment watching without danger. There is some great hiking in this region but with a car you can also come pretty close to the great interior of Reunion.

Beaches

Although Reunion probably is one of the worst beach destinations in the Indian Ocean and is beaten by far by neighbours like Mauritius, the Maldives and the Seychelles, there are some fine beaches where you can rest after some activities like hiking in the mountains. The southern and southeastern coasts are probably the best but all around the island you may find some small hidden gems. Don't expect the palm fringed white beaches though, but that only means it can be a lot less crowded as well. Saint Paul is one of the examples, closest to the capital Saint Denis.

Other sights and activities

• Domain du Grand Hazier - monumental gardens
• Le Maïdo - another great viewpoint at 2200 meters asl

Events and Festivals

Weather

Reunion has a tropical oceanic climate with moderately high temperatures and humidity throughout the year.
Temperatures average between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius during the day, warmest being November to April, coolest between June and September. Nights are around 23 degrees in summer, 18 in wintermonths.
Rain occurs in all months but the wettest period is from December to April. During these months tropical cyclones occasionally strike the island or pass near enough to give very heavy rainfall and violent damaging winds.
Higher in the moutainous inland of Reunion, rainfall is extremely high and intense. The world record for most rainfall within one minute (38 mm!) is measured on Reunion.

Getting there

Plane

Air Austral is the main airline of Reunion, based at Roland Garros Airport (RUN) near the capital Saint-Denis. International flights include Antananarivo, Bangkok, Johannesburg, Lyon, Mahé, Marseille, Mauritius, Moroni, Nosy Be, Paris and Toulouse. Air France, Air Madagascar, Air Mauritius and Corsairfly have scheduled services to the island as well.
From Mauritius you can also fly to Pierrefonds airport near St. Pierre in the south of Reunion.

By Boat

The Marion Dufresne travels to the islans of Kerguelen, Crozet, Saint Paul and Amsterdam 4 times a year from Reunion. A limited amount of travellers is able to go on this trip which lasts about a month.
It's also possible to travel from Mauritius to Reunion by the ferry 'Mauritius Pride'. The overnight journey takes around 12 hours.
There are regular boat services from Mauritius and Reunion to Toamasina in Madagascar on the east coast. It departs approximately once every two weeks.
Other than that, you need to be lucky enough to get a ride on a cargo ship or yacht to surrounding countries and islands.

Getting Around

By Plane

There are no passenger services, but a plane ride over the island and see the island from above is well worth the money.

By Train

There are no trains on Reunion.

By Car

Renting a car is a great way to explore Reunion at your own pace and roads are mostly paved and in a good condition. You can rent cars at the airport or in the capital Saint Denis from many international and local companies. Rates are very competitive and cars are usually of the French kind of course. Traffic drives on the right and a national driver's licence is sufficient. Traffic can be heavy in and around Saint Denis and some stretches along the coast.

By Bus

Buses can take you almost anywhere on the island, but services are less frequent during the evenings and to more remote smaller towns. Otherwise, frequent, fast and comfortable buses (Car Jaune, meaning Yellow Bus) drive around the island and there are about a dozen lines to choose from. Most buses leave hourly from 6am to 6pm. The main lines include St-Denis to St-Pierre, St-Denis to St-Bênoit, St-Pierre to St-Bênoit, St-André to Salazie and St-Pierre to the Cirque de Cilaos going inland.

By Boat

Your boat trips will mostly be of the organised type to go out snorkelling, diving or fishing.

Red Tape

Same requirements as for France, although a Schengen Visa is not valid here of course.

Money

See also Money Matters

As an overseas department of France, Reunion has adopted the Euro (ISO code: EUR, symbol: €) as its official currency. One Euro is divided into 100 cents, which is sometimes referred to as eurocents, especially when distinguishing them with the US cents.

Euro banknotes come in denominations of €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200, €500. The highest three denominations are rarely used in everyday transactions. All Euro banknotes have a common design for each denomination on both sides throughout the Eurozone.

The Euro coins are 1 cent, 2 cents, 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, €1 and €2. Some countries in the Eurozone have law which requires cash transactions to be rounded to the nearest 5 cents. All Euro coins have a common design on the denomination (value) side, while the opposite side may have a different image from one country to another. Although the image side may be different, all Euro coins remain legal tender throughout the Eurozone.

Work

Study

Language

Eat

Sleep

Drink

Health

See also Travel Health

Safety

See also Travel Safety

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post