Overview
** REUNION ISLAND (FRENCH) **
Read travel tips for Reunion Island from our amazing community of BLACK AND BROWN TRAVELERS that will help you find some of the best places to visit in Reunion Island.Our variety of travel tips will definitely help you plan your next trip. Our tips range from best places to visit in Reunion Island, affordability, nightlife, local food, where to stay and even what it is like Traveling While Black. Lastly, we are working diligently to create a comprehensive city guide for Reunion Island. Stay tuned! But in the meantime, scroll down to read tips below!
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I’m just back from 4 weeks holidays in Reunion Island and it was absolutely FANTASTIC !
Reuion Island is a French Island and as a French guy I was really curious to visit it and you can find everything you need there : if you love beach you can swim in the western lagoon, if you like hiking you can hiking on the whole volcanic island, if you like culture you can visit many museum about the Island history, slavery, fruits, volcano and so on..
Reunion Island is especially known for its hikes, and people all around the world come there to enjoy it. You even have a really well know race “Grand Raid” with many different hiking race competition and the “Diagonale des fous” is the hardest and craziest one !
What I prefered in Reunion Island :
-The western lagoon (St Gilles beach, Ermitage beach, Saline beach are the best beaches of the island)
-The volcano : Piton de la Fournaise is an active volcano with numerous eruption a year ! We can hike until the top of it (on my insta @jeyjey1904)
-The historical side of this multicultural island : you have indians, chinese, black, white, arabs..and every one is living there together with no major problems
-The FOOD : the food is soooo yummy !!
As a black Traveler you couldn’t feel more welcome in this place as most of them are mixed !
I definitely recommand to visit this place and you can combine with Mauricius or Madagascar just close to Reunion Island.
Jey
My wife and I have visited this beautiful island during the summer 2017, this little French island lost in the middle of the Indian ocean (close to Mauritius Island = 45 min by plane, and Madagascar 1h15 by plane) is just amazing and full of things to do.
If you are a beach lover : you will find the greatest playas of the island in the west coast (10km of white sand beaches between Saint Gilles les Bains and Salines les bains). Of course you will find some restaurants, ice cream seller AND bars where you have to try a mojito (with a lot of rum) or a “ti punch” (lime, brown sugar and one more time a LOT of rum).
If (like me) you are more a jungle explorer you will be excited to discover tropical jungles, mountain hikes, volcano hikes or just refresh yourself during a hot day in a cold water pool along a river. During your hikes don’t be surprised to see people or families preparing a bbq for lunch. You will probably see a lot of “food” meeting during your trip and especially on sunday afternoon at the beach. People love to eat good food, share stories, drinks (especially rum) and if you are nice and cool I am pretty much sure you will be quickly a part of the family and able to eat and drink with everybody.
So guys this travel destination worth it 100 times. You can find flight connexions from South Africa (Johannesburg), Mauritius Island, Mayotte (another French island), Mozambique and of course France (Paris and Marseille).
My husband and I had the privilege to visit this amazing country this summer. Almost unnoticeable on the map but yet full of great surprises (Active Volcanos, white sand beaches, black sand beaches, yellow sand beaches, impressive mountains etc.. ).
There is so much to do if you are an active person (biking, hiking, swimming, surfing, volcano hiking, helicopter ride et.) You literally have an amazing view wherever you go as the main cities are on the coast. The center of the island is very mountainous ; There are 3 villages in the mountains that are called ”cirques” also worth a visit) !
The residents speak French as the country is colonized by France. In the touristic zones, some merchants would speak English. As a black Traveler you couldn’t feel more welcome in this paradise as most of them are mixed ! They are so open minded, as it is part of their history. You barely see pure White-Black-Asian-Indian-Arab people as it is a mix of all those cultures. They also speak Reunion Creole, which is a French deformation initially created by Slaves.
The Food was not impressive from my point of view but it depends on your taste of course and the restaurants you go to. It is also very mixed just like the people, they can serve you Chinese dumplings along with Carry and rice and hot sauce in the same meal. You can also find other conservative restaurants in the touristic towns if you don’t want to eat local.
The currency is Euro, so depending of where you’re travelling from, the change rate can be quite high. We are Canadian so, it was a bit expensive for us but it shouldn’t be too bad from US $
The beaches are simply beautiful ! I almost cried when I watched the Sunset at the Black Sand Beach. I mean… if you are a romantic you will be served! You have to be careful where you swim as there are sharks in the Indian Ocean. It is clearly noted the lagoons where it is safe to go.
We didn’t really try the nightlife because when you are surrounded by such and incredible landscape, you just want to stay outside and try to capture the moment in your head forever.
I could go on and on and on but bottom line is, it is worth the 11h trip (From France). Plus The Mauritius Island is 45 mins away (by plane) You can easily go and visit this other treasure which also has a lot to offer.