Réunion Holidays

What can you find on Reunion Island that you won't find anywhere else?

There's a little appreciated travel fact that we at Original Travel are trying hard to overcome - Brits tend to travel in former British colonies, while French and Spanish tend towards their former dominions. Not surprising, really, given common languages and the fact that there are far more direct flights between post-colonial chums. What it does mean, however, is that some seriously spectacular destinations often slip under the radar for the British traveller. A classic example of this is the delicious island of Réunion, a former French colony.

As mentioned earlier, if you're keen to do some walking while on holiday in Réunion, a particular favourite route of ours takes in Cilaos, a beautiful village that is only accessible on foot. The town is taken from the Malagasay phrase for 'the place one never wants to leave', a sentiment first employed by runaway slaves who thought they were safe from recapture in such a remote spot. Unfortunately for them that proved not to be the case, as they were recaptured soon afterwards. The village later became a spa retreat, and is one of several isolated and extremely atmospheric communities hidden away in the interior that are well worth exploration. And there are plenty of ways to explore the surroundings, be that by helicopter, paraglider, canyoning or on horseback.

Coastal activities on offer include snorkelling, diving (which is far better here than off Mauritius) and surfing, or just lounging about on one of the beaches (some black sand) that encircle the island. The food on the island, as you'd expect from a French prefecture, is uniformly excellent from the hotel croissants to some excellent restaurants serving creole cuisine.

All in all Réunion is a perfect little holiday destination in its own right, or even better as a perfectly dovetailing combination with neighbouring Mauritius, just half an hour away by plane and a more indolent destination.