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Your Travel Guide

Reunion Island

Find out more about Reunion Island in a few words and a map You have decided to visit Reunion, but you have very little time to plan your trip. This page will give you some of the practical details you will need.

In a very small space, Reunion has most of the types of landscape existing on our planet : lush green mountains, circular mountain amphitheatres, waterfalls, forests, high plateaux, sandy deserts, canyons and a volcano.
To enable you to explore them, the island has over 1000 kilometres of footpaths for walking, hiking and trekking , all in a very good condition. In addition, there is an incredible variety of sports you can practise.
The 24th districts and the population of the island (780,000 inhabitants), of extraordinarily diverse origins, will give you a warm welcome, and all types of accommodation and catering are available : from the mountain cabin to the four-star hotel , from the roadside snack-bar to the luxury restaurant .
Finally, there is a rich and dynamic range of musical and cultural events : concerts, botanical gardens, creole estates or exhibitions.

Reunion Island offers a rich diversity of things to do : it's impossible to be bored here. Our role is to give you a professional selection of reliable information on this wonderful island. It's up to you to choose from then on.

Choosing the best time to come

 

For those who have not yet realised : the seasons in Reunion are the other way round to Europe. You'll need to pack accordingly.

Winter (May to October)
This is the dry cool season. Don't forget to pack a jumper! In the mountains, temperatures can be low, particularly in the evening and at night. You will need a jumper, a jacket and even an anorak.

Summer (November to April)
The hot wet season. The cyclone season starts officially on 15th November, but the information services giving weather forecasts and precautions to be taken are very efficient. The weather can change very quickly : one minute it's raining, the next it is sunny. One thing you can be sure of : it will be hot!

 

School holidays in Reunion Island for 2008/2009 Start of the new school year: 19 August 2008 Autumn Holidays: 11 to 27 October 2008 Christmas Holidays - Summer Holidays: 19 December 2008 to 26 January 2009 Spring Holidays: 07 to 23 March 2009 May Holidays: 07 to 18 May 2009 Winter Holidays: 04 July 2009

Booking a flight from Paris

Looking for the cheapest flights? Some information and advice : Regular flights (Air France, Corsair, Air Austral) There will be several tariffs for the same flight. The cheapest seats are, of course, those booked first. So, to get the best deal, pay for your ticket as early as possible. This particularly applies to the holiday periods (the dates of the holidays in Reunion are not the same as those in mainland France). If there are any seats left, there are companies that offer them at the last minute for a very low price, but for very specific dates and in general for short-stay holidays. Multi-destination flights (for example Reunion-Mauritius) If you are looking for a flight that is not simply a return to and from the same airport, for example : you'd like to land at one airport and take off from somewhere else, with possibly local flights in-between. The website Opodo is without doubt the most efficient for this kind of information. Once you've found the Opodo website, click onto 'flights' ('vols') and then select 'multi-destinations'. For the moment there is no 'low-cost' air-company you can fly to Reunion with : they have all closed down one after the other. The latest Air Horizons only survived three weeks !

If you are travelling by air : what you need to know to have a trouble-free flight! - Have you chosen to fly with an authorised company? - What are your rights in the event of over-booking? - What are the objects you may not pack in your hand-luggage? Flying is the safest way to travel. But for this, as for many other things, there are preconceived ideas and rumours : > Authorised/unauthorised air-companies > What are the articles you may not take on board (in the cabin) ? > What are your rights in the event of delay, cancellation or over-booking ?

Booking a hotel-room, a mountain lodge, a self-catering flat

• Hotels
• Mountains lodges and hostels
• Bed and breakfast
• Self-catering flats
• Youth hostels
• Campings
  

Renting a car, motorbike or bicycle

Look up renting cars and motorbikes in our directory.

What to do and what to see

1. The musts : not to be missed!

Discover the island's 24 local councils and the wealth of activities in each area

The local councils presented by Runweb.com

 

A few addresses and websites

Mountain Information Bureau and Information on Mountain Lodges
Address : Rue Rotaunay 97400 Saint Denis
Open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4pm, Saturday 9am to 12
Tel : 0262 90 78 78
Fax : 0262 41 84 29

Tourist Bureau of Cilaos
Address : 2 Rue Mac Auliffe - 97413 Cilaos
Tel n : 0262 31 71 71
Fax : 0262 31 78 78

Tourist Bureau of Salazie
Hellbourg Crafts Centre
Address : 47 Rue de General de Gaulle - 97433 Salazie
Tel : 0262 47 89 89
Fax : 0262 47 89 70