2 Days in Reunion: The First-Timer Itinerary
Two days on Reunion Island is not a whole-island trip, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. The honest, high-value version: base on the west coast, swim the one lagoon that is actually safe, then drive up into Cilaos, the cirque you can reach and return from in a single loop. Skip the volcano and Piton des Neiges this time, they both deserve a full day each, minimum, and you don’t have it.
Getting around Reunion in 2 days
Rent a car the moment you land at Roland Garros. This is French soil (drive on the right), the roads are good, and the island’s interior is a genuine volcanic massif split into zones that each need their own approach road. Car Jaune buses exist (about EUR 2 a single ride, EUR 6 for a day pass) but they will not get you into a cirque and back out on a tight schedule. Check rates on Discover Cars before you land, prices roughly double between June’s low season and the October peak.
Route summary: Saint-Denis to the Saint-Gilles lagoon (about 35-40 minutes), then up to Cilaos (roughly 1h15-2h depending on where you start) via a mountain road with more than 400 numbered hairpin bends. See the 3-day version if you can add the volcano, or the full 7-day loop for the whole island. The places rundown ranks every sight this itinerary has to skip.
Book these before you go:
- A room near the lagoon: check Saint-Gilles-les-Bains hotels
- A cirque bed for night two: search Cilaos stays
- Your rental car: Discover Cars at Roland Garros
Day 1: Saint-Denis arrival and the Saint-Gilles lagoon
Land at Roland Garros (RUN, named for the aviator, not the tennis stadium) and pick up your car straightaway. Give Saint-Denis an hour: Le Barachois waterfront still has its old cannons facing the sea, and the Creole mansions along Rue de Paris near the Jardin de l’État, both listed on the official tourism site , are free to admire from outside. Then drive the 35-40 minutes to Saint-Gilles-les-Bains.
This is the one stretch of coast where you should actually get in the water. Since 2013, swimming and surfing have been banned on most of the open west-coast ocean after a serious shark-attack cluster, a real, state-enforced rule, not internet scare talk. The protected lagoon at Saint-Gilles and L’Ermitage, inside the Reunion Marine Nature Reserve, is the exception: calm, reef-sheltered, 24-27C year round, and where everyone actually swims. Snorkel it in the afternoon, then eat Creole at a table near the water.
Day 2: Cilaos, the drivable cirque
Leave early. The road into Cilaos switches back on itself more than 400 times through the mountains, a genuinely thrilling drive if you like that sort of thing, genuinely slow if you don’t. Budget the better part of a morning just to arrive. Cilaos sits inside the zone managed by the Parc national de La Réunion ; check trail and road status there if a cyclone or storm is anywhere near the forecast. Once in town, walk it, try the small pale lentils grown at Ilet a Cordes, and taste the Chenin or Pinot Noir from Reunion’s only wine region. The Thermes de Cilaos has been treating visitors since the 19th century, worth an hour if you want it.
Drive back down in the afternoon for your flight out, or stay a second night in Cilaos and head to the airport in the morning; both work inside a 2-day frame. Either way, check Météo-France Réunion before committing to the hairpin road: mountain weather turns fast up there.
| Day | Focus | Drive/hike time |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Saint-Denis + Saint-Gilles lagoon | ~35-40 min drive |
| Day 2 | Cilaos cirque (day trip or overnight) | ~1h15-2h each way |
Is 2 days enough for Reunion Island?
No, and any 2-day plan that also tries to fit the volcano or Piton des Neiges will leave you driving more than you experience. Two days is enough for one coastal base plus one cirque done properly. Treat this as a taster, not a survey, and come back for the mountains.
Can you swim anywhere besides the lagoon?
Not safely. The west-coast shark ban has held since 2013 and covers the open ocean outside marked zones; Saint-Gilles, L’Ermitage, Saint-Leu, and Boucan Canot lagoons are the exceptions where locals and tourists genuinely swim. Everywhere else on that coast, treat the water as scenery, not a pool, regardless of how calm it looks.
Book your cirque bed and your rental car before you land: Cilaos rooms and the June-to-October price swing both move fast, and a car is not optional on this island.