5 Days in Reunion: The First-Timer Itinerary
Five days is the sweet spot for a first Reunion Island trip that actually closes the loop: the lagoon, both drivable cirques, and an active volcano, with a genuine spare day at the end instead of a dash to the airport. This is not the trip that summits Piton des Neiges or flies a helicopter over Mafate, those need 6 and 7 days respectively, but it is the shortest version that sees all four zones of the island properly.
Getting around Reunion in 5 days
One rental car, picked up at Roland Garros and kept the whole trip, is what makes this loop work; the coast, each cirque, and the volcano all sit behind their own single approach road. Book through Discover Cars ahead of July-August, December-January, or the mid-October Grand Raid week, when island-wide rental rates roughly double.
Route summary: Saint-Denis to Saint-Gilles (35-40 min), Cilaos (1h15-2h) via 400-plus hairpins, the volcano at Pas de Bellecombe (2-2.5h), north to Salazie and Hell-Bourg, then a wild-south return loop back to the coast. Only have 4 days? See the 4-day version . Ready to add the Piton des Neiges summit hike, take the 6-day itinerary , or go all in with the 7-day loop , which adds a helicopter flight on top. The places page ranks every sight in one table.
Book these before you go:
- Lagoon-side rooms: Saint-Gilles-les-Bains hotels
- A night in Cilaos: search Cilaos stays
- A guided caldera hike: Piton de la Fournaise volcano tour
- Your rental car: Discover Cars at Roland Garros
Day 1: Saint-Denis and the Saint-Gilles lagoon
Land at Roland Garros, pick up the car, and spend an hour at Le Barachois and the Rue de Paris mansions, both on the official tourism site , before driving 35-40 minutes to Saint-Gilles-les-Bains. Swim and snorkel the protected lagoon here; it’s the one part of the west coast never touched by the swim/surf ban that has covered the open water since a genuine 2013 shark-attack cluster.
Day 2: Cilaos, up the 400 bends
More than 400 numbered hairpins climb into a real spa town: 19th-century thermal baths, Reunion’s only wine (Chenin, Pinot Noir, Malbec), and the small pale lentils grown at Ilet a Cordes. Cilaos sits inside the Parc national de La Réunion ; check its bulletin before any side hike. Overnight here.
Day 3: Piton de la Fournaise, the active volcano
Drive 2-2.5 hours to Pas de Bellecombe (2,311m). This volcano erupted into 12 April 2026 and had settled back to the baseline “Vigilance” alert level by the OVPF’s most recent bulletin , reopening the marked caldera trails, verify the live status the night before you drive out. Hike toward the crater rim across the Enclos Fouqué (about 4 hours one way), or visit the Cité du Volcan museum (EUR 9 adult, EUR 6 child) if access is limited.
Day 4: Salazie and Hell-Bourg
North to the Salazie cirque, where the road ends at Hell-Bourg, one of France’s officially recognized “Plus Beaux Villages.” Walk the Creole streets with their carved wooden lambrequins, see the Voile de la Mariée waterfall just outside town, and eat lunch before heading back toward the coast.
Day 5: The wild south and a spare lagoon day
Loop back via Saint-Philippe and Sainte-Rose, the wetter, greener, far-less-touristed side of the island, where historic Grand Brûlé lava flows have reached the ocean. It’s a genuine contrast to the west coast’s postcard beaches, worth naming as its own zone rather than a drive-through. Then head back to Saint-Gilles for a second, unhurried lagoon afternoon before your flight out; a full trip with a buffer day beats one where every hour is scheduled.
| Day | Focus | Drive/hike time |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Saint-Denis + Saint-Gilles lagoon | ~35-40 min drive |
| Day 2 | Cilaos cirque, overnight | ~1h15-2h drive |
| Day 3 | Piton de la Fournaise volcano | ~2-2.5h drive, 4h+ hike |
| Day 4 | Salazie + Hell-Bourg | ~2-3h drive |
| Day 5 | Wild south + return, spare lagoon day | ~2-3h drive |
Is 5 days enough to see the whole island?
Enough to see all four zones, coast, Cilaos, the volcano, Salazie, properly, yes. Enough to also summit Piton des Neiges or fly over Mafate, no. Treat 5 days as the complete “greatest hits” loop and save the multi-day mountain add-ons for a 6- or 7-day version of this same trip.
Why build in a spare day instead of adding a fifth sight?
Because mountain weather and the volcano’s alert status both change without notice on this island, and a buffer day absorbs a rained-out hike or a closed trail without wrecking the rest of the trip. Reunion punishes itineraries with zero slack more than most destinations.
Keep the same rental car for all five days rather than swapping vehicles partway through; every zone change on this loop drops back to the coastal ring road first, so a reliable car matters more than a cheap one.