Reunion Island: Tickets and How to Visit
Reunion Island is a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean, not part of Mauritius, not a country of its own, currency is the euro, and it packs one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, a roadless cirque reachable only by foot or helicopter, and the highest point in the Indian Ocean into roughly 2,512 square kilometers. Here’s every sight ranked by how much of your trip it deserves, with what it actually costs and how you get there. Want a day-by-day plan instead? The 7-day itinerary strings all of it together, or start smaller with the 2-day version .
Key facts: currency EUR (Eurozone, outside Schengen and EU VAT) | best months May-November (dry season) | car rental essential, roughly EUR 20-25/day low season | entry point Roland Garros Airport (RUN) near Saint-Denis | book the mountain refuge and any helicopter flight weeks ahead.
Piton de la Fournaise: the volcano that’s actually erupting
This is the island’s headline sight and it earns that spot honestly. One of the most active volcanoes on Earth, it erupted across three phases into 12 April 2026, and the OVPF’s daily bulletin had it back at the baseline “Vigilance” alert level as of its most recent update, with marked trails from Pas de Bellecombe reopened. That status flips with every new alert, so check it the night before you drive out, not the week before.
- Price: national park entry free; the Cité du Volcan museum is EUR 9 adult, EUR 6 child (4-12), plus EUR 2 for the 4D cinema and EUR 2 for an audioguide
- Hours: museum Tuesday-Sunday 9:30-17:00, last entry 16:15
- Booking: a guided caldera hike or day tour runs roughly EUR 50-100pp; check the en.reunion.fr listing for the self-guided trail first
- Time needed: half a day for the museum and rim viewpoints, a full 10 hours for the complete Enclos Fouqué round trip
- Tip: the drive alone runs 1.5-2.5 hours depending on where you start, so this is never a quick stop
Cirque de Mafate: the cirque with no road
Mafate is the one place on this island a rental car can never reach, no road has ever been built into it, and none will be. Around 800 residents live scattered across hamlets like La Nouvelle, Marla, and Roche-Plate, reachable only on foot between gites over 2-4 days or by helicopter. The Maido viewpoint (2,190m, about an hour’s drive up from the coast) gives the free, no-hike look down into it, best before roughly 8am before cloud rolls in.
- Price: Maido viewpoint free; a helicopter overflight roughly EUR 195-380pp depending on operator and circuit length
- Booking: Corail Hélicoptères and Hélilagon both fly 45-55 minute circuits over Mafate, the volcano, and the Trou de Fer waterfall; book a flight here
- Time needed: 45-55 minutes by air, 2-4 days on foot
- Tip: flights go early, when the air is calmest and the light is best over the cirque
Piton des Neiges: the Indian Ocean’s highest point
At 3,070m, this is the highest point in the Indian Ocean and an extinct volcanic massif entirely separate from the still-active Fournaise, don’t conflate the two. The standard route is a 2-day ascent from Cilaos, overnighting at the Gîte de la Caverne Dufour (2,478m) for a pre-dawn summit push and sunrise over all three cirques.
- Price: about EUR 20/night for the bunk, EUR 27 dinner, EUR 7 breakfast, cash only
- Booking: by phone, 48 hours ahead for meals, not through a standard hotel site
- Time needed: 2 days, roughly 8h41 one way with 1,736m of elevation gain to the gite alone
- Tip: pack warm, waterproof layers regardless of how tropical the coast feels; it sits above 2,000m
Cirque de Cilaos: spa, wine, and the easiest cirque to reach
Cilaos is the cirque that rewards even a short visit: 19th-century thermal baths, Reunion’s only wine region (Chenin, Pinot Noir, Malbec), and the small pale lentils grown at Ilet a Cordes, celebrated at an October festival. It’s inside the Parc national de La Réunion , reached by one mountain road with more than 400 numbered hairpin bends.
Cirque de Salazie and Hell-Bourg
The lushest, wettest cirque, its single road ending at Hell-Bourg, one of France’s officially listed “Plus Beaux Villages.” Carved wooden lambrequins decorate the Creole houses, and the Voile de la Mariée waterfall drops in tiers just outside town, visible from the road without a hike.
Saint-Gilles lagoon: the one place you actually swim
The reef-protected lagoon off Saint-Gilles-les-Bains and L’Ermitage sits inside the Reunion Marine Nature Reserve, water a steady 24-27C year round. It’s also the one stretch of the west coast the swim-and-surf ban, in force since a real 2013 shark-attack cluster, never touched. Swim and snorkel here, and treat the open ocean beyond the reef as scenery, not a pool, no matter how calm it looks.
| Sight | Area | Why go | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piton de la Fournaise | South-east | Active volcano, caldera hike | Drive to Pas de Bellecombe (1.5-2.5h), check live status |
| Cirque de Mafate | Interior | Roadless cirque, iconic view | Helicopter or 2-4 day trek only |
| Piton des Neiges | Interior | Indian Ocean’s highest point | 2-day hike from Cilaos, gite overnight |
| Cirque de Cilaos | Interior | Spa town, wine, lentils | One hairpin road in, ~1h15-2h |
| Salazie/Hell-Bourg | Interior | Waterfall, Creole village | One road, ends at Hell-Bourg |
| Saint-Gilles lagoon | West coast | The safe, protected swim spot | 35-40 min from Saint-Denis |
Is Reunion Island part of Mauritius?
No. Reunion is a French overseas department and Mauritius is a separate, independent nation roughly 175km away; Reunion stayed French while Mauritius became British in 1810 and independent in 1968. Both are Mascarene Islands with a shared French colonial layer, which is why the mix-up happens, but they’ve had no administrative link for over two centuries.
Is it safe to swim on Reunion Island?
Only inside the marked, protected lagoons: Saint-Gilles, L’Ermitage, Saint-Leu, and Boucan Canot. Most of the open west-coast ocean has been under a genuine, state-enforced swimming and surfing ban since 2013, following a documented shark-attack cluster, so treat any unprotected beach as scenery rather than a swimming option, however inviting it looks.
What currency does Reunion Island use, and do I need a visa?
The euro. Reunion is French territory and part of the Eurozone, though it sits outside Schengen and the EU VAT area, a real nuance for anyone tracking duty-free limits. EU citizens need no visa; check French entry rules for your own nationality before booking, since requirements vary.
Rent your car through Discover Cars at Roland Garros the moment your dates are set; every sight on this list, except Mafate itself, sits behind one specific road that only a car reliably covers.