Itinerary & Budget (Mauritius)

This post is a guide to a sample itinerary and budget for Mauritius. Mauritius is a small island. A week is enough to cover the main attractions here. You can stay at one place and explore everything in a day trip by a car. But to really explore Mauritius and catch the true essence you need to spend at least 10 days. There are so many waterfalls, treks, beaches, parks, monuments and adventure activities that you need time at hand if you want to experience everything. The place is a natural beauty and you would not want to rush yourself. It demands a laid back travel itinerary which takes time in exploring every place and learning the history. Just like the general vibes of Mauritius.

Ours was an 18 day itinerary, including onward and return flight days, in which we covered every part of Mauritius in detail. The main purpose of our long trip was to not want visit Mauritius twice as it is costly for a budget traveller. Our plan was to stick to local food, stay and transportation which added to the long itinerary. Maybe that is the reason not many people travel to this beauty. Regardless, we missed some places due to bad weather. Still due to anti-cyclones that affected 5-6 days out of our 18 days, we missed some important experiences. We could not take boat trips, could not go hiking to some of the most sought after trails because of very strong winds.

There are not many detailed content or videos available for Mauritius from India. So, we thought to simplify the entire planning process for you with updated details and a sample itinerary and budget of Mauritius with major tourist spots. Do check out our places of interest post to understand the geography of Mauritius and make your own itinerary and budget based on our suggestions.

Itinerary

Below is our itinerary with the parts covered, areas we stayed in and the major tourist spots in bold. Please keep in mind that we used buses and walking for covering most places so sometimes we could visit only 2 places in the day. Moreover, Mauritius kinds of shuts down post 4:30 PM in most of the areas, which further restricted our movement. We have provided alternative areas to stay in order to cover the zones and many other details in our suggestions page. The rest you can tweak and adjust according to your availability and budget:

South: Surinam (2 nights)
South West: La Gaulette (4 nights)
West: Flic en Flac (2 night)
North west: Port Louis (2 nights)
North: Grand Baie (2 nights)
East: Trou d’eau Douce (2 nights)
South East: Mahebourg (3 nights)

Places that are in bold can be chosen for accommodation to cover the respective areas.

Arrival- Day 1:

Arrive in Mauritius. Reached homestay in South by bus. Explored the local area, got a SIM, exchanged currency and explored nearby areas.

South trip- Day 2:

Took a taxi for a day trip of the South. We covered Rochester falls, Gris Gris beach, Le Roche Qui Pleure, Felix beach, Grand Bassin, Alexandra Waterfall Viewpoint and Riambel beach.

Transfer to South West- Day 3:

Transferred to La Gaulette by bus. Explored local area like nearby jetty, supermarket, restaurants and stores.

Chamarel visit- Day 4:

Went to Chamarel Geopark by bus. Took most of the day.

South west trip- Day 5:

Travelled by local bus to explore Maconde viewpoint and Prairie beach. The second half was marred by a bad weather and very strong winds.

Le Morne trip- Day 6:

This day started with heavy rains and strong winds. In the second half we went to Le Morne beach, the Slave Monument and the Le Morne hill.
Le Morne beach does not fall in the bus route so you need to take a taxi to reach Le Morne beach. Also, we had kept a day for Le Morne mountain hike which was cancelled due to bad weather.

Transfer to Flic en Flac- Day 7:

We took a bus from La Gaulette to Cascavelle Shopping Mall and then changed the bus from Casacavelle Shopping Mall to Flic en Flac for our hotel.
We rented a scooter and it started raining which stopped after an hour, thankfully.
Visited Casela Nature Park and the Cascavelle Shopping Mall.

Central trip-Day 8:

We took the scooter to Tamarind Waterfall viewpoint. Next stop was Trou Aux Cerf volcano crater and later Quatre Bornes market fair. However, it is easier to visit Quatre Bornes from Port Louis as there is direct metro between the two cities.
Went to Flic en Flac beach and spent the evening. Later went to Cascavelle Shopping Mall only to find closed shops.

Transfer to Port Louis Day 9:

We took a bus from Flic en Flac to Port Louis which took about an hour. Visited Apravasi Ghat, International Slave Museum, La Caudan waterfront and nearby areas by foot. Explored Central market and Chinatown.

Port Louis-Day 10:

Went to Pamplemousses Botanical Garden by bus. In the evening explored Champ de mars, Natural History Museum, Le Jardins des La Compagnie and St. Louis Cathedral. Spent the evening at La Caudan waterfront.

Transfer to Grand Baie-Day 11:

We took an express bus from Port Louis to Grand Baie of around 40 minutes. Explored Cap de Malheaureaux and Preybere Beach by bus. Spent the evening at Super U supermarket.

Grand Baie- Day 12:

Explored Grand Baie beach. Walked to Point de Cannoniers viewpoint and spent the evening at Mon Choisy beach, which was unexpectedly too far.

Transfer to Trou d’eau Douce- Day 13:

We took a taxi to transfer us from Grand Baie to Trou d’eau Douce as it is very far. It took us almost 1.5 hours. On the way we visited Bras d’eau national Park, Belle Mare beach and Palmer beach. We also went to Trou d’eau Douce beach after checking in at our homestay.

Ile Aux Cerf trip- Day 14:

We went to the boat departure to book our Ile aux Cerf island trip. Explored the island and the GRSE waterfall.

Transfer to Mahebourg- Day 15:

We took a taxi to transfer from Trou d’eau Douce to Mahebourg. On the way visited Point de Canon, Dutch Landing Point and Cavendish bridge.
In the evening explored the Mahebourg Waterfront.

Mahebourg- Day 16:

Explored the Mahebourg Market fair. Went to Blue Bay beach.

Mahebourg- Day 17:

Explored Point Canon, Lavoir and local market. Went to Bo’Valon Shopping Mall in the evening.

Return- Day 18:

Took a flight back to India.

Budget

Now to the most important part- the Budget. Mauritius is expensive. Everything including flights, lodging, food, groceries, transportation and even shopping is expensive. Let us give you a context. The value of Indian Rupee is half of Mauritian Rupee. The price tag of anything even food items is either same or double of the price in India. Which means that you pay 4 times as much as you would pay in India for anything. Especially the transportation.

So, let no one tell you that you can travel to Mauritius cheaply. Where accessibility is convenient, lodging is costlier. Where lodging is cheaper, transportation is costlier. Most places are without tickets which is such a relief. You itinerary and budget for Mauritius will go hand in hand. The longer you stay, the costlier it gets. But, at the same time, if you stay for shorter duration you will miss quite a few experiences.

Cost breakdown

Below is a chart with cost and inclusions of all activities on the island. These are the best rates you will find in a touristy area. You can make per day estimate of the incurred cost on the basis of the information provided and calculate a rough budget for your Mauritius trip. We have mentioned the break-up of our expenses for 18 days trip as under (all the expenses are for two people in INR):

Return Flights (from Mumbai): ₹97,900
Hotels (7 locations) = ₹47,750
Local Transportation (bus & taxi) = ₹24,700
- car rental: 1400/day + petrol: 100/l;
- taxi: > ₹50,000 (including hotel transfers)
1 Island Trip: ₹5,600-7,000 (3 trips: ₹21,000)
Food = ₹12,500
Entrance tickets: = ₹8,000
Total: ₹2,11,850

From the above you can make an estimate that a sample 10 days trip will cost you anywhere up to 1 lakh per person. Feel free to refer the above and plan your itinerary and budget for Mauritius accordingly. Check this post for a sample 10 day itinerary to Mauritius.