7 days in Mauritius by car: the perfect itinerary around the island

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Planning your trip to Mauritius and not sure where to start? In this itinerary for 7 days in Mauritius by car, I will share with you some of the best things to do in Mauritius. One week in Mauritius is enough to see most of the island, as it’s very small – you can drive all around Mauritius in less than 6 hours. This itinerary will feature the most beautiful beaches in Mauritius, a nice hike with a stunning panoramic view and a bit of sightseeing and some culinary highlights.

We visited Mauritius in October and even though it wasn’t very hot, we still enjoyed it a lot. In fact, cooler weather was much better for sightseeing and it was totally possible to swim during the day on most beaches! We did a full circle around Mauritius and managed to find the best beaches on the island.

Here’s a short overview of the 7-day itinerary for Mauritius by car:

Day 1: Arrival, rental car pick up and stay at Anantara Iko Blue Bay

Day 2: Bois Cheri Tea Factory, Black River Gorges Hike, dinner at Château de Bel Ombre and night at Dinarobin Beachcomber

Day 3: Morning on the beach, Flic-en-Flac, Port Louis (lunch) and night at Veranda Pointe Aux Biches or Beachcomber Trou Aux Biches

Day 4: Exploring Trou Aux Biches, lunch at La Plage Beach Club, dinner in the Gran Baie area

Day 5: Exploring Gran Baie, Le Château de Labourdonnais, Pereybere Beach, night at Constance Prince Maurice 

Day 6: Shopping for souvenirs in a supermarket, drive and stay at C Mauritius (All-inclusive)

Day 7: Morning on the beach, check out, drive back to the airport and flight back 

Our 7-day itinerary for Mauritius by car

Useful links for your trip to Mauritius:

Flights: Check prices and availability

Car rental: check availability here

Hotels: Anantara Iko, Dinarobin Beachcomber, C Mauritius

Before we start, I just wanted to answer some frequently asked questions about Mauritius: 

Mauritius FAQs:

What time of the year did you go to Mauritius? What’s the best month to go to Mauritius?

If you’re wondering what time of the year we visited Mauritius and what’s generally the best month to go to Mauritius, keep reading this section. We went to Mauritius at the start of October, and we felt like it was a bit too cold for our liking. If we had arrived 2-3 weeks later, it would have been perfect! 

However, everyone has different temperature preferences for their perfect holiday. Some people prefer really hot weather (if it’s not 33C outside, is it even a beach holiday?) – in this case, it’s better to go to Mauritius in December, January and February – it’s the hottest season, and it’s going to be very hot and humid in Mauritius. It is also the rain season, so you might have a lot of rainfall, especially in February. 

If you feel unwell when it’s hot outside and generally dislike high temperatures, then you can visit Mauritius between April and October, as it’s much colder there during these months(between May and September, it gets pretty chilly in Mauritius, temperatures can be as low as 18-20C). 

A lot of locals told us that their favourite month in Mauritius is October – it’s not too hot yet, but it’s very sunny and very pleasant. However, if you like swimming in very warm water (25-27C), then you should wait until the end of October – the beginning of November.

Is Mauritius safe?

We found Mauritius very safe. The only area that seemed a bit unpleasant was the capital, Port Louis, and of course, not the entire capital, but just some areas of it. However, if you’re only staying in Mauritius for 7 days, it’s unlikely that you will stay in Port Louis at all. 

Which beach in Mauritius is the best one?

If you’re wondering what’s the best beach in Mauritius, it’s very hard to say, as it might depend on your preferences. I’ve seen a lot of lists of the best beaches in Mauritius and having visited most of them, I can say that I probably disagree with half of them. 

Our favourite beaches were Le Morne Beach (the beach of Paradisus Beachcomber and Dinarobin Beachcomber) and the Belle Mare beach – e.g. the beach of C Mauritius. 

We found Grand Baie a bit disappointing, even though a lot of people recommended it. However, Pereybere beach was lovely. I will talk about beaches in a separate article and once it’s ready, I will link it here. 

How to get to Mauritius?

Most people buy flights to go to Mauritius and fly either from London, Vienna or Paris directly (if you’re in Europe) or have an interchange in Dubai or Istanbul. You can also fly to Mauritius from Reunion, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, India and South Africa. There might be more charter flights arriving from various destinations. You can check the prices and availability of flights to Mauritius here > 

It’s also possible to go to Mauritius by boat. There are cruises that depart in Cape Town and head to Europe via Mauritius but they all take 20+ days. 

Renting a car in Mauritius

Mauritius has plenty of car rental agencies and you just need to pick the one that suits your budget and has the car that you’d like to rent. We usually rent cars through Rentalcars.com and they have quite a few options in Mauritius & you can check the prices and availability here >

Without further ado, let’s get started with the itinerary for a week in Mauritius in October! 

7-day itinerary for Mauritius by car (a week in Mauritius: best things to do)

Day 1: Arrival, rental car pick up and stay at Anantara Iko Blue Bay

Pros and cons of Anantara Iko

We landed around 2pm on our first day in Mauritius. Immigration and customs took a very short time as the airport staff in the airport was very efficient, however, our rental car pick-up took a while. We rented a car through a local company called Ola and the sales associate was not there when we arrived. He eventually arrived after 15 minutes and we could proceed with checking in and checking the car. 

The drive from Mauritius airport to Anantara only look 5 minutes. Anantara Iko is the closest resort to the airport, that’s why a lot of crew members stay there (we’ve seen crew members and pilots from Emirates there). Anantara Iko is a very new hotel, and the rooms were very modern and nice. In my opinion, it’s a bit expensive for what you get, but if you book in advance, the price might be very good. You can check the prices and availability of Anantara Iko here > I also filmed a tour around Anantara Iko, and I’ll link the YouTube video below. 

Anantara Iko has a lovely beach, one of the most virgin and picturesque beaches on the entire island. However, it had a black flag on the beach, so swimming wasn’t allowed. However, all the hotel staff told us that it was okay to swim there. We managed to dip very fast near the entrance, where the water was very shallow, but it was quite cold to swim there because of the wind! 

The main downside of Anantara Iko was the fact that it was very windy there, and it felt pretty cold in the evenings (we regretted not bringing a puffer jacket with us). 

Dinner in Mahebourg

For dinner, we decided to drive to a nearby town, Mahebourg, located around 15 minutes away by car. Mahebourg is not very touristy, and there isn’t much to see, however, we found a couple of restaurants with very down-to-earth local homemade dishes and it was a lovely experience. 

Alternatively, if you don’t feel like driving, you can dine at Anantara, as it has 3 options for dining, from a very affordable pool restaurant to a high-end a-la-cart restaurant (which, unfortunately, wasn’t great). 

Day 2: Bois Cheri Tea Factory, Black River Gorges Hike, dinner at Château de Bel Ombre and night at Dinarobin Beachcomber

Visiting Bois Cheri Tea Factory

Our second day in Mauritius was probably the most eventful and the most tiring day of the trip. We started our day early, and around 10:30 in the morning, we had already finished breakfast and checked out.

Bois Cheri Tea factory was our first destination of the day. It took us just 30 minutes to reach it. The factory was established in the 19th century, however, it still produces nice black tea using traditional methods. It has become a popular tourist destination for those interested in the tea-making process. Visitors can take a tour of the factory, sample various blends of tea, and purchase souvenirs from the on-site shop.

The territory of the factory is very impressive – to reach the restaurant and the shop, you need to drive through a huge part of the territory and, honestly, it’s stunning. You can also see a lot of different animals there, from monkeys to deer that eat the tea leaves. 

Black River Gorges Hike

After driving for 15 more minutes, we reached Black River Gorges, National Park. 

Black River Gorges National Park is a protected area located in the southwestern part of Mauritius. It covers an area of over 67 square kilometres and is known for its lush tropical forest, which is home to an array of endemic plant and animal species, including the Mauritian flying fox, pink pigeon, and kestrel. The park also offers hiking trails that wind through the forest, offering breathtaking views of the gorges and waterfalls that give the park its name.

There are multiple entrances with parking and toilet facilities, however, as we had time restrictions and could only spend 2-2.5 hours hiking, we decided to use the Le Petrin entrance and hike a part of the Macchabée trail all the way to the Macchabée viewpoint. The view from there was stunning! The hike was pretty easy; it took us around 55 minutes to go up, 20 minutes to take photos and another 45 minutes to go all the way back. 

Before heading to our hotel, Dinarobin, we decided to stop at a supermarket and buy some food for a quick lunch and some snacks for the ride. Just circa 10 minutes driving away, in Chamouny, you can find a large supermarket called Winner’s. 

Dinarobin Beachcomber and dinner at Château de Bel Ombre

It took us around 1.5 hours (or almost 2 hours, including the supermarket break) to reach the Le Morne peninsula. On the way, we drove via the Southern coastal road of the island. The Southern part of Mauritius looks very laid-back and relaxed. It’s certainly not as busy or as developed as the Northern part of the island. 

Our hotel, Dinarobin Beachcomber and its sister hotel Paradis Beachcomber, where our friends stayed, is one of the most beautiful hotels that we have ever visited! It’s located on a beautiful beach with views of the Le Morne Brabant. The rooms are a bit dated, but everything else was incredible! Dinarobin is a little bit more upscale compared to Paradisus, as it has 6 heated pools. However, the beach is better at Dinarobin as there are fewer rocks and the entrance to the sea is much easier. Dinarobin is one of the most popular resorts in Mauritius and gets booked out pretty early (actually, the only reason why our friends picked Paradisus is that Dinarobin was fully booked). You can check the availability here >

For dinner, we drove to Bel Ombre (circa 30 minutes) to one of the most iconic restaurants in Mauritius located in a historical Château – Château de Bel Ombre. While it was very pricy and the food wasn’t extraordinary, the place itself was stunning, and it was definitely worth the drive, in my opinion!

Day 3: Morning on the beach, Flic-en-Flac, Port Louis (lunch) and night at Veranda Pointe Aux Biches

As we loved the beach at Paradis & Dinarobin, we decided to stay there until 1pm. When you check out, you can still use the facilities of the hotel for a couple of hours, so that wasn’t a problem.

Around 1:30pm, we left the hotel and headed to the North of Mauritius, where our next resort was located. Since the journey was over 1.5 hours, we decided to stop at Flic-en-Flac and then at Port Louis for late lunch.

Flic-en-Flac is a large beach, which I found in a couple of lists telling about the most beautiful beaches in Mauritius. However, in my opinion, Flic-en-Flac wasn’t impressive at all – nearly every beach we saw in Mauritius was better than Flic-en-Flac, so I would recommend just skipping it and continuing straight to Port Louis for lunch.

Lunch in Port Louis

Port Louis is the capital of Mauritius; however, it’s not a very impressive city. There are a few restaurants that are worth stopping by and one of them is Wapalam La Place. We had a very nice meal there, and the prices were much more affordable than in the more touristy areas of the island. 

Heading to the North of the island. Pointe Aux Biches

Our final stop for the third day in Mauritius was in the North of the island, in a place called Pointe Aux Biches. Initially, we were hoping to stay closer to a much nicer beach, Trou Aux Biches, but hotels sell out pretty quickly there, so there was nothing available within our price range. We booked Veranda Pointe Aux Biches for two nights and it had good parking and nice rooms. Veranda Pointe Aux Biches is a much simpler resort compared to Dinarobin; however, if you’re on a tighter budget, it is still a nice option. If you’re booking your holiday early enough, there might still be resorts closer to Trou Aux Biches that I would recommend over Veranda, e.g. Trou Aux Biches Beachcomber or Royal Palm Beachcomber in Gran Baie! 

Day 4: Exploring Trou Aux Biches, lunch at La Plage Beach Club, dinner in the Gran Baie area

Exploring Trou Aux Biches

Our fourth day in Mauritius was pretty laid back. We decided to take a break from driving in the first half of the day and just walked all the way to Trou Aux Biches from our hotel, Veranda. It was a nice 30-minute walk and most of the walk was on the coast. However, the beach between Veranda resort and Trou Aux Biches is not developed – it’s not possible to swim there, as the entrance to the ocean is very rocky. Nonetheless, the views are very nice there!

Once we reached Trou Aux Biches, we went for a walk on the beach – it’s actually very long and clean, however, it’s not as impressive as some other beaches in Mauritius! The sand is not as white and the water is not as turquoise as in Blue Bay, Belle Mare or even Pereybere beach.

For lunch, we met with our friend, who was originally from Mauritius and was coincidentally visiting her family around the same dates when we were in Mauritius, so we had a lovely lunch at La Plage Beach Club. La Plage had some of the best food we’ve tried in Mauritius and the place was gorgeous! Since it’s a popular beach restaurant, I recommend booking it in advance. 

We spent the rest of the daylight on the Trou Aux Biches beach. While it’s not possible to rent umbrellas and sunbeds, there, you can actually bring your own. For example, we bought this inflatable sun lounger from Amazon and it was very comfy. 

Trou Aux Biches Mauritius

Dinner in the Gran Baie area

For dinner, we drove to the Gran Baie area. We found a nice seafood restaurant that had a good rating on Google called La Kaza. It wasn’t too difficult to find parking nearby, however, keep in mind that the restaurant doesn’t have its own parking, you need to park in the streets nearby. The food was nice and not too pricy, so overall, it was a lovely place I’d recommend. 

Day 5: Le Château de Labourdonnais, Pereybere Beach, night at Constance Prince Maurice

Château de Labourdonnais

On our fifth day, we had our breakfast relatively early, around 8:30am, checked out and drove to Château de Labourdonnais. It took us around 30 minutes to get there. Château de Labourdonnais is a museum located in a stunning colonial-style château built over 150 years ago. You need to buy a ticket to visit Château de Labourdonnais, however, the tickets are pretty affordable (under $8) and they also include a rum tasting! We couldn’t taste much, as Jose was driving, but they give you very generous portions of rum! 

There is also a nice restaurant located right next to the Château, however, we didn’t have a chance to visit it; hence, I can’t say whether we’d recommend it or not. 

Pereybere beach

After visiting the Château, we headed back to the Gran Baie area, this time during the daylight. We had a quick lunch in a small spot serving fresh falafel and then drove for 5 more minutes to the Pereybere beach. Pereybere beach is a very picturesque public beach that is very popular among locals. Actually, it was our friend who recommended Pereybere beach to us – she said that it’s one of her favourites. We liked it a lot – it was very pretty, and since it was a weekday, it wasn’t too crowded! Pereybere is probably in my top 3 beaches in Mauritius! 

Pereybere Beach Mauritius

Moving to the next location in Mauritius

In the afternoon, we decided that it was time to head to our next resort. We actually booked Zilwa Attitude located just a short 20-minute drive away from Pereybere beach, but having stayed at Zilwa, I can’t bring myself to recommend this resort to anyone. Both our friends and we had issues there which were completely ignored by the staff, they tried to overcharge us at the checkout, and overall, the attitude of the staff was very bad (hence the name Zilwa Attitude, perhaps? You’ll be getting quite an attitude) – so unlike other resorts in Mauritius where everyone was very friendly and helpful! 

Since we had such a bad time at Zilwa, I recommend booking Constance Prince Maurice instead – it’s located a bit further away, but it’s a much nicer hotel with a nicer beach (the beach at Zilwa was very bad).

Day 6: Shopping for souvenirs & staying at C Mauritius (All-inclusive)

On our 6th day in Mauritius, we woke up pretty early (as we wanted to leave Zilwa as early as possible) and started driving towards our last destination, Belle Mare. 

On the way, we actually found a pretty large supermarket, Super U, where we bought some souvenirs for friends and family. If you’re wondering what you can buy there that can be considered a souvenir, well, these are mostly edible things such as dried fruits, tea, rum, and jams. We really liked black tea in Mauritius and rum was great as well, so we bought a few small bottles of rum and a lot of tea.

Staying at C Mauritius 

We arrived in C Mauritius just in time for lunch and a bit earlier than the check-in time. C Mauritius is a compact, all-inclusive resort located on a stunning beach (which was a bit windy but much warmer than Blue Bay beach at Anantara). The rooms were very modern and looked pretty new, and the hotel facilities were great. There was a small spa that the guests could use free of charge (the hammam was broken, though) and a gym with the latest equipment. 

The beach area had a lot of bean bags and even a nice swing and looked pretty boho. The beach of C Mauritius was my second favourite beach on the island after Le Morne! The only downside was the wind – it was pretty windy there, but the water temperature was optimal for swimming in the middle of October.

What impressed us the most, however, was the food. The variety of the dishes wasn’t huge, but the quality and uniqueness were unmatchable. From the amazing salad bar to the mains and sweets area, the food offerings in C Mauritius were very impressive! 

Day 7: Morning on the beach, checkout & driving back to the airport  

On our last day in Mauritius, we spent the morning on the beach and just after the checkout, we headed towards the airport, as our friends had an earlier flight than we did. It took us just over an hour to reach the airport from C Mauritius. However, even during this last ride in Mauritius (which meant we did a full circle around the island), Mauritius managed to impress us as the vegetation in this part of the island was again different to what we had seen before, and the landscapes were very unique. Overall, the route was very scenic, and we noticed that there is construction going on along the route, and the government is building a cycling track, which is pretty amazing!

When we dropped out friends at the airport, we still had a couple of hours to kill, so we decided to spend these hours at the Blue Bay beach – not the beach of Anantara, but the public one. Since it was Sunday, it was absolutely packed, however, we still found a sport for our inflatable mattress and spent a couple of hours there. Surprisingly, the beach wasn’t as windy as the beach of Anantara, in fact, it wasn’t windy at all! 

At around 5pm, we drove back to the airport, dropped the car, and it was time for us to fly back to London. 

Mauritius by car

Summary of 7-day itinerary for Mauritius – road trip

Overall, I think that 7 days in Mauritius are enough to see the island. Mauritius is pretty small, so you can do a full circle around the island in less than 6 hours. Nonetheless, various parts of the island have their distinctive vegetation and landscapes and even population and culture. The South of Mauritius is pretty laid-back, rural and has a low-density of population. However, it has the most beautiful beaches in my opinion (Le Morne peninsula). Gran Baie is very busy and dense. Belle Mare doesn’t have a dense population, but it’s an area with a lot of upscale resorts and some of the most beautiful beaches. 

If you think that this itinerary is a bit too intense and you would prefer to drive less and relax a bit more, I recommend staying 2-3 nights at Le Morne, 2 nights around the Gran Baie and 2 nights in Belle Mare! 

Should you have any questions, feel free to drop me a message on Instagram, you can find me as @lizatripsget

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