Stories about a vacation in the Seychelles are usually accompanied only by enthusiastic epithets. The distant islands in the Indian Ocean are called a paradise by travelers who prefer a comfortable beach holiday in the bosom of virgin nature.
The inhabitants of the archipelago manage to combine a high level of service and perfect cleanliness of the beaches. They easily create comfort on almost uninhabited pieces of land, delighting newlyweds, romantics and just wealthy dreamers who have decided to escape from civilization. If you love variety, the islands will not disappoint you. Employees of national parks, guides in museums, captains of snow-white yachts, and instructors of diving clubs are ready to answer the question of what to see in the Seychelles.
Top 15 attractions in Seychelles
Royal garden on Mahe
On the main island, halfway between the capital and Port Glod, there is a magnificent garden, which the locals call the Royal.
Le Jardin du Roi offers exciting walks among groves of equatorial and tropical trees, many of which provide famous herbs and spices. On the territory of the Royal Garden, in the former house of the planter, there is a small museum of local lore.
In the park's restaurant, visitors can enjoy not only seafood specialties, but also splendid ocean views from its terrace.
Ticket price: 1.5 euros.
Victoria
The small capital is an attraction in itself. The inhabitants of the Seychelles simply call Victoria “the city”, because there are, in general, no others on the archipelago.
On the streets of Victoria you will find cozy oceanfront restaurants with Creole dishes on the menu, several religious sites - an Anglican church, a Hindu temple and mosque, a small replica of London's Big Ben with a clock, and a huge number of colonial-style mansions.
Victoria's surroundings also have a lot to offer, with breathtaking views of cinnamon plantations and ocean bays from the tops of nearby hills.
Artisan village
For the best souvenirs in the Seychelles, visit Craft Village. Although why look? Surely, you will buy products from Seychelles artisans, because the selection of crafts is impressive.
The Crafts Village sells models of national boats, ceramics and jewelry, coconut shell products, seashell beads, traditional for beach areas, and other cute trinkets that are nice to keep as a keepsake or bring as a gift to friends.
At Craft Village you will find a restaurant with classic Seychelles cuisine.
Free admission.
St. Anne National Marine Park
This marine reserve protects the rich underwater world of the Seychelles. By purchasing a one-day tour to the park, you get an unforgettable sailing trip on a yacht with snorkeling stops. Lunch is included in the price, and most often the menu includes fresh seafood, which the yacht's crew catches during stops.
Divers have their own reasons for striving to the St. Anne Marine National Park. There are several particularly interesting diving sites in the reserve.
Ticket price: 10 euros.
Tea plantation
If you love tea and have always dreamed of seeing how tea bushes grow, you should buy this interesting excursion in the Seychelles. The tea plantation is located a couple of kilometers from Port Glod on the Sanssouci road.
A fascinating excursion awaits you at the tea plantation, during which the guide acquaints tourists with the history of tea growing in the Seychelles, the peculiarities of the cultivation and harvesting processes and the further procedures necessary for the aromatic drink to delight its fans with the proper taste and color.
Location: slope of Mount Morne-Blanc.
Ticket price: 1.5 euros.
Praslin Island
The main attraction of Praslin Island is the special coconut variety. But tourists strive to get to Praslin not only for the sake of the 20-kilogram fruit of the coco de mer palm. The island is famous for other attractions:
- Anse Lazio is a magnificent beach in the northern part of Praslin. Anse Lazio has been named the best beach in the Seychelles archipelago by the respected travel guide Lonely Planet.
- The rarest black parrot, found only on Praslin, is another relic of this island. Its development and growth is fully provided by the Seychelles coconut tree, and therefore this bird species cannot live anywhere else.
- Black pearls grown on the sea farm of the same name are another reason to visit the island.
Divers prefer to stop at Praslin due to the huge variety of underwater sites in the national park between it and the neighboring island of Curieuse.
La Digue Island
Only half an hour by boat or ferry separates the island of La Digue from Mahé and the capital of the Seychelles. On La Digue, you can look at pink beaches - the best in the world, according to many travel publications, go diving on the most beautiful coral reefs and buy authentic souvenirs to remember your vacation.
The main attraction of the island is the L'Union Estate park. In addition to luxurious tropical vegetation, you will find the oldest colonial buildings of the archipelago, familiarity with which allows you to imagine the life and life of planters of the 18th-19th centuries. There is also an estate in L'Union Estate, where the events of the cult cinema of the 80s "Emmanuel" took place.
Fregat Island
On the small island of Fregat, which area is only 2 square meters. km, you will find only one hotel. The island also does not stand out for its other infrastructure, and its main attractions are magnificent virgin nature and exciting legends. Legends say that the Frigate was once a refuge for pirates and that sea robbers hid numerous treasures here.
Very wealthy tourists stay in the only hotel in Frigate, but anyone can go on an excursion here and sunbathe on one of the local beaches.
Monument to the 200th Anniversary of Victoria
Three pairs of white stone wings soaring into the sky over the capital of Seychelles is a monument erected in honor of the 200th anniversary of the capital of the state.
The monument is located at the intersection of June 5th Street and Liberation Avenue. Visible from afar, the monument appeared on the island in 1978. Its author is the Italian artist Lorenzo Appiani, who lived for many years in the Seychelles.
The three wings symbolize the people of the Seychelles. It is home to ethnic groups from three continents: Africa, Europe and Asia.
Vallee de Mae
The nature reserve on Praslin Island has been under the patronage of UNESCO since 1983. The reason for this was the forests of the Seychelles palm, which is not found anywhere else on the planet. It is its fruits that are considered the symbol of the islands.
The park is located in a valley in the middle of the island. The tallest palms rise 30-40 meters into the sky and look very impressive.
Mammals living in the reserve are worthy of special attention. The most interesting of them are the Seychelles flying fox and the bat. Both species are endemic.
Denis
Especially popular with fans of real sea fishing, Denis Island can be found northeast of Mahé.
It is here that, in high season, blue marlin goes straight into the hands of courageous anglers, making it a lifelong pride for anyone who can catch a huge fish. The courage of the gigantic tuna fishermen really does not hold back. Individuals reaching hundreds of kilograms are quite capable of capturing even experienced fishermen into the ocean abyss, and therefore tackle and other equipment for fishing for blue marlin is usually welded to the side of the yacht, and fishermen are fixed in a special way.
The marlin fishing season in the Seychelles begins in October-November.
Cosmoledo
The atoll from the Aldabra group of islands in the Seychelles is a unique nature reserve where you can observe the representatives of the gannet colony living in the archipelago. Three species of rare seabirds, protected in the Red Book, nest on the Cosmoledo atoll and their most representative population is 15 thousand pairs of red-footed boobies.
On the shores of the islets of the atoll, there are also a large frigate and a dark tern, and the lagoons are inhabited by Madagascar turtles, an endangered species of pigeons.
Amirant Islands
A small archipelago 300 km south-west of the Seychelles is the Amirant Islands, which are part of the state. Several coral atolls and small islands are home to 100 people.
The Amirant Islands offer some of the best diving in the Seychelles. The local underwater world is practically not familiar with humans, and therefore, especially rare representatives of the Indian Ocean marine fauna are often found on the dive sites of the archipelago.
Botanical Garden on Mahe
The botanical garden, laid out in the capital of the country of Victoria in the Mont Flury area, is the oldest national natural monument in the Seychelles. Here you can look at a huge collection of endemics and simply exotic plants that grow in the tropics and the equatorial zone. Some of them are fruit and spice trees, the fruits and flowers of which turn into aromatic spices.
Acquaintance with representatives of the fauna of the Victoria Botanical Garden will also not leave indifferent any tourist. The most popular among visitors are giant turtles, whose age is 150 years or more.
The most beautiful place in the garden, according to the beautiful half of humanity, is the Orchid House, where dozens of varieties of amazing flowers are collected.
Ticket price: 6, 5 euros.
Clark's Market
Victorians call their market the heart of the capital. It was built in 1840 and since then has been and remains a place where the best fruits, seafood, spices and souvenirs for tourists are sold.
Most of the shops and shops are open on Saturday, when village vendors from the surrounding villages and fishermen come to Clark's Market.
