Seychelles

Frenchman Rivaltz Dupont, who planted many of the spice and fruit trees displayed today, laid out these gardens in 1901. Green-fingered visitors can take an optional guided tour admiring the manicured landscape of broad lawns, attractive ponds and babbling brooks while a colony of fruit bats and a pen of giant tortoises keep the kids amused.

Phone:

+248 67 05 00

Opening hours:

8am-5pm daily

Address:

Mont Fleuri, Mahe Island

The privately-owned luxurious island resort is the only place to stay on this jewel of an island, which is the ultimate escape for honeymooners and lovers of nature. With rich vegetation and fertile soil, it’s home to nesting sea birds and trundling tortoises and being situated on the edge of the Seychelles Bank, it’s especially good for deep-sea fishing. It is possible to charter a boat and cruise around it. Dream Yacht Seychelles charters yachts from Praslin.

Phone:

+248 222 61 00; Dream Yacht Seychelles +248 232 681,

Opening hours:

N/a

Address:

50 miles north of Mahe

Housed in a colonial building, dating back to 1902, the museum displays an eclectic collection of traditional costumes, musical instruments, artefacts salvaged from shipwrecks and the Possession Stone, laid by the French in 1756 when they claimed the islands. There’s also a small display of items used in gris gris – the belief in the supernatural – which is still practiced by many Seychellois.

Phone:

+248 22 52 53

Opening hours:

8.30am-4.30pm Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri; 8.30am-noon Sat

Address:

State House Avenue, Mahe Island

Situated 625 miles south-west of Mahe, this is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and is the Seychelles’ first UNESCO World Heritage site. Managed by the Seychelles Island Foundation it is an exceptionally pristine site where 150,000 giant tortoises thrive amidst unique flora and fauna. The Indian Ocean Explorer offers trips cruising round the atoll and lagoons.

Phone:

Indian Ocean Explorer +248 34 54 45

Opening hours:

N/a

Address:

Aldabra

Seychelles’ second UNESCO World Heritage Site is a beautiful primeval forest of the coco de mer palms, which produces the unique erotic-shaped nut. Other treats include endemic trees and you may spot the endangered Black Parrot. A short tour takes in most of the botanical beauties, or you can go for the longer circuitous route and enjoy spectacular views.

Phone:

+248 32 17 35

Opening hours:

8am-5.30pm

Address:

Praslin Island

Bought as a nature reserve by chocolate baron and keen conservationist, Charles Cadbury, in 1973, this island allows you to get really close to nature. The only inhabitants are millions of sea birds and endemic species such as magpie robins, fodies and blue pigeons. Guides lead you on a nature walk and to a fabulous viewpoint where hundreds of frigate birds soar over dramatic cliffs.

Phone:

+248 32 16 00

Opening hours:

10am-3pm Sun, Mon & Wed; Thur by appointment

Address:

Grand Anse, Praslin Island

A treasure trove for bird watchers and wildlife fans, this award-winning private reserve is managed by the conservation organisation, Nature Seychelles. You’ll spot some of the Seychelles’ rarest birds, among them the bush warbler, only recently rescued from the brink of extinction. The only footprints on this beach-belted island are those of geckos, giant Aldabra tortoises and hawksbill turtles.

Phone:

+248 71 88 16

Opening hours:

9am-5pm Tue-Fri

Address:

Cousin Island

This national park is the largest in the Seychelles occupying some 20 per cent of Mahe’s landmass. There are a dozen trails which can be explored in half or a full day. One of the easiest takes in a coastline of spectacular granitic rock slopes is from the west of the popular Beau Vallon beaches starting at Danzille to Anse Major.

Phone:

+248 67 05 00

Opening hours:

9am-5pm daily

Address:

Mont Fleuri Road, Victoria, Mahe

Tour operators provide wonderful glass-bottom boat trips to this marine-rich park lying opposite Victoria’s harbour. You can land on Cerf, where novelist Wilbur Smith has a home, tiny Round for great snorkelling or Moyenne, where rumour has it that there is buried pirate treasure and the ghost of Miss Mary Best, an English eccentric.

Phone:

N/a

Opening hours:

9am-5pm daily

Address:

Off east coast of Mahe Island

Steep forested slopes dominate Seychelles’ third biggest island, just 12 miles from Mahe. For those not staying at the exclusive Silhouette Island Lodge, the next best thing is to charter a fishing boat through a local operator. The day out includes fishing, a barbecue lunch on a gorgeous beach and treks along jungle paths.

Phone:

+248 51 02 69

Opening hours:

9am-5pm daily

Address:

Jimmy, Boat House, Beau Vallon, Mahe Island