In this blog post, you’ll find everything you need to know to plan a visit to Saint Pierre, a city in southern Reunion Island, including how to reach Saint Pierre, visiting the Piton De La Fournaise volcano, wandering the alleys of the colonial Frenchtown and how to spend two beautiful days in and around the south.

Go Canyoning at Grand Galet Waterfalls

The Grand Galet waterfalls is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Island. Made of multiple cascading waterfalls, it is also the best spot for canyoning, for beginners. Canyoning involves sliding into the gentle rapids, ziplining across the canyons, jumping into shallow pools and even rapelling from treetops into the water! It is best done with a guide and is one of the best activities to do on the island! 

Go Canyoning on Reunion Island with the expert team at Ricaric

Our experience:

We signed up for the amateaur canyoning experience with Seb, a certified guide from Ricaric Canyoning. We were given silicone watersuits, and canyoning Overalls for safety, after which he led us through the Canyon for the next 3 hours! Although I (Navneeth) don’t swim well, it was very easy to slide, rappel, jump into the pools and it was so much fun! All the while, the guide made sure that we were tethered to safety ropes. In fact, there were three young children accompanying us too!

We’d recommend Ricaric any day!

Walk in the alleys of Saint Pierre

Saint Pierre is the biggest city in southern Reunion. The city has many charming buildings from the many decades gone by presents a mix of traditional Creole and modern western architecture. Evenings are the best time to explore the city – start at one end of Boulevard Hubert Delisle and walk to the other and catch the sunset at the Marina!

Tip: The Boulevard Hubert Delisle is dotted with innumerable cafés and the best street food in Saint Pierre and the best place to be out at night.

Stay at a vintage themed hotel

The Villa Delisle Hotel offers one of the most charming luxury stays in Saint Pierre. The hotel is themed on the early 1900s, and has antique furniture, elegant chandeliers in classic lighting and a bar counter that seems to have come straight from the Titanic era. The rooms have walk-in showers – something that we’d never seen before!

The hotel is on the Boulevard Hubert Delisle, and the beach is only a two minute walk away.

Stay at the luxurious vintage hotel, Villa Delisle

The junior suite is absolutely beautiful with its lush color palette and antique wood furniture. Breakfast is served complimentary and the varieties of classic French and spicy creole cuisines are offered every morning! There is also a spa and a swimming pool on the upper deck and a Casino on the lower deck and is perfect for couples and families. Considering the accommodation prices in Reunion, the rent for a night at the Villa Delisle is surprisingly affordable too!

Check the prices here

Feast on Creole Cuisine in the city

The essence of Réunion is in its Creole culture and there’s no better way to learn about it than by eating the cuisine! Saint Pierre has a variety of restaurants, artistic cafés and street food stalls that will serve you mouth-watering Creole food! If you feel homesick, you’ll find many restaurants serving nearly every major cusine on Boulevard Hubert Delisle. 

Tip: Check out the street food scene right in front of Villa Delisle. The paninis and baguette sandwiches are incredibly tasty!

Visit the Piton De La Fournaise Volcano

Known to be one of the most active volcanoes on the planet, the Piton De La Fournaise is a massive 2.6 km tall mountain. The volcano’s biggest eruption in recent history was in 2007, when the lava flowed down to the Indian Ocean over five kilometers. Since then it has erupted multiples, and even erupted during our visit in August 2019! 

The lava flow looked absolutely stunning, particularly in the dark of the night, with the moonlight shining on the ocean on the other side.

Plan a personalised visit to Réunion Island with Anne from NamastéIndia

Relax on the white sand beaches of Saint Pierre

The turquoise blue lagoons of the Saint Pierre public beach are the safest spots to swim in Reunion Island! The waves are quite gentle and everyday, families gather on the public beach to play and chill. 

An equally fun place in the south is the Grand Anse beach. It lies between Saint Pierre and the Lava Tunnels of Piton De La Fournaise. At Anse, weekends are the best – you’ll see so many locals and tourists getting together at barbeque parties!

How to visit Saint Pierre

The best way to visit Saint Pierre from St. Denis is by road. Renting a car is most recommended way of exploring Reunion Island. There are a few scheduled intercity buses which connect Saint Pierre with other cities. There is also an airport.

Where to stay in Saint Pierre

We stayed at the Villa Delisle, a vintage luxury beachfront hotel. It has a great collection of rooms, a private jacuzzi and spa facilities too. We recommend staying in a certified accommodation if you need a visa for visiting Reunion.

See all accommodations in Saint Pierre here

How many days to spend in Saint Pierre

Spend atleast two nights in Saint Pierre for the best experiences. The city is the main point in the South to visit the grand cascades, beautiful beaches and volcanoes!

Suggested itinerary:

Day one: Canyoning in the morning followed by beach time at Grand Anse or relaxing Spa session at the hotel. Dinner in a restaurant on Boulevard Hubert Delisle.

Day two: Piton De La Fournaise Lava Tunnel tour and a leisure afternoon by the Saint Pierre beach. Don’t forget to explore the city on foot in the evening and end the evening with sunset at the Marina.

Plan a personalised visit to Réunion Island with Anne from NamastéIndia

Eating out in Saint Pierre

The restaurants in Saint Pierre offer a wide variety of cuisines and dishes. However, it may be expensive, even by European standards. To find wallet friendly food, check out the food stalls by the Saint Pierre Public Beach or Sandwich and Pizza parlours. Creole cuisine is quite affordable – try the rice and curry combo.

Vegetarians will find the variety limited in most places, but salads and fruits are easily available.

Reunion Island is called the L’ile Intense or “The Intense Island” because of the extreme range of beauty, culture, and wild activities it encourages travellers to engage in! If Saint Pierre was not enough a reason for you to plan a visit to Reunion, then here are a few more reasons to spark that desire to visit the island.

If you have questions on a planning a visit to Saint Pierre, write to us now!

In this blog post, you’ll find so many convincing reasons to visit Reunion Island in Africa, including a list of places that overwhelmed us and are sure to excite you like never before! Are you ready for it?

Explore some of the prettiest villages in the World

If you thought that only villages in Europe were beautiful, wait till you see Hellbourg and Cilaos in Reunion Island. Both cities took our breath away in an instant with the bright, colourful houses surrounded by the towering mountains of the island, and the clouds floating just above the lush forest canopies! 

Go wandering, hiking and even camping in the wild

The forests in Réunion Island are perfect to get lost in! There are almost no carnivorous animals making it very safe to even camp in the national parks all over the island. The tropical rainforests, delicate cloud forests and innumerable waterfalls scattered all around will make you feel so fresh and energetic!

Plan a personalised visit to Réunion Island with Anne from NamastéIndia

Swim in the most beautiful beaches in the World

No tropical island holiday is complete without beach days like these! The beaches in Reunion Island are absolutely beautiful, with white sand and turquoise blue water, and the coconut palm fringe swaying against the gentle sea breeze. And these beaches also happen to have some of the most luxurious resorts! 

Experience a glamorous stay in La Saline Les Baines, at Ness By D Ocean

Stunning roadtrips are an everyday thing here

Nearly every island highway is a special road to drive on: by the beach, through the villages, into forest patches, up through the mountains and down to the valleys and craters. The 400 Curve Road in Cilaos is a challenging but hugely rewarding route thanks to the beautiful view points and wild campsites all along.

Stunning waterfalls and adventure sports

Those magnificent waterfalls aren’t just for admiration, they are the best places to go Canyoning. There are so many activities to do like rapelling down from a tree into the lake, free-falling into a natural pool and sliding down rapids and natural waterslides, all while deep inside lush green forests! Can you imagine how awesome that could be?

Go Canyoning on Reunion Island with the expert team at Ricaric

Experience vintage themed luxury in the South

Reunion Island isn’t all about the outdoors alone; some of the cities have the best hotels you can stay in! And if you take a stroll into St. Pierre, the largest city on the Southern Coast, you’ll find charming alleys with colorful shops just waiting to be used as a movie setting.

Stay at the luxurious vintage hotel, Villa Delisle 

Visit an active volcano up close

Ever seen a volcano in eruption? The Piton Des Fournaise is one of the most active volcanoes in the Indian Ocean! It is also so easily accessible, that you can just drive up to a few kilometres from the tip and look at the lava flowing in all of its glory. Ah, mother nature is so stunning!

Explore lava tunnels on Reunion Island with the Team Ricaric

Experience the warmth of Africa’s Creole culture

Creole is a wonderful medley of African, French and Indian traditions that came together during the early colonial era. In the big cities like St. Denis, you’ll find grand Hindu Temples and classic European Cathedrals right by each other, and youthfull vibes blaring out from the candy grafitti across the street.

Plan a personalised visit to Réunion Island with Anne from NamastéIndia

How safe is it to visit Reunion?

It is probably the safest place in the Indian Ocean, thanks to the high standard of living and French governance! And those sharks in the sea? The lagoons are completely safe, thanks to the coral reefs at the outer edge. So swimming in those designated spots is totally peaceful. 

The only problem is, if you go to Reunion once, you may find yourself wanting to go back again and again to that absolutely stunning paradise!

Are you ready to go to Ile de La Reunion?