Six Day Seychelles Itinerary for $2450 a Person

I booked our airfare for the Seychelles for $926 a person leaving from Toronto on July 1st, almost nine months in advance.  I thought any ticket to Africa under $1000 is a great deal.  Had I waited just one week, I could have saved $100 a ticket since prices went down and they stayed down for a good while.  Ethiopian Airlines was the carrier.

Since we left out of Toronto at 11:00 a.m., we would have had to have left Detroit before 5:00 a.m. to make the flight.  Instead, I booked a room on Priceline at the Hilton Garden Inn Toronto Airport at the cost of $67.97 to arrive the evening ahead.

I booked parking at Pearson in advance for two reasons.  1. It’s cheaper to book in advance and 2. Last year Freddie and I couldn’t find parking and nearly missed our flight.  Parking booked three weeks in advance resulted in ample space still available.  The prepaid cost for nine days was $103.

The itinerary I created is below.

Day 1

We arrived in Mahe and I secured our rental car from Sixt. I was charged two days of rental fees at the cost of $148.  We drove into Victoria to locate our accommodation.  We stayed at a guest house named Les Maisonettes.  We had an entire home for $113 booked on Priceline almost nine months in advance.  The owners were super friendly.  I didn’t see any hotels in the city; not to say they don’t exist, but I just didn’t see any, so staying in a guest house may be your only option.  We had dinner at the Coco Blue Restaurant which is on the second floor right by mini Big Ben clock.  We ate on the balcony, enjoyed the view and the food was amazing.

Day 2

After exploring the Hindu temple, and market of Victoria, we drove around the island of Mahe. We wanted to spend the night near the airport since we had an early flight to Praslin Island the next day. Again, we stayed at a place that had a bunch or apartments managed out of someone’s home. Green Palm Self Catering located in Anse aux Pins was book just over a week in advance on Priceline at the cost of $100.

A few views of beaches in Mahe:

Day 3

Up early to return the car and stand in line for our 15 minute flight to Praslin Island.  We booked our tickets on the Air Seychelles website almost two months in advance.  The plane only holds about 16 people and they seem to fill up.  So if you are planning to fly vs. taking the ferry to Praslin, I would book early.  The cost for the ticket is ridiculous since if one is a Seychelles citizen the cost is $40 RT.  Foreigners pay $148 each. Our flight departed at 6:55 and arrived in Praslin at 7:15. I could not believe that my bag, which was small, but too big to fit under the seat or in the overhead bin was allowed to be held on my lap.

Upon arriving in Praslin, we collected our rental car booked at Kreolcars for $136 and headed to our hotel.  Since we arrived so early, I was surprised that the hotel let us in our room well ahead of check-in time.  We stayed at the Palm Beach Hotel and paid $304 for two nights.  This room was booked on Hotels.com two months in advance.  Once we were settled in our room, we drove out to the Vallee de Mai UNESCO site for a tour of the palm forest.

We were surprised how much time we had left so we shifted our activities for our third day to the remaining part of this day and drove up the coast to Anze Lazio.

From Anse Lazio, we drove to the Grand Fond lookout.  Don’t waste your time going there.  The road turns into a one lane dirt road.  It would be very easy to puncture a tire and who knows how long it would be before help arrived. At the summit, it’s closed off and no admittance is allowed. Here’s a shot taken on the way down.

We still had plenty of daylight left so we stopped for lunch in town and arranged to go to Curieuse Island to see the tortoises. We paid $20 each to take a small boat to the island.  An hour or less there is plenty. There is nowhere to eat or to even get a drink in the heat.

Day 4

We drove to the jetty and took the ferry to La Digue. The cost was $67 round trip for two people.  Upon arriving in La Digue, there will be many people offering to rent bikes for $10 or $20 a piece.  I don’t recall which is the exact price.  When I saw a golf cart, there was no way I was riding a bike.  It was hot, there’s a lot of hills, I didn’t know what the main sites were and we were short on time.  I am convinced that if we had taken the bike option, we never would have seen the island in the time we had.  For the entire day’s use of the golf cart with a guide, we paid $110.  It was worth every penny to me to be under shade and not be exhausted. He even knew the best spots for photos.

Shots along the west coastline:

Shots of Grand Anse:

Our final stop was the famous beach, Source de l’Argent:

 

We had time to have dinner before returning to Praslin on the 5:45 p.m. ferry.

Day 5

Since we were able to see all the sites we planned for day 5 on day 3, we had little to do.  We drove along the south coast of Praslin Island.  A few shots of that area are below.

Before noon, we had pretty much covered the entire island.  We stopped for lunch and the thought of “Why wait for your 9:20 flight? There’s nothing left to see here.  Go to the airport and see if you can leave early.  Getting to Mahe before sunset would be wise.”  Finally, I gave in to the voice in my head and drove out to the airport.  For $26 a person, I was able to change our departure to 5:30 getting us to Mahe at 5:45 instead of 9:40.  When I was at the hotel by 7:00 p.m. instead of 10:30 p.m., I felt it was worth every cent.

When I arrived at the airport, I secured my third car rental.  Again, I rented from Sixt.

We spent our final nights at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort.  I paid $407 for two nights.  I booked this place on Hotels.com just two weeks before departure and lived to regret it since I saw the price increase quite a bit from the first time I checked.

Day 6

We spent a relaxing day by the pool at our hotel.

Day 7

Spent the day at the beach of our hotel and drove out to a very neat area to eat at La Plage restaurant.

 

In total, I spent $4900 on everything for the trip.  This includes $433 that I withdrew from an ATM and $793 that I put on my credit card for meals, gas, ferry, and other expenses.

 

Typical prices were:

Croque monsieur sandwich $20

Pepperoni pizza $18

Pepsi $3.45

Heineken $5.87

Hawaiian pizza $12.57

Fanta $3.00

Local beer $3.90

Cappucino $3.45

1 liter water $4.83

Pasta carbonara $12.00

~Bella