Practical tips
Where to stay on Réunion: west, south or the highlands?
La Réunion7 minby Sejournia
The catalogue lists 42 places to stay across 14 communes. Twenty-three sit in the west, eight in the south, four in the Tampon highlands. The side comes before the lodging.
Réunion fits in a seventy-kilometre rectangle. You can cross it in a day, and yet the side you sleep on changes the trip more than the standard of the lodging. The north holds the airport, the west the lagoon, the south the volcanic coast, the centre the Tampon highlands.
Seven nights work out on one or two sides. Changing every other day means spending your mornings in the car, which nobody regrets until they have tried it.
The west, the lagoon
Twenty-three places line up from La Possession to Saint-Leu, clustered around Saint-Paul, Saint-Gilles-les-Bains and La Saline-les-Bains. It is the driest side, the one where the lagoon stays calm behind the reef.
The cost shows in daily use: the coastal road fills at the end of the day, and the beaches closest to the villages are never empty at weekends. Places set back, up in the Saint-Gilles heights, trade the view for quiet.
The south, the volcanic coast
Eight places, from Petite-Île to Saint-Pierre by way of L'Étang-Salé and Saint-Louis. The beaches are shorter, often black sand, and the swell arrives unfiltered: you read the water before you go in.
The Tampon highlands
Four places in Le Tampon, three villas and a house, sleeping 4 to 16. The commune spreads over the volcano's slopes, and the road up to the Plaine des Cafres starts in its town. You sleep cool there, with fog for a neighbour.
Salazie, Cilaos and Mafate
Two guesthouse rooms in Hell-Bourg, in the cirque of Salazie, and one villa in Cilaos. Both cirques are reached by road, never from the coast. Mafate has no road at all: you walk in and sleep in a mountain hut.
| Places | What you gain | What you lose | |
|---|---|---|---|
| West | 23 | Lagoon, beaches, services | Busy road in the evening |
| South | 8 | Volcano, wild coast, quiet | Swimming depends on the swell |
| Tampon highlands | 4 | Cool air, start for the volcano | Sea thirty minutes away or more |
| Cirques | 3 | Walking, relief, nights at height | Every drive counts twice |
The catalogue's four sides, compared on what they ask of you.
West
- Places
- 23
- What you gain
- Lagoon, beaches, services
- What you lose
- Busy road in the evening
South
- Places
- 8
- What you gain
- Volcano, wild coast, quiet
- What you lose
- Swimming depends on the swell
Tampon highlands
- Places
- 4
- What you gain
- Cool air, start for the volcano
- What you lose
- Sea thirty minutes away or more
Cirques
- Places
- 3
- What you gain
- Walking, relief, nights at height
- What you lose
- Every drive counts twice
You do not pick a side for the view. You pick it for what you agree not to see.
- Count beach days and walking days before you look at the listings.
- Keep to one side for seven nights or fewer, two at most beyond that.
- Check the real distance between the lodging and the place you refuse to miss.
- Book early in the west between June and September, when the coast fills up.
What visitors say
2 comments
Sabrina
We tried two sides over eight nights: three in Saint-Gilles, five in Le Tampon. The drive between them cost us a morning.
Yann
The south is quieter in the evening, but you accept a drive to reach the lagoon.
Read next
42 gîtes in Réunion
Each page shows size, capacity and price before any booking request.