Getting Around Mauritius

The quick answer

Mauritius is small, the roads are good by regional standards, and you can reach almost anywhere from almost anywhere in a couple of hours. That single fact is why this island suits travelers who do not want to spend a holiday moving between hotels.

Buses

There is a genuine public bus network covering the island, run by several operators, and it is cheap and well used. Buses are the everyday way people travel and they connect the main towns and most villages.

What to expect: cash fares, conductors, no timetable you will find useful in advance, and slow progress with frequent stops. For a visitor it is a real option for short hops and a poor one for a day with several destinations.

The Metro Express

A modern light rail line runs through the conurbation between Port Louis and the towns of the central plateau. It is clean, fast and straightforward, and for the Port Louis to Curepipe corridor it is the best way to travel. It does not go to the beaches.

Taxis

Widely available, and the usual way visitors get around. Agree the fare before you set off, since meters are not reliably used. Hotels will arrange taxis and that is the simplest route, particularly at night.

Taxi drivers frequently offer day tours, and many are excellent. Treat it as you would any other arrangement made informally: agree the itinerary and the price in advance and in full, and remember the FCDO's advice not to do business with street or beach vendors, which is about the same class of transaction. See Mauritius Currency and Money Guide.

Hiring a car

This is a practical option here in a way it is not in most of this program, because the island is small and the road network is developed.

• Driving is on the left. If you are used to the right, the roundabouts are where it catches you.
• Roads are generally good, with a motorway spine. Village roads are narrow, and pedestrians, dogs and cyclists share them.
• Rain is heavy and drainage is variable, particularly on the plateau.
• Police may ask to see your identification, including your driving license, so carry it.
• Park in supervised or hotel parking rather than on a quiet street: theft from vehicles is part of the petty-crime picture the FCDO describes.

Boats

Boat trips to the offshore islets and along the coast are a large part of what people do here. Use registered operators, not an arrangement made on the sand. Check that life jackets are present and that the operator is insured.

Rodrigues

Rodrigues is part of Mauritius and lies several hundred kilometers away. It is reached by air, and by a much longer sea passage. It is a genuinely different place with its own character and its own UNESCO-inscribed sega tradition, and it is not a day trip. See Mauritius Festivals and Celebrations.

How long things actually take

Plan on the map being roughly honest, which is rare in this program. Airport to the west coast is a straightforward transfer; Port Louis to the south coast is an easy morning. The constraint on a Mauritian day is usually opening hours and heat rather than distance.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Mauritius safety and security: crime, the accommodation-registration advice, drug law, police investigations and the decriminalization of same-sex sexual activity in October 2023. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Mauritius travel advice, which warns against travel to no part of the country. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• US Department of State: the Mauritius travel advisory, currently Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, for crime. Accessed 14 September 2026.