Port Louis
Port Louis
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The capital, Port Louis, is the “London” of Mauritius. It’s the economic nerve centre of Mauritius and along with the tall sky scrapers of the business district, it boasts some fabulous shopping, restaurants that rank among the top in the country and some wonderful museums and colonial type architecture to boot. In short, no holiday to Mauritius is complete without visiting Port Louis. As you can imagine, Port Louis is a highly popular tourist destination, with the majority of points of interest located along the waterfront.
Major Points Of Interest In Port Louis
If you have a couple of days to spare, you can do and see a lot of the things that Port Louis is famous for.
- Port Louis Casino – located along Caudan waterfront is the interestingly crafted Casino. It’s shaped like a ship and is quite popular with tourists and locals alike. You wont be able to get in with your baggy shorts and flip flops though – a smart casual dress code is in place.
- Museums In Port Louis – There are two major museums within Port Louis. The Natural History Museum (Chaussee St) is free to enter and offers a collection of mostly extinct birds including the Dodo (by far the most notable). The other museum is the Blue Penny Museum located along the Caudan waterfront. Admission is not free here, but it’s worthwhile going as it displays the history of Mauritius from it’s earliest days to the present – and includes various photos, maps and other artefacts from the different era’s. There is
- by garybembridge under CC BY with wpseopix.com
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also a PhotographyMuseum (Old Council St) and the small Mauritius Postal Museum (Pl du Quai) to keep museum enthusiasts interested.
- by garybembridge under CC BY with wpseopix.com
- Central Market – One of the must see attractions of Port Louis is the often frenetic Central Market. There’s a lot here from little stalls selling T shirts to vegetables, spices, meat and fish. Some stalls also sell a variety of Ayurvedic (ancient Indian) medicines. Tourists also enjoy the variety of different handicrafts and souvenirs that are sold along some of the stalls – if you’re planning to buy, you can bargain your way to a better price. A word of warning – beware of pickpockets that operate in the Port Louis Central Market – keep your wallets and purses secured and don’t leave your bags open.You should also note that a lot of the designer gear you may buy is fake, and as you walk along you’ll often be approached by stall vendors quoting you special prices and deals.
- There are also other shopping options within Port Louis – there’s a Craft Market along Caudan Waterfront and there are book and music shops within the city too. If bartering and markets is not your thing, and you want to pick up some souvenirs without the stress of bartering then you can often find similar ones in the larger supermarkets for a fixed price.
- Chinatown – Interestingly, Chinatown is home to the Jummah Mosque which was built in 1853. As you might expect, there are not only a selection of Chinese shops selling provisions, vegetables, fruits and more – but the best Chinese food available in Port Louis (and in fact Mauritius) can be found here. You’ll also find the Pere Laval shrine within Chinatown – many tourists come here to pay respect and investigate the supposed healing powers of the shrine.
- Champ de Mars Racecourse – The Mauritius racing season begins in May and goes on to November. You can find races on most Saturdays during this season – the racecourse is packed on this day every week, and gambling on the races is big business in Mauritius.
- Theatre lovers can pop in to the Municipal Theatre which holds various plays and musical events.
- The Company Gardens has some wonderfully large banyan trees and is worth a visit – just do not be there past sunset as it transforms into a seedy red light district. It’s also ill advised for single ladies to be in this area by themselves.
Mauritius is a good example of a harmonious multi national society. There are some notable churches and Cathedrals to be seen – St Louis Cathedral and St James Cathedral are well worth a visit.Some of the most breathtaking views of the city can be seen from the Citadel (Fort Adelaide).
Getting around Port Louis is best done by taxi. It’s not especially expensive to hire taxi’s, and it is a far better option than trying to drive yourself within the city (the traffic can be intense, and the driving of the Mauritius public isn’t exactly world class).
Port Louis
Port Louis has a fantastic range of restaurants. There’s everything from Indian and Chinese to Creole and European, and there are options for all budget levels. There are some notable Indian restaurants – Namaste on the Caudan Waterfront is one of the more luxurious choices, and some tables offer spectacular harbour views which make for an enchanting dining experiences. If it’s a sunny day, eat on the balcony as some wonderful views of the port can be seen – a great photo opportunity to get pictures of the port area from an elevated position.
Near the shopping area is “Le Capitain” which has a decent menu and fairly reasonable prices.There are many budget options also available – a lot of the food stalls sell tasty snack foods such as samosas and other foods for low prices. Perhaps not ideal if you’re not the best of travellers food-wise, but can be good for snacking if you’re on an excursion.
Port Louis also has franchises such as Pizza Hut and MacDonalds for those that would rather play it safe.
For a cheaper option, Tandoori Express which whips up reasonable Indian fare for decent prices. It’s also on the waterfront. Another reasonable Indian restaurant is Carri Poule which has a marvellous lunch time buffet.
If you’re in the mood for Chinese, Canton is a budget restaurant which is tacky looking but that offers good quality Chinese food. Slightly more upmarket is Happy Valley which is along the Waterfront.
There are several other choices of restaurant too – La Rose des Vents is a pleasant seafood restaurant which is situated in the Labourdonnais Waterfront hotel. Black Steer is a popular steakhouse right on the Caudan Waterfront. For Creole dishes mixed in with a bit of Indian & Chinese also featuring on the menu, check out La Bonne Marmite. It’s located along Sir William Newton St and is a good choice for budget conscious travellers.
If you fancy a drink, Port Louis has a generous sprinkling of bars, mostly along the Waterfront complex, such as Keg & Marlin (which also has live music on Friday nights) and Sunset Café.
