The vanilla plantation in the town of Saint Julien d'Hotman in the northern half of the island is one of the most popular tourist destinations.

Despite the fact that I am not very interested in plants and botany, I really liked the vanilla plantation and can definitely recommend it as a stop during a road-trip around the island.

If you're heading more south, visit the Domaine Saint Aubin plantation and rum distillery, which I liked even more!

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Plantation tour with tasting

You can only visit the vanilla plantation with a guided tour, but it doesn't take that long and the interpretation is very interesting.

During the tour you will not only see fields of vanilla, but also coffee, cocoa, many fruits and herbs.

You can taste some of the fruit directly from the trees and at the end of the tour you can taste sugar cane juice and handmade jams. My clear favourite was the tamarind marmalade!

There is a rather large gift shop at the reception with souvenirs and products directly from the plantation. Be prepared for some pretty high prices though.

Entrance fees and opening hours

The tour of the vanilla plantation takes about 45 minutes and we recommend booking online via the official website: plantationvanille.mu.

If you come without a reservation, you may have to wait more than an hour for a free guide. However, I was lucky and didn't make a reservation and didn't wait even 5 minutes.

It is open every day from 8am-5pm.

The tour costs 400 mur per person.

How to get there

You can find the vanilla plantation near the town of Central Flacq in the interior of the island, and it's easy to get there mainly by car.

Bus line 176 passes through the village 1-2 times an hour, connecting Central Flacq and Port Louis.

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