Port Louis

Why go

A creole capital with four religions on one street — Hindu temples, mosques, churches and pagodas. Aapravasi Ghat — the depot where half a million indentured Indians landed, a UNESCO site. The Central Market — the best in the Indian Ocean, for street food as much as produce. Sugar and its consequences — the museum that explains the whole island honestly.

The character

Mauritius was uninhabited until the Dutch arrived in 1598, killed the dodo and left; the French built Port Louis from 1735 as a naval base, and the British took it in 1810 but kept French law and language. After slavery was abolished in 1835, the sugar estates imported indentured labour from India — about 450,000 people landed at the Aapravasi Ghat in Port Louis, and two-thirds of Mauritians descend from them. That sequence explains the island: a creole society with no indigenous population, where Bhojpuri, French, English and Kreol are all spoken and four religions share the calendar.

Port Louis itself is a working port and administrative capital of 150,000 that most visitors skip in favour of the beaches, which is a mistake. It has the best market on the island, a Chinatown, a horse racing track dating from 1812 — the oldest in the southern hemisphere — and a blue penny museum holding two of the rarest stamps in the world. The mountains rise directly behind the town, and Le Pouce can be climbed in a morning from the centre.

Places of character

Aapravasi Ghat — the stone steps where indentured workers first set foot; small, plain and essential. Central Market — two floors of produce, spices and street food; dholl puri from a stall for pennies. Blue Penny Museum — the 1847 stamps, shown for ten minutes an hour to protect them from light. Champ de Mars — racing since 1812, and a genuine national event on Saturdays in season. Caudan Waterfront — the modern harbour development, useful rather than charming, with the museum in it. Le Pouce — the thumb-shaped peak behind the city; two hours up, and Darwin climbed it in 1836.

The way to do it

Come on a weekday morning when the market and the port are working. Eat street food — dholl puri, gateaux piments, alouda — ahead of sitting down. Go to the Aapravasi Ghat before the beach, because it explains who you are meeting for the rest of the trip. And climb Le Pouce early if the weather is clear.

One perfect day

Up Le Pouce at six for the city, the harbour and the sugar plain from the thumb. Down for breakfast at the Central Market: dholl puri, a glass of alouda, and the fruit floor. Aapravasi Ghat mid-morning, an hour, quiet. Blue Penny Museum for the stamps at the top of an hour. Lunch of Chinese-Mauritian noodles in Chinatown. Afternoon at the Champ de Mars if it is a Saturday, or the botanical garden at Pamplemousses with its giant water lilies. Back for sunset over the harbour, and dinner of octopus curry in a small place downtown.

Grand hotels

Le Saint Géran — on the east coast, the island's first luxury hotel from 1975 and still the reference. Château de Labourdonnais — a restored 1856 colonial mansion inland, for lunch and not a bed.

When to go

Best expression: May to June and September to November — dry, mild and outside the cyclone window. Consider: January for Thaipusam Cavadee, one of the island's great festivals. Avoid if possible: January to March, the cyclone season, and the humid heat of February.

The frame

Ideal stay 1–2 nights in the capital, with a week on the island · Minimum a day trip · Best arrival by air; the capital is an hour from the airport · Airport MRU, 45 km · Walkability the centre yes · Best without a car in the city yes, on the island no