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Mahe Island

When you come from over the seas into the Seychelles, it will be on Mahé Island your plane will touch down. Of the Seychelles' 81,000 populace, over 90% make home in this biggest Seychelles island, thus it best represents the country’s culture. This is where you’ll find Victoria, the country’s capital and most citified, a major tourist destination.

Since tourism touched down on its runways not too long ago, the Seychellois have made sure that its voyage to "progress" has been slow and syncopated. Mahé is the placid compromise for those who want the best of both worlds: fabulous beaches, nature escapades, cultural expeditions, sophisticated shopping, ethnic village markets, luxury hotels and hang loose.

To see and do

Mahé island’s reputation is marked by its funky markets, the Botanical Gardens (with coco-de-mer, giant tortoises and orchids), the carbon copy of London's Vauxhall Bridge Tower Clock in Victoria, and its colonial-style mansions, cinnamon and vanilla plantations, and MOST importantly, its fantastic beaches.

Mahé's powdery white beaches number almost 70, most of which are cloaked by lush vegetation, plantations of coconut palms, tea, vanilla and cinnamon. From most of them you’ll find exceptional vistas of neighboring islands.

Shopping

Shopping, an exotic adventure? Yup, in Victoria city, Mahé, the shopping mecca of the Seychelles, where you find the wealth of both sophisticated and arcadian worlds. Other islands are more into quaint, local village markets. Mahé covers pretty much everything from shark teeth to perfumes, artwork to coconuts, including and featuring village markets. Though you may not go further than hotels for interesting finds, exploring small villages and their many roadside shops is well worth the extra mile. Get the feel of unfussy local color.

Restaurants

http://www.seychelles.travel/en/things_to_do/restaurants.php

Nightlife

If you are an avowed nightlifer, the closest you can get to cosmopolitan standard nightlife action can probably only be on Mahé Island. Oh, but even so, lights shut down earlier than typical. But, if you are audacious enough, why not try wildnightlife on the other islands with homey giant tortoises (may be a tad slow for city slickers), warblers, mysterious magpies, rare fruit bats or owls or perhaps some of the hundreds of other magical entities that jump off their vibrant folklore—zip, zam, zowie and swoosh!

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