Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Mauritius can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Mauritius itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
No vaccinations are compulsory for most visitors to Mauritius, but you should be up to date on routine shots (MMR, tetanus-diphtheria, polio, flu) and doctors commonly recommend hepatitis A and typhoid, plus hepatitis B for longer stays. A yellow fever certificate is required only if you arrive from, or transited for more than 12 hours through, a country with yellow fever risk. There is no malaria risk, but dengue and chikungunya occur, so pack strong insect repellent.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Mauritius, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
Mauritius blends Hindu, Muslim, Creole, Chinese and Christian communities, and respect for religious spaces matters most here. Do remove your shoes before entering Hindu temples and mosques, cover shoulders and knees, and ask before photographing people, worshippers or ceremonies. Do use your right hand to pass money or food, and accept tea or snacks if offered in someone’s home. Don’t sunbathe topless (it is illegal on public beaches), don’t wear swimwear away from the beach, and avoid eating beef near Hindu families or pork around Muslims. Public displays of affection are best kept modest for all couples, and women will feel more comfortable in rural areas wearing loose, covering clothes.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Mauritius.
- Dholl puri Thin flatbread stuffed with ground yellow split peas, rolled around bean curry, rougaille and chutney. It came with Indian indentured laborers and is now the island’s favorite street breakfast, sold from bike stalls for a few rupees.
- Rougaille A slow-cooked tomato sauce with onion, garlic, thyme and chili, served with sausage, salted fish, chicken or seafood. Its French Creole roots make it a staple in nearly every Mauritian home.
- Gateaux piments Crunchy fried chili cakes made from split peas, herbs and green chili. Eaten hot from a paper bag or tucked into a buttered baguette, they are the classic Mauritian snack.
- Vindaye Fish or octopus fried, then marinated in mustard seed, turmeric, garlic and vinegar. The sharp, tangy flavor reflects the island’s Indian and Creole mix.
- Mine frit Stir-fried noodles with vegetables, egg and chicken or shrimp, a legacy of the Chinese community and a cheap lunch found in every town.
- Biryani Spiced rice layered with meat and potatoes, cooked in huge pots for weddings and Muslim celebrations and sold by the portion in Port Louis.
- Alouda A sweet, cold milk drink with basil seeds and agar jelly, the go-to cooler at the Port Louis Central Market.
Tap water in Mauritius is treated and many locals drink it, though plenty of households boil or filter it, especially after heavy rain or cyclones when supplies can become cloudy. Travelers are generally advised to stick to bottled or filtered water to avoid stomach upsets. A bottle with a built-in filter is a cheap way to cut plastic waste while staying safe.
The main language in Mauritius is
Mauritian Creole. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Mauritian Creole skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for Mauritius includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - is the official language of parliament and schooling in Mauritius, so signs, menus and anyone working in tourism in Port Louis, Grand Baie or Flic en Flac will handle it comfortably. Younger Mauritians and guesthouse staff usually speak it well, though day-to-day life runs in Mauritian Creole (Kreol), and in rural villages you may find older people more at ease in Creole or French. French helps most by far, since it dominates newspapers, TV and casual conversation. Learn a few Kreol basics like “bonzour” (hello), “mersi” (thank you) and “komie sa?” (how much?), and keep an offline French pack in Google Translate for markets and bus conductors.
Money & Payments
The local currency of Mauritius is MUR (₨).
The currency in Mauritius is the Mauritian rupee (Rs), at roughly Rs 45 to 47 per US$1. ATMs from banks such as MCB and SBM are easy to find in towns, malls and the airport, though rural villages may have none, and local fees are usually Rs 100 to 250 per withdrawal on top of your own bank’s charges. Visa and Mastercard work in hotels, supermarkets, malls and most restaurants, but buses, street food, markets and small guesthouses expect cash. Euros are the easiest foreign currency to exchange, with US dollars a close second, so either is fine to bring as a backup. Change money at banks, the airport exchange counters or licensed bureaus, which offer fair rates, and never with people on the street.
Tipping in Mauritius is appreciated but not expected, and many hotels and upscale restaurants already add a service charge to the bill. Where no service charge is included, leaving around 10% for good restaurant service is generous, and rounding up taxi fares or giving Rs 50 to 100 to tour guides and boat crews is a kind gesture. Street food stalls and buses involve no tipping at all.
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.