Réunion

Getting there & around

Bus & tram

Bus

Réunion’s major towns and many of the little ones in between are linked by bus. The island’s bus service is knows as Car Jaune (0810 123 974) and has distinctive yellow buses. The main gare routière (bus station) is on Blvd Lancastel on the St-Denis seafront.

Buses on most routes run between about 6am and 7pm, with a limited number of services on Sunday. For a few sample fares, you’ll pay €7 from St-Denis to St-Pierre, €3.50 from St-Denis to St-Benoît and €7 from St-Benoît to St-Pierre via Plaine-des-Cafres. You can pay the driver as you board. To get the bus to stop, you ring the bell or clap your hands twice loudly.

Car Jaune provides regional minibus services for several areas on the island; these services are known as Ti’ Car Jaune (from petit; ‘small’). Ti’ Car Jaune buses run from St-Benoît, St-Joseph, Ste-Rose, St-Leu and St-Paul. These convoluted local routes can be fairly confusing, particularly if you don’t speak much French. Of most use to travellers are the buses from St-André to Salazie, Salazie to Hell-Bourg, Grand Îlet and Le Bélier, and the buses from St-Louis to Cilaos, Îlet à Cordes and Bras-Sec.

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Air

Réunion has two international airports. The vast majority of flights come into Roland Garros International Airport (0262 48 81 81; www.reunion.aeroport.fr) about 10km east of St-Denis. Coming from Mauritius, you have the option of landing at Pierrefonds Airport (0262 96 80 00; www.grandsudreunion.org in French), in the south of the island near St-Pierre.

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Car & motorcycle

Car

With most attractions located in the hills, we strongly recommend hiring a vehicle. No other form of transport lets you explore the island’s secret backwaters as a set of motorised wheels. There are some gorgeous runs, cruising along the island’s dramatic roads; heading into the mountains via the Cirques roads is a magnificent experience. The superbly engineered roads snake through hairpin bends, up steep slopes and along sheer drops, surrounded all the while by glorious – and distracting – scenery.

The road system on the island is excellent and well signposted. Route Nationale 1 (RN1), the main road around the island, approaches international motorway standards in parts. Routes départementales, whose names begin with the letter D (or RD), are tertiary local roads, many of them very tortuous (use your horn!). By the time you read this, large chunks of the new Route des Tamarins, which will connect St-Paul to Étang-Salé-les-Bains (34km), will be completed. It will certainly reduce the horrendous traffic jams that plague the west coast.

The experience is likely to be marred somewhat by the local drivers, who insist on driving these roads at breakneck speeds.

Petrol stations are very easy to come by. A litre of unleaded costs about €1.25. Most stations accept credit cards.

Hire

Good news: location de voitures (car hire) is extremely popular in Réunion, and rates are very reasonable. Most companies stipulate that the driver must be at least 21 (sometimes 23) years of age, have held a driving licence for at least a year, and have a passport or some other form of identification. EU citizens can drive on their national driving licence; from elsewhere, you’ll need an international driving licence.

Prices and regulations don’t vary much between the main international rental companies. Rates start at €40 per day (including insurance and unlimited mileage) and can drop as low as €30 per day or €25 if you rent for several days. Most companies require a credit card, primarily so that you can leave a deposit. They’ll probably ask you to leave a signed credit-card slip without a sum written on it as a deposit.

All major firms have a desk at the airports, and most offer delivery. They also have representatives in St-Gilles-les-Bains and St-Pierre. There are also plenty of cheaper independent operators around the island – tourist offices can give you details. Alternatively, Autoescape (0808 2341 362; www.autoescape.com) organises reliable car hire at favourable rates through partner firms.

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Bicycle

The traffic, the haste of most motorists and the steep and precarious nature of the mountain roads means that those considering cycling as a form of transport in Réunion should be prepared for some hair-raising and potentially dangerous situations.

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