Free things to do in Réunion Island

What “free” means on this island

Réunion is not a cheap destination overall — car rental, fuel for mountain roads and imported goods push daily costs up compared with mainland France. But a surprising share of what makes the island worth visiting costs nothing to see: a lagon to swim in, a volcanic belvedere, a colonial-era waterfront, a church spared by lava. This page is a list of places and views, not a budgeting guide — for the practical side of cash, cards and daily spending, see money and payments on Réunion. Here, every entry answers one question: does it cost anything to walk in and look?

Saint-Denis: the Barachois and rue de Paris

Saint-Denis, the island’s capital in the north, rewards an unhurried walk far more than a checklist visit. The Barachois is the old seafront promenade, lined with cannons and benches facing the Indian Ocean, and it costs nothing to sit there at sunset. A few minutes inland, the rue de Paris runs past 19th-century Creole townhouses with their timber shutters and wrought-iron balconies — some restored, some quietly decaying, all free to photograph from the street.

The same walk can take you past the Grande Mosquée Noor-e-Islam, the oldest mosque in France, and past Tamil temples and Chinese pagodas within a few blocks of each other. None of these require an entry ticket to appreciate from outside; a few welcome respectful visitors inside during open hours, with modest dress expected. Budget half a day for Saint-Denis on foot — parking is easier in the early morning before the port and administrative traffic builds up. For a fuller walking route, see things to do in Saint-Denis.

The lagon: Saint-Gilles-les-Bains, l’Hermitage and La Saline-les-Bains

The west coast lagon is the island’s single best free activity, and also where the safety rules matter most. Saint-Gilles-les-Bains, l’Hermitage and La Saline-les-Bains share a protected coral lagon, shielded from the open ocean by a barrier reef — calm, shallow in places, and free to enter at any public beach access point. Bring your own mask and snorkel and you can watch fish and the occasional turtle without paying for a boat trip.

This is also the honest safety point: swimming and water sports outside the lagon and outside officially supervised or protected zones are banned by prefectural order, because of shark risk that has affected the west coast for over a decade. That is not a suggestion — it is enforced, and it is the reason the lagon beaches matter so much: they are the reliable place to swim safely, free or otherwise. Don’t walk on the coral, and use reef-safe sunscreen; the Réserve naturelle marine de La Réunion protects this same stretch of water. For the full picture on where the ban applies, read where can you swim in Réunion Island and is it safe to swim in Réunion — sharks and beaches.

If you want to see what lives beyond the reef without paying for a full-day charter, a short guided outing is the middle ground between free shore snorkeling and a private boat:

a half-day snorkeling trip with turtles off Saint-Gilles-les-Bains

For things to do in Saint-Gilles beyond the beach — markets, the port, sunset spots — there’s a dedicated guide, and best beaches in Réunion Island ranks the lagon options against the black-sand and wilder beaches further south and east.

The Maïdo: a free viewpoint over Mafate

The Maïdo belvedere, at around 2,200 metres above Saint-Paul, is a public road-end lookout with no admission charge, and it delivers one of the island’s most striking views: the cirque of Mafate dropping away below, its isolated ilets visible but reachable only on foot — there is no road down into Mafate itself, whatever the parking area at the top might suggest. The drive up from Saint-Paul takes roughly an hour on a winding mountain road, and that is the real cost of this free stop: time, not money.

Go early. Cloud typically starts building from around mid-morning and can erase the view within thirty minutes, so a viewpoint that costs nothing can still waste a whole trip if you arrive at noon. Bring a layer — it’s noticeably cooler at altitude than on the coast. For hiking options that start from the same area, see Maïdo and Mafate guided hikes, and for planning a multi-day trek into the cirque itself, hiking in Mafate: planning guide.

Sainte-Rose: Anse des Cascades and Notre-Dame-des-Laves

On the wet, green east coast, Sainte-Rose holds two free sights worth the drive. The Anse des Cascades is a coconut-grove picnic area where several small waterfalls drop straight into the ocean — free to walk around, with no facilities beyond basic paths and a car park. Nearby, the Notre-Dame-des-Laves church is one of the island’s quieter, more affecting free stops: the 1977 lava flow from Piton de la Fournaise split around the building and stopped at its door, leaving the church standing while the surrounding neighborhood was destroyed.

Be realistic about the drive: from the west coast, this is two hours or more one way along the coast road, longer if you detour through the interior. It rarely works as a standalone half-day trip — pair it with other stops along the east coast rather than treating it as a quick errand. See how to see the Trou de Fer waterfall for another free-to-view (though harder to reach) east-side natural feature, and best waterfalls and natural pools in Réunion for the fuller list.

Markets and everyday Creole life

Walking through a local market costs nothing, and it’s one of the more direct ways to see the island’s mixed Creole, Tamil, Chinese and Malagasy heritage without booking anything. The Saint-Pierre forain market on Saturday mornings is the best known, spreading through the town center with produce, spices, textiles and food stalls; smaller markets run in most towns on other days. Tasting samples is often welcomed, buying is of course not free, but browsing is. For the food side of this, Réunion Island rum distilleries and Creole food covers what’s worth tasting and where.

What’s genuinely paid — and shouldn’t be confused with this list

A few well-known sights are ticketed and don’t belong on a free-things list, even though they sit close to free ones. The Cité du Volcan in Bourg-Murat, a volcanism museum useful on a foggy day near the volcano route, charges admission. The Aquarium de La Réunion, near the Saint-Gilles lagon, also charges admission. Both are worth the price for many visitors, but they’re a different category from a public beach or a roadside viewpoint — budget for them separately rather than assuming a “free day” covers everything nearby.

A simple free-vs-paid comparison

Sight	Cost to visit	Real time cost
Barachois and rue de Paris, Saint-Denis	Free	Half a day on foot
Lagon beaches, Saint-Gilles / l’Hermitage / La Saline	Free (lagon access)	Flexible; best mid-morning to late afternoon
Maïdo viewpoint	Free	About 1 hour drive up from Saint-Paul, go early
Anse des Cascades and Notre-Dame-des-Laves, Sainte-Rose	Free	2+ hours’ drive one way from the west coast
Local markets (Saint-Pierre and others)	Free to browse	A morning; markets wind down by early afternoon
Cité du Volcan	Paid	Near Bourg-Murat, good bad-weather option
Aquarium de La Réunion	Paid	Near Saint-Gilles, easy to combine with the lagon

Getting between free sights without overspending

None of these places are close together, and Réunion’s kilometres are misleading in the mountains — a short distance on the map can mean an hour of hairpin driving. A rental car is close to essential for stringing several free stops into one day; without one, the Car Jaune bus network connects the coastal towns but moves slowly toward the Hauts and doesn’t reach the Maïdo. See getting around Réunion Island and driving in Réunion Island for what to expect on the road, and Réunion Island without a car if you’re planning around public transport.

If you’d rather see the coast from the water without a full boat charter, a shorter cruise is a reasonable middle-cost option between a free beach day and a private outing:

a short sea trip along the west coast by boat

And for visitors who want to see the whole island’s geography in one guided day rather than piecing it together themselves, an organized island tour covers the geography this page describes on foot, in a single booked day:

a full-day guided tour covering the island’s main regions in 13 stops

Building a free day into a longer trip

A day built entirely around free sights works best as one stop within a longer stay rather than the whole plan — Réunion’s paid activities (helicopter flights, canyoning, diving) are a large part of why people come. For a first structure, see one day in Réunion Island or a weekend in Réunion Island, and for the wider cost picture beyond this list, Réunion Island on a budget and Réunion Island trip cost go into rental cars, gîtes and meals in more depth. First-time visitors unsure where to base themselves should start with Réunion Island for first-time visitors.

If whale season overlaps with your trip, roughly June to October, watching from a lagon-side beach or headland costs nothing, though sightings from shore are never guaranteed the way a boat-based encounter can improve your odds:

a guided boat outing to look for whales and dolphins

Frequently asked questions about free things to do in Réunion

Is it really possible to spend a day on Réunion without paying for activities?

Yes. A day combining the lagon at Saint-Gilles-les-Bains or l’Hermitage, a walk along the Barachois in Saint-Denis, or the Maïdo viewpoint costs nothing beyond fuel or bus fare. Meals, parking in a few spots and car rental remain separate costs.

Is the lagon at Saint-Gilles-les-Bains safe to swim in?

The supervised lagon areas at Saint-Gilles-les-Bains, l’Hermitage and La Saline-les-Bains are where swimming is allowed. Open-water swimming and surfing outside the lagon and protected zones are banned by prefectural order because of shark risk, and that ban is enforced island-wide.

Is the Maïdo viewpoint free to visit?

Yes, the Maïdo belvedere is a public road-end viewpoint with no entry fee. You do pay in time and fuel: it is roughly a one-hour drive up from Saint-Paul, and clouds often roll in from mid-morning, so an early start matters more than money here.

Are the Cité du Volcan and the Aquarium de La Réunion free?

No, both are ticketed attractions and are not part of this list. They pair well with a free day nearby — the Cité du Volcan sits close to the Plaine des Cafres, the aquarium close to the Saint-Gilles lagon — but budget for their entry price separately.

Can you visit Sainte-Rose and the Anse des Cascades for free?

Yes. The Anse des Cascades picnic area and the Notre-Dame-des-Laves church, spared by the 1977 lava flow, are both open access. Getting there from the west coast is a real drive of two hours or more one way along the east coast, so it works best as part of a longer east-coast day rather than a quick stop.

Do local markets in Réunion charge an entry fee?

No, walking through markets such as the Saint-Pierre forain market on Saturday or smaller town markets costs nothing. Buying produce, spices or rum obviously does, but browsing and tasting samples is free and one of the better low-cost ways to meet the island’s Creole, Tamil and Chinese food traditions.

Is hiking in Réunion free?

Most marked trails maintained by the ONF have no entry fee, which makes hiking one of the island’s best free activities. The costs that do apply are indirect: driving to a trailhead, mountain gîte accommodation for multi-day routes like the tour of Mafate, and checking trail closures before you set out.