A drive around the island from Saint-Denis: the Salazie cirque and Hell-Bourg, the Route des Laves through the wild south, the volcano road up to Piton de la Fournaise, the 400 bends to Cilaos, then Saint-Pierre, the Saint-Gilles lagoon and the Maïdo viewpoint. Distances are short but the mountain roads are slow, and the heart of the island, Mafate, can only be explored on foot from the Col des Bœufs car park or the Maïdo.
| Days | Stop | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Saint-Denis | Start |
| Days 2 to 3 | Hell-Bourg | 51 km · 55 min |
| Day 4 | Saint-Philippe | 82 km · 1h40 |
| Days 5 to 6 | Saint-Pierre | 35 km · 45 min |
| Days 7 to 8 | Bourg-Murat (Plaine des Cafres) | 25 km · 30 min |
| Days 9 to 10 | Cilaos | 57 km · 1h15 |
| Days 11 to 13 | Saint-Gilles-les-Bains | 79 km · 1h25 |
| Day 14 | Back to Saint-Denis | 36 km · 35 min |
Road route calculated from the stops (OpenStreetMap). Driving times assume no stops and no traffic: add time for photo breaks.
From April to November, during the southern winter, drier and cooler: the best time for the cirques and the volcano. From December to April, the rainy and cyclone season: cirque roads close after rockfalls, and all traffic is banned during a red cyclone alert.
🚗 51 km · 55 min of driving from Saint-Denis
RN2 east to Saint-André, then the RD48 into the Salazie cirque: tight bends, closed from time to time after a rockfall.
🚗 82 km · 1h40 of driving from Hell-Bourg
RN2 via Saint-Benoît and Sainte-Rose, then the Route des Laves across the Grand Brûlé, rebuilt over 900 m after the 2026 lava flow.
🚗 35 km · 45 min of driving from Saint-Philippe
Coastal RN2 via Saint-Joseph, then the expressway to Saint-Pierre. Short detour to Grande Anse beach.
🚗 25 km · 30 min of driving from Saint-Pierre
RN3, the Route des Plaines, via Le Tampon: a steady climb from the coast to the Plaine des Cafres.
🚗 57 km · 1h15 of driving from Bourg-Murat
Down via Le Tampon to Saint-Louis, then the RN5, the road of 400 bends: 35 km, with narrow single-lane tunnels.
🚗 79 km · 1h25 of driving from Cilaos
RN5 downhill using engine braking, then the RN1, the Route des Tamarins, a 110 km/h expressway often jammed in the morning.
🚗 36 km · 35 min of driving from Saint-Gilles-les-Bains
Skip the wild south and Saint-Pierre: Hell-Bourg (2 nights), Bourg-Murat (2) for the volcano, Cilaos (1), then Saint-Gilles (2) with the Maïdo at dawn. The next day, take the Route du Littoral to the airport, outside rush hour.
| Small car, annual average | ≈ €25 a day |
|---|---|
| Small car (208 or similar), average | ≈ €30 a day |
| October, the dearest month | ≈ €39 a day |
| May, the cheapest month | ≈ €18 a day (Kayak, Sept. 2026) |
| Vehicle | City car or compact: easier to handle on the hairpins of Cilaos and Salazie. No 4x4 needed. |
|---|---|
| Where to pick it up | At Roland Garros Airport, in Sainte-Marie. It's a loop, so return it to the same desk. |
| Excess and deposit | Excess of €900 to €2,000 depending on the model with a local rental company; deposit of the same amount as a card pre-authorisation. |
| Age | 21 and 1 year's licence at Thrifty; from 18 with some local companies, young driver fee €160. |
| Card | Credit card in the main driver's name. American Express is sometimes refused for the deposit. |
⚠️ The deposit, equal to the excess and up to €2,000, is blocked on your credit card: check its limit before you leave.
A French département: the same highway code, penalty points and fines as in mainland France. Other licences: check whether an International Driving Permit is required.
As in mainland France. No motorways on the island: 2x2-lane expressways and mountain roads.
As signposted. 110 at most on the 2x2-lane roads (Route des Tamarins, 90 on some sections), 50 in towns.
0.2 g/l for probationary licences, as in mainland France.
Between La Grande Chaloupe and La Possession, only the seaward lanes are used in heavy rain: long jams.
Drive through Saint-Denis, Saint-Paul and Saint-Pierre outside rush hour. A 13 km jam was recorded one morning on the Tamarins.
RN5 to Cilaos: 400 bends, single-lane tunnels. Go down in a low gear, using engine braking.
The Plaine des Sables is crossed on an unsealed track with potholes: drive slowly. Set off early.
Announced 3 hours in advance. Cyclone season runs from December to April: follow Météo-France.
≈ €1.83 per litre of petrol, €1.68 for diesel (September 2026)
Price recorded in September 2026: it changes every week, sometimes by 10 to 20 cents in a month. Check it before you go.
⛽ 365 km at 7 l per 100 km: about €50 at September 2026 prices, to share between passengers.
Maximum prices set every month by prefectoral order. Fill up before the volcano road and the climbs into the cirques.
| Roads | No tolls on the island |
|---|---|
| Petit Col car park (Col des Bœufs) | €5 a day, €14 a night, guarded |
| Saint-Denis, Saint-Paul, Saint-Pierre town centres | Paid parking on weekdays (pay-and-display machine or PayByPhone) |
| Natural sites (Maïdo, Pas de Bellecombe) | Free parking |
| Route des Laves (RN2) | Cut by the lava flow of 13 March 2026, reopened on 28 May |
|---|---|
| Piton de la Fournaise caldera (Enclos) | Closed during eruptions; partly reopened since 7 May 2026 |
| Route du Littoral | Switched to the seaward side in heavy rain; fallback via La Montagne (RD41) |
| Cilaos road (RN5) | Occasional closures after rockfalls, mostly in the rainy season |
| Salazie road (RD48) | Closures of a few hours after rockfalls |
| All roads | All traffic banned during a red cyclone alert |
Allow 10 to 14 days for this loop of 7 stages and 13 nights: Salazie, the wild south, Saint-Pierre, the volcano, Cilaos and the west coast. The stages are short in kilometres but slow in the mountains, and the hikes take whole days. In 7 days, keep Salazie, the volcano, Cilaos and Saint-Gilles.
Car only: about €325 of car hire over 13 days for a small car (€25 a day, Kayak average), up to €510 in October. No tolls. About €50 of petrol at September 2026 prices for about 350 km from stage to stage, plus return trips. Add €5 to €14 for parking at the Col des Bœufs.
No: no road enters the Mafate cirque, you go in on foot or by helicopter. The two easiest access points are the Col des Bœufs, above Salazie (guarded Petit Col car park, €5 a day), and the Maïdo, from where a trail drops nearly 1,000 m to Roche-Plate.
Avoid driving from 07:00 to 09:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00 around Saint-Denis, on the Route du Littoral and on the Route des Tamarins. In heavy rain, the Route du Littoral keeps only the seaward lanes between La Grande Chaloupe and La Possession: allow plenty of time to reach the airport.
No. All the roads on the route are tarmacked, including the RN5 to Cilaos and the RD48 to Salazie. Only the end of the volcano road, on the Plaine des Sables, is a dirt track with corrugations, passable in a city car if you drive slowly. A small car copes better with the hairpins and tunnels.
From April to November, during the drier southern winter: the cirques and the volcano are more often clear in the morning. From December to April, the rainy and cyclone season brings road closures after rockfalls and, during a red cyclone alert, a total ban on driving, announced 3 hours in advance.
Driving rules, prices and closures checked in September 2026; hotels checked on OpenStreetMap and then on Booking. Rules change: read the official source before you leave, and check your own government's travel advice for the country. Stop photos: Wikimedia Commons, authors and licences under each image.
Off We Gooo road trip guide · offwegooo.com/en/road-trips/reunion-island · by Pierrick, updated 1 October 2026
