Seychelles – Travel Planning, Flight & Car Hire (Mahé, Praslin, La Digue)

For two weeks we explored the island world of the Seychelles and travelled the main island of Mahé as well as the two smaller islands Praslin and La Digue. How we planned our Seychelles trip and what you should think about in advance, we will tell you in the following article.

The destination Seychelles

If you hear the word Seychelles, you automatically think of white dream beaches, sun and palm trees as well as beach weddings and honeymoons. And that is indeed the case: the Seychelles is the epitome of an island paradise.

The Seychelles is a group of islands inthe Indian Ocean that belong to Africa topographically and are spread up to 1,600 km from the African continent on a sea area of about 450,000 km2. About 10 of them (455 km2) occupy the islands. The Seychelles region consists of a total of 115 islands (42 granite islands and 73 coral islands), which are divided into the two main groups Inner Islands and Outer Islands.

Seychelles: Book a package or on your own?

The Seychelles is a destination that can be booked completely on your own. For example, we like to search for weeks for the perfect route, the most beautiful sights, the best photo spots and hotels with the right value for money. We have received helpful tips for this on the one hand via travel reports in other blogs, but also in specialized Facebook groups. For example, the groups “Wonderful Seychelles” and “Seychelles Infos” helped us. When planning our trip, our anticipation for the holiday increases even more and we know exactly what to expect, because we have done a lot of research in advance.

But if you don’t trust this or who simply lacks the necessary time for your own research, you can rely on the help of a tour operator specializing in the Seychelles, such as SeyVillas, who help to create an individual itinerary with flexibility, security and absolute comfort. Whether you can book the complete route from A to Z including flights, hotels, transfers on site and all other details (“all-round carefree package”) or only parts of it, it is up to everyone. If you want to know roughly what costs can be incurred for a Seychelles trip, you can create a trip online yourself with just a few clicks with the island hopping configurator from SeyVillas and view the costs directly. This is perfect to get an overview of the necessary travel budget.

Which islands should i visit?

From our point of view, in 2 weeks you can combine the 3 main islands Mahé, Praslin and La Digue in one trip. The beauty of this is that these islands are all very different and you can get to know several facets of the Seychelles. Mahé is the largest island and hub of the Seychelles: here lies the capital Victoria and thus the administrative & economic center of the island republic as well as the international airport. The islands of Praslin and La Digue, on the other hand, are rather quieter, with La Digue being served by many day and cruise tourists. Therefore, it can quickly become very crowded on the small island. If you have a little more time, you can of course explore many other islands such as Cerf Island, Silhouette Island, Curieuse, Félicité or Fregate Island as part of day trips or longer stays.

The best time to visit the Seychelles

The Seychelles is generally a year-round destination,with the year divided into a dry and rainy season. In the dry season (May to October) stronger winds blow due to the south-east monsoon, which stirs up the sea. In the rainy season (November to April) you have to expect increased rainfall but also warmer, windier temperatures. However, the rain showers are usually short and intense, i.e. often the sun shines again after half an hour. The Seychelles is located in the tropical climate zone, i.e. there is a high humidity all year round.

We were very satisfied with our travel month of February. Even though the weather forecast actually predicted 14 days of rain, we didn’t have that much rain in the end. On Mahé it had rained short and intense every day, often even at night. On praslin and La Digue, on the other hand, we had almost no rain at all. So perfect 🙂

What is the best way to get to the Seychelles?

The Seychelles is served by many different airlines. The only direct flight from Germany is offered by the airline Condor. Within 9-10 hours you can get directly to the Seychelles from Frankfurt – it can’t be more comfortable and easier. Depending on the time of travel, the price varies between 500 and over 1,000 EUROS. Other alternatives include stops in Abu Dhabi (Etihad), Addis Ababa (Ethiopian), Doha (Qatar), Dubai (Emirates), Istanbul (Turkish Airlines). There are also direct flights from Vienna, Zurich, London, Johannesburg or Paris.

Our direct flight with Condor to the Seychelles

We decided to fly directly with Condor from Frankfurt because we wanted a direct flight without annoying changeovers and waiting time at the transfer airport. We were relatively flexible from the travel time, but wanted to escape the cold winter months of January/February, so we asked on the Condor page about the airfares during this travel period. And behold: For February we had found an unbeatably cheap offer for a whopping 500 EUR including luggage and great flight times. We didn’t really have to think long and the click on the booking button was done within a few minutes 🙂

The different booking classes of Condor

On a flight with Condor, there are four different booking categories available:

– Economy Light (6 kg carry-on luggage, standard menu, soft drinks, limited film selection)
– Economy Class (6 kg carry-on baggage, 20 kg checked baggage, standard menu, soft drinks, limited film selection)
– Premium Class (10 kg carry-on baggage, 25 kg checked baggage, premium menu, soft drinks & alcoholic beverages, premium entertainment, seat reservation, magazines)
– Business Class (12 kg carry-on baggage, 30 kg checked baggage, sports luggage, gourmet menu, exclusive beverage selection, premium entertainment, seat reservation, magazines, priority package, lounge access)

We booked the normal Economy Class fare because we both wanted to take our suitcases with us. As a rule, this fare costs only slightly more than the Economy Light fare. The disadvantage with this fare is that seat reservation is not included. Depending on the desired seat (middle row, window or with more legroom at the emergency exit), a further 24.99 euros up to 89.99 euros per person per route will be added.

Condor’s Economy Class

On the outward flight we sat on a 2-seat in Economy Class. To be even more comfortable to fly in this booking class, you can easily book certain amenities in advance. This includes, for example, the Premium Entertainment program for just under 8 EUR or a premium menu for 18 euros. Blankets and pillows are also available here and the crew has also often gone through drinks.

Condor’s Premium Economy Class

On the return flight we were allowed to sit in the premium economy thanks to an upgrade. We already know this booking category from our Mauritius flight last year. Here you can look forward to an improved legroom and a stronger inclination of the backrest, in addition to a blanket and an extra-wide cushion there are also individually adjustable headrests: Falling asleep is not so difficult here 😉 A so-called amenity kit is already available on the square. Usually this is a small bag, but this time it was a reusable coffee-to-go mug, in which useful accessories for the flight, such as stockings, a toothbrush set, earplugs, headphones and an eye mask were to be found. At the beginning of the flight, a flight attendant came by with a small selection of free magazines. Here you get, for example, the colorful, the gala, the star or the focus.

On a 10-hour flight, the entertainment program is certainly the most important thing on board, besides food and convenience. Condor’s Premium Class features a 9-inch monitor with a selection of about 60 movies, over 100 TV series & documentaries, and an extensive range of music. Unfortunately, many older films were also included in the film selection. We would have liked to see a little newer films. Nevertheless, we found what we were looking for and were able to spend our time during the flight very well.

Of course, the culinary catering is not neglected on such a long-haul flight. There was a small menu in the seat pockets at the beginning, so you knew what to expect. There is also a large selection of free drinks including some alcoholic beverages.

Entry and visa requirements for the Seychelles

German nationals do not need a visato enter the Seychelles. A residence permit will be issued upon arrival at the border. On our passport stamp we had seen that we had been granted a stay of 3 months. For entry, passport, return or onward travel ticket, hotel booking and sufficient financial resources are required (approx. 150 USD per day). We did not carry out any checks on hotel bookings or financial resources upon entry.

On the plane, we received two entry, customs and health forms from the crew shortly before landing, which we filled out on the plane and submitted upon arrival. It should be noted that imports of plants and parts of plants as well as animals and animal products are prohibited. More information can be found on the website of the Foreign Office.

Our rental car for the Seychelles

It quickly became clear to us that we would book a rental car for the whole time on the two islands of Mahé and Praslin, because we didn’t just want to lie in the hotel on the beach, but wanted to see a lot of the islands. Normally we book our rental cars for our holidays always via billiger-mietwagen.de. However, since we wanted to pick up our car on Mahé at the airport and drop it off at the ferry, and this combination was unfortunately not possible with billiger-mietwagen.de, we decided on a different provider.

The choice has fallen to Seychelles-info.com due to the very good price-performance ratio. It is always important to us that we have an unlimited number of kilometres and that an additional driver is included free of charge. And since there is left-hand traffic in the Seychelles, it was still important for us to book a rental car with automatic. The insurance cover was basically in order, but the self-allocation of EUR 500 was relatively high. It is good if, like us, such a sum can then be covered by supplementary insurance (e.g. via credit card).

For Mahé we rented a Hyundai Grand i10 for 38 EUR per day. At the airport we were already expected by an employee of “Okap Rent a Car” who received us and handed us the car. We had arranged our return for the port in Victoria – here we could simply park the car in the parking lot at the port terminal. Since there was no employee on site, we locked the car as agreed in advance and simply put the key under the doormat 🙂

For Praslin we chose a Kia Picanto for 40 EUR per day. When we arrived in Praslin by ferry from Mahé at Jetty, a “Bliss Car Hire” employee was already waiting for us and handed us the car. The delivery four days later we had agreed for the same place, because we wanted to transfer by ferry to La Digue. At the time of the return, a member of staff was on site who checked and received the car.

All in all, the complete booking and car rental process was super smooth and everything worked out wonderfully. Both cars were in perfect condition.

Our 14-day itinerary

We always create a very comprehensive Excel table for each of our holidays, in which we include all relevant information (routes, flights, times, hotels, car rental, activities). of the respective costs. So we always have a very good overview of what the trip costs in the end. Here is a small excerpt from our two-week trip to the Seychelles:

Our travel plan for the Seychelles

Our travel pharmacy

In addition to a foreign health insurance, a well-equipped travel pharmacy is indispensable for us during every holiday and we can only recommend it to everyone. Something can happen in between (cut injuries, mosquito bites, diarrhea, etc.) and we want to be prepared for that. Before each trip we check our stock and order all missing items mostly online at shop APOTHEKE, the number 1 of the online pharmacies. The range is huge: you can get more than 100,000 original products around the clock, at much lower prices compared to stationary pharmacies. In addition, you do not have to drive to a pharmacy, but get the items delivered comfortably to your home. For us, two huge advantages.

What do we always have in our travel pharmacy?

Our travel pharmacy

We have always got along very well with this individually compiled travel pharmacy. In any case, it also makes sense to inform yourself in advance about the respective medical care situation of the destination. Depending on how this is positioned, you might have to add a bit to your own travel pharmacy. A good overview can be found e.g. on the website of the Foreign Office.

Our travelogues from the Seychelles