Rodrigues is about 18 km end to end, which sounds like a place you could see in a day. You can't — the roads climb and wind, the best beaches hide at the end of footpaths, and the island rewards slowness. Here is how we'd actually spend 3, 5 or 7 days, built around one simple rule: one part of the island per day.
How should you structure a Rodrigues itinerary?
One area per day. The island is small but hilly, so hopping between coasts all day means riding more than being anywhere. Base yourself anywhere you like — nowhere is far — sort out your wheels for the whole stay before you arrive, and give each day one corner of the island: the east coast and its beaches, the interior and its viewpoints, the lagoon, the town.
Two of these days depend on timing rather than preference: Port Mathurin is at its best when the market is on, and a boat day needs the lagoon's cooperation — so keep those two flexible and fix the beach and viewpoint days around them.
| Day | Where | The heart of it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | East coast | Pointe Coton, then the coastal walk past St François to hidden Trou d'Argent |
| 2 | The interior | Giant tortoises at the François Leguat Reserve, Caverne Patate, sunset from Mont Limon |
| 3 | Port Mathurin & the north | The town, the market if your dates line up, the northern coast at your own pace |
| 4 | The lagoon | Boat trip to the Île aux Cocos bird sanctuary, or snorkelling over the coral at Rivière Banane |
| 5 | The south — and nowhere | Mourouk and the south coast, then a morning that goes nowhere in particular |
3 days: the greatest hits
Days 1 to 3 of the table are the trip: east coast, interior, town. It works — you will have seen the island's headline sights — but it's tight, and you'll be choosing between things rather than doing them all. If you must drop something, drop the town day before you drop Trou d'Argent.
With this little time, wheels are not optional. A scooter puts every stop on the map within reach and lets you chase the light instead of a timetable; book it before you land so day one starts at a beach and not at a counter.
5 days: the version we'd tell a friend to book
Five days is the whole table, and it's the island at the pace it was built for. The additions over a long weekend are the ones people come back talking about: the lagoon day — Île aux Cocos and its birds, or snorkelling at Rivière Banane with a local skipper — and a day with nothing planned at all, which on Rodrigues has a way of becoming the best one.
Eat deliberately along the way: Rodriguan food is a reason to visit in itself, and the dishes worth ordering — ourite rougaille first among them — are on our food page with the people who cook them.
7 days: the island at its own pace
A week is the five-day plan plus repetition, which is the luxury: going back to the beach you loved, a second boat morning, a proper hike on the coastal trails instead of a taster. Kitesurfers will camp on Mourouk's lagoon; hikers can take the routes page and work through it; everyone else gets to do the rarest thing on a holiday — nothing, twice.
When should you come, and how do you get around?
Both questions have their own honest answers on this site, written from the official records rather than brochure copy: the month-by-month weather is in our best-time guide, and the bus-taxi-scooter-car decision is laid out in the getting-around guide. The short version: September to December is the easiest weather to plan around, and hire something with wheels — no bus goes to the beach you came here for.
Ready to explore Rodrigues?
Rent a scooter or car directly from local owners — or let Ti Roulé, our free island guide, build a plan around your dates.