If you’re up for an adventure in Mauritius- especially a family-friendly adventure- La Vallée des Couleurs adventure park has it all. From the tamest of safari rides and and tranquil waterfalls, to zip-lining, quad biking and balancing your way across the narrowest wibbly-wobbliest of bridges (a Nepalese Bridge, if you want to get technical about it), this beautiful nature park has something for everyone.
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What is la Vallée des Couleurs?
La Vallée des Couleurs is a stunning 450 acre reserve in the south of Mauritius, about an hour’s drive from the capital of Port Louis. The park is filled with forested sweeping hills, tranquil gardens, and stunning waterfalls cascading over cliffs and boulders, and it has incredible views across the mountains of Mauritius out to the vivid turquoise Indian Ocean. But, it takes its name from the kaleidoscopic rainbow of the ’23 coloured earth.’
Yep. That’s right. There are twenty-three colours in that bad-boy earth. Apparently.
La Chamerel 7 Coloured Earth Geopark is perhaps the more famous of the geological wonders of Mauritius, but the story behind this park’s multi-coloured ground is basically the same. The reason the rippled surface of the ground is multicoloured- in purple bruises, rusty reds and burnt oranges- is because of chemical reactions in the volcanic ash. The humidity, rainfall, and all manner of changes in the air, cause this crazy effect, and it really is quite beautiful to see.
How to get to la Vallée des Couleurs
We visited by car. Roads in Mauritius are very easy to navigate (although they drive on the left, which might be a shocker to US and European readers.) The park is very near to the village of Chamouney on the south coast- here’s the exact location.
If you’re not hiring a car in Mauritius, you can either get a taxi to la Vallée des Couleurs on the day, or pre-book transport here.
Entry price for la Vallée des Couleurs
Tickets for la Vallée des Couleurs are extremely reasonably priced, and at the time of writing (2023) tickets are the equivalent of around €8 per person. (Although you will need to pay extra for any adventure activities you take part in.) The best way to guarantee a spot on any of the park’s other activities is to pre-book, and I’ve included links to book these further down the page.
The currency in Mauritius is the Mauritian rupee, although the park does take card as well as cash.
Why did we visit la Vallée des Couleurs?
Honestly, we decided to visit la Vallée des Couleurs on a bit of a whim. Having hired a car in Port Louis, we already had a plan to drive to Grand Bassin- a sacred lake surrounded by Hindu temples– but we wanted to add something adventurous to our day.
A stop at la Vallée des Couleurs made perfect sense, you guys!! In fact, it’s a great place to head to if you’re on exploring the south of Mauritius.
The park is only a short drive from Grand Bassin, and although we’d already visited other wilder parts of Mauritius, the amount of adventurous activities on offer here seemed altogether too good to be true. (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. Although we definitely did not have time to fit it all in.)
Also near la Vallée des Couleurs:
Cliff-jumping at Rochester Falls
Our visit to the nature park
We only had about three hours to explore la Vallée des Couleurs on our visit, so there was no way we’d be able to try out all the activities the park has to offer. For us, it was a toss up between zip-lining or navigating our way across the extremely long and slightly terrifying looking Nepalese Bridge. Having not booked in advance, the lovely people on the front desk advised us about the next time we could do each activity, and we decided on the bridge.
However, with time to kill, first it was time for a little jeep tour of the park. This tour didn’t go all the way into the wilder areas of la Vallée des Couleurs, but our driver did take us to to see the 23 coloured earth, to a couple of the park’s four waterfalls, and to say hi to the giant tortoises, before heading back to wander through the Japanese gardens. In all honesty, we probably could have done this on foot, but driving over sometimes bumpy terrain with our jolly driver was actually kind of fun, I’ve got to admit.
There were two other visitors in the tour with us, who were both passengers from the cruise ship we work on. Sometimes, as crew, the last thing you want is to spend the day with guests (sorry but it’s true; remember my trip to the lagoon in Iceland, where we had a communal shower with passengers? Not my finest hour.) But this couple were potentially the cutest couple I have ever had the privilege of being on a tour with, and we all agreed that we were downright honoured to share a vehicle with them.
Tour complete, it was on to the bridge. We had a brief safety instruction from the staff, and then got strapped in to our harnesses to begin the balancing act across the 350 metre long bridge, which is suspended across a lush forested valley.
Justin went first, and as a circus artist this made complete sense; it did however cause some issues when he began jumping up and down on the bridge to show how safe it was, but I’m prepared to let it slide. I was, however, surprised by how jittery I got. I never put myself down as someone who’s scared of heights, but I tiptoed across that wobbly bridge so tentatively that I arrived at the other end a good ten minutes after Justin had hopped off onto solid ground.
And to really bring the whole adventure to a head, the exact same moment that I stepped from the planks of wood onto the ground, an almighty Jurassic-looking black bee plunged its sting into my actual thigh. This insect was truly ginormous, but that meant that the sting was also ginormous- like a massive shard of black glass. It was actually very easy to grip hold of and pull it out. I felt like Arthur pulling the sword from the stone.
Stinging ordeal having brought my wobbles back down to earth, we waited on the other side for the car to come and pick us up, watching a herd of deer congregate in the distant hills.
Activities at Vallée des Couleurs
The nice thing about this nature park, is that although there’s a lot of activities on offer, while we were there it never seemed busy or overcrowded.
Flora and fauna
The park is absolutely beautiful, and there’s plenty to discover on foot. Not just the pretty gardens and wild waterfalls (where you can sometimes also swim if you fancy it), but also some downright wonderful animals. Giant tortoise live here, as well as deer who like to get up close and personal on occasion with the visitors.
Quad-biking.
There are different lengths of quad-biking tours available, and different trails you can follow with a guide; either through the main park, or on a more exciting adventure trail. Drivers have to be at least 16 years old, and passengers a minimum of six years old.
Trekking through the valley
Head out on a guided hike through la Vallée des Couleurs. The guide will take you through the forests and fields at your own pace, introducing you to all the magical nature the south of Mauritius has to offer. You can also visit one of the waterfalls as part of your trek, for a swim.
The Nepalese Bridge
A beautiful- if slightly hair-raising- way to take in the stunning mountain scenery of southern Mauritius. I can vouch for the safety of this suspended bridge, which also happens to be the longest suspension bridge in the Indian Ocean. There’s a minimum age limit of 12 years, and participants also have to weight between 40-150kg.
Book tickets for the Nepalese Bridge.
Zip-lining
There are four different zip lines to try at la Vallée des Couleurs, from the basic route for beginners, to the Extreme Valley Tour which includes all of the park’s zip lines, totalling around 3.1km. Because hurtling on a wire across the forests of Mauritius is surely one of the best way for adrenaline-junkies to see the island. There’s a minimum age limit of 6 years old to zipline.
Book the Signature Zipline (1.5km)
Bicycle zip-lining
Well this is something else. If zip-lining is a bit too fast-paced for you, consider cycling along the stainless steel cables instead. (Don’t worry, the bicycle is fully attached to cables from above and below, as are the riders.) Groups of up to four people can cycle across at a time, and participants have to be at least 12 years old.
Book a bicycle zip line experience.
If you’re after complete wilderness in Mauritius, you might be better off heading into the mountains; la Vallée des Couleurs is clearly a maintained spot. But this park is gorgeous, and our day of adventuring across the Nepalese bridge is one of my favourite memories of the months we spent exploring this gorgeous island. For families and groups in particular, la Vallée des Couleurs is a place I’d really recommend.