The historic town of St Paul, Réunion's original capital, and birthplace of Leconte de Lisle is the base for a trip to the Piton De La Fournaise, Réunion’s most active volcano.  

Though it occupies a single massif, the volcano has two craters and a host of smaller craters strewn across the slopes. The volcano last erupted in 1992, putting on a spectacular show of pyrotechnics for visitors. A walk to the top takes about five hours and its best to make an early start. St Paul also has an interesting street market (Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings) as well as numerous traditional Créole houses.

St-Gilles-les-Bains is the most popular weekend destination and so tends to be very cramped and overcrowded but the 20km stretch of lagoon, white corals and the beach stretching from Boucan Canot to La Souris Chaude more than compensate for the traffic snarl-ups and the mad crush of people. On this part of the island, the sand is of the black volcanic variety. Once a small fishing village, Saint Gilles has seen a lot of colourful characters living here and legends about them make interesting stories.

 The Musée de Villèle was the home of the wealthy and very powerful Mme Panon-Desbassyns, a coffee and sugar baroness who owned over 300 slaves. A cruel mistress, tour guides at her home swear her tormented screams can be heard whenever the volcano is erupting.

A very special physical feature on Réunion is the cirques or natural amphitheatres formed by wind and rain erosion over a time period encompassing centuries.

These are actually large volcanic valleys surrounded by mountains, creating a natural amphitheatre about 10km in diameter. Day long sightseeing trips to the cirques may be arranged with travel agents in Saint-Denis. 
 The most beautiful cirque is Salazie, with its magnificent waterfalls, especially those known as Le Voile de la Mariée (The Bride's Veil) near Hell-Bourg. Cirque de Cilaos developed as a spa resort at the end of the 19th century when the thermal baths were built for the inhabitants, mostly descendents of the settlers from Brittany and Normandy, who arrived on Réunion in the 1700s. Cilaos resembles the deep bowl of a volcanic crater and lies in a picturesque area at an altitude of about 1220m. 

It became famous or infamous as a refuge for escaped slaves but today enjoys a more savoury reputation for its red and white wines, lentils and hand embroidery.

Cirque de Mafate is the most remote and forbidding of all the cirques. Its landscape closely resembles a wild moonscape of ridges, gullies and craters. Despite its remoteness and inaccessibility, the Cirque de Mafate is populated with several villages.  

Saint-Denis, the present capital of Reunion is a pleasant city, lying in a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides. St-Denis is fittingly known as the Paris of the Indian Ocean, what with its hectic nightlife (the busiest in the region), up market shopping districts, expensive shops and boutiques and open air bars and cafes and high cost of living. The main thoroughfare is the city’s favourite promenade - Le Barachois, close to the east end of the waterfront.

The city reflects the multicultural personality of the island and offers visitors temples, churches, mosques and has several places of interest, including the Natural History Museum, the Leon Dierx Art Gallery with a collection of French Impressionist paintings and the charming Creole mansions. Réunion abounds with tropical flowers, trees and fruits and tours take visitors to see some of the many cactus species on the island at the Botanical Garden of Cactus and Succulents in Saint-Denis.

 Beaches: Réunion does not have extensive beaches, but those on the leeward west coast are beautiful with yellow, black or white sands. Some of the best beaches are to be found at Saint-Gilles, Saint-Leu and Etang-Sale. These are mostly shallow coral, running out to the reef. 

The Corail Turtle Farm near Saint-Leu is an interesting place where turtles are bred for conservation and commercial purposes. The coral reefs along the west coast are part of a protected area, but scuba diving and snorkeling are permitted.