The oldest botanical garden in the southern hemisphere and the single best reason to come to Pamplemousse. Spread across 37 hectares, the garden contains more than 80 species of palms from around the world, a central pond filled with the giant Victoria amazonica water lilies whose leaves can grow large enough to support a small child, and an extraordinary talipot palm that flowers only once after a lifespan of 40 to 80 years — then dies.
Entry is free, which is unusual for a garden of this quality. Guides wait at the entrance and are worth the small fee: the grounds are large and the stories behind individual plants — the breadfruit trees introduced to feed enslaved workers, the cannon-ball tree with its strange waxy flowers, the double coconut from the Seychelles with the largest seed in the plant kingdom — are far more interesting than a self-guided wander. Sunday mornings bring Mauritian families for picnics under the shade of giant rain trees, giving the place a relaxed, lived-in quality rather than a tourist-park atmosphere.