What it is
A port city of about 150,000 people on the northwest coast. The Central Market sells produce, spices and street food. The Caudan Waterfront is a modern shopping and restaurant development. Aapravasi Ghat, UNESCO-listed, is the immigration depot where around half a million indentured labourers from India first landed, and the reason two thirds of Mauritians trace their ancestry there. The Blue Penny Museum holds the 1847 stamps.
Why go
Aapravasi Ghat is the single most useful hour on the island for understanding it. The market is a good lunch.
When to go
Weekday mornings. The city is hot, noisy and congested by the afternoon, and much of it shuts on Sunday. This is not a pretty colonial capital and nobody stays the night; go for a half day from wherever you are based.
Most people stay Half day.