Seychelles in 2 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Two days in Seychelles: Mahe plus one long day on Praslin
Two days is not enough to island-hop properly, and it is honest to say so upfront: this plan stays on Mahe for a full day, then adds one long day-trip to Praslin on the early CAT COCOS ferry. La Digue does not fit, since the CAT ROSE hop from Praslin is a separate ferry with its own schedule, and stacking two crossings into one day leaves no real time on the ground anywhere. Budget roughly EUR160-220 per person across the two days once the round-trip ferry, park entries, and food are counted, on top of a guesthouse night. If you can add a third day instead, see the 3-day Seychelles itinerary , which swaps the rushed day-trip for an overnight on Praslin.
Book these before you go:
- Mahe guesthouse or self-catering room : a self-catering studio near Beau Vallon routinely undercuts a resort room and lets you cook market fish instead of paying resort restaurant prices.
- Vallee de Mai guided walking tour : worth booking ahead only if you want a guide pointing out the coco de mer palms and the Seychelles black parrot; the reserve is also fine to walk unguided.
- Ste Anne Marine Park catamaran day tour : the Mahe-based alternative if you’d rather skip the Praslin ferry entirely and spend day two snorkeling and visiting Moyenne Island’s tortoises instead.
| Day | Island | Travel time | Rough cost (per person) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Mahe | none (arrival day) | ~EUR55-80 |
| Day 2 | Praslin day-trip | ~1h each way by CAT COCOS ferry | ~EUR160-220 |
Day 1: Mahe, on the ground
Land at Seychelles International Airport (SEZ) on Mahe, the country’s only international gateway. Your Travel Authorisation, a paid pre-arrival step through the Seychelles Electronic Border System that costs roughly EUR11 per person (some applications land closer to EUR12 once card fees are added), needs to already be approved by this point; you cannot arrange it at the airport. A fixed taxi fare into Victoria or Beau Vallon runs around SCR300 (~EUR19-21) for up to four people, and most drivers only take SCR cash, not cards.
Spend the morning in Victoria: the 1903 Clock Tower and the Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market cost nothing to see and take about half a day on foot. In the afternoon, head to Beau Vallon, Mahe’s main beach and free to use, for a swim before the light drops. Keep valuables off the sand and out of any parked rental car; petty theft from unattended beach bags is the one real, common crime risk here, not violent crime. For dinner, a Creole takeaway plate of fish curry or grilled fish runs roughly SCR40-80 (~EUR2.50-5), a fraction of what the same dish costs at a resort restaurant.
Day 2: Praslin, out and back in one day
Take the first CAT COCOS sailing to Praslin, roughly 1 hour each way, from around EUR56 one way in economy plus a EUR2 port fee, so budget close to EUR116 round trip. Once ashore, head straight to Vallee de Mai, the UNESCO-listed coco de mer palm forest: entry runs SCR450 (~EUR27-30), with a 10% discount for tickets bought online in advance through the the Seychelles tourism board . Save an hour afterward for Anse Lazio, free to enter with parking around SCR100 (~EUR6) for the day, before catching the last afternoon ferry back to Mahe.
Should you fly to Praslin instead of taking the ferry on a day-trip?
For a single-day round trip, yes, if the schedule allows it. The Air Seychelles hop takes about 15 minutes each way against the ferry’s roughly 1 hour, buying back nearly 90 minutes on the ground, which matters more on a tight day-trip than on a longer stay. It costs more, commonly EUR65-100 one way versus the ferry’s EUR56-58, and fares swing with demand, so check current schedules before assuming a convenient departure exists.
Is a Praslin day-trip worth the ferry cost on only 2 days?
It is the only way to see a second island without adding a night away from Mahe, and Vallee de Mai plus Anse Lazio together justify the crossing on their own merits. What it is not worth is trying to also squeeze in La Digue; that adds the separate CAT ROSE leg and turns a full day into a transit day with almost no time on the ground.
Keep SCR cash on hand for the Mahe taxi and any Praslin snack stop; not every driver or small vendor takes cards, and running short on your last day is an easy way to overpay at an airport currency counter.