Seychelles in 5 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Five days in Seychelles: room to breathe on Praslin before La Digue
Five days is where this route stops feeling rushed. Unlike the 4-day itinerary , which packs Vallee de Mai and the ferry onward to La Digue into back-to-back days, this plan adds a full extra day on Praslin for Anse Lazio, one of the world’s most photographed beaches, before island-hopping onward. Total budget across five days runs roughly EUR400-510 per person, ferries, entry fees, guesthouses, and food included; the extra Praslin day is also the cheapest day of the trip, since it adds no ferry fare and no major entry ticket.
Book these before you go:
- Praslin guesthouse or self-catering villa : a two-night Praslin stay is worth booking ahead in peak months, when both rooms and CAT COCOS sailings tighten up.
- Vallee de Mai guided walking tour : optional, but useful for spotting the endemic Seychelles black parrot and understanding the coco de mer’s protected status before you see a real one.
- La Digue bicycle and Anse Source d’Argent tour : a guided half-day option for your one La Digue day if you’d rather not work out L’Union Estate’s gate and trail layout on your own.
| Day | Island | Travel time | Rough cost (per person) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Mahe | none (arrival day) | ~EUR55-80 |
| Day 2 | Praslin | ~1h by CAT COCOS ferry, one way | ~EUR140-175 |
| Day 3 | Praslin | none | ~EUR50-75 |
| Day 4 | La Digue | ~15-20min by CAT ROSE ferry from Praslin | ~EUR90-120 |
| Day 5 | Return to Mahe | ~1h45 direct CAT COCOS ferry, La Digue-Mahe | ~EUR90-115 |
Day 1: Mahe arrival
Land at SEZ, Mahe’s only international airport, with your Travel Authorisation already approved online (roughly EUR11 per person, occasionally closer to EUR12 with card fees); this is a required, paid step even though Seychelles is otherwise visa-free, and it has to be sorted before you fly. A fixed taxi into Victoria or Beau Vallon runs around SCR300 (~EUR19-21) for up to four passengers, cash preferred since most drivers don’t take cards.
Walk Victoria’s free Clock Tower and Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market in the morning, then head to Beau Vallon, Mahe’s main beach, free to use, in the afternoon. Keep bags off the sand while you swim; opportunistic theft, not violent crime, is the practical safety risk. A Creole takeaway dinner runs roughly SCR40-80 (~EUR2.50-5), well under a resort’s SCR150-300+ for a comparable plate.
Day 2: Praslin and Vallee de Mai
The CAT COCOS ferry runs about an hour, from EUR56 economy plus a EUR2 port fee. Check into your Praslin guesthouse, then spend the afternoon at Vallee de Mai, the UNESCO coco de mer reserve: entry is SCR450 (~EUR27-30), with a 10% online discount via the the Seychelles tourism board , a real jump from the roughly EUR20 some older guides still cite.
Day 3: Anse Lazio, no ferry required
Spend the day at Anse Lazio, consistently ranked among the world’s best beaches, free to enter with paid parking around SCR100 (~EUR6) for the day. Go before mid-morning; the small lot fills and the beach visibly crowds by late morning in high season. This is the cheapest day of the whole trip, so it’s a good day to treat yourself to a sit-down Creole lunch, roughly SCR150-300 (~EUR9-19), instead of another takeaway.
Day 4: La Digue and Anse Source d’Argent
Take the short CAT ROSE ferry to La Digue, about 15-20 minutes and roughly EUR15 one way; it’s a separate operator from CAT COCOS and the cheapest, most frequent inter-island hop in the country. Rent a bicycle at the jetty, roughly SCR150-200/day (~EUR9-12), since there’s no rental-car scene and the once-genuine ox-cart is now essentially a single-operator novelty. Cycle to L’Union Estate for Anse Source d’Argent, the granite-boulder beach on every Seychelles postcard: gate entry is SCR150 (~EUR9-10), valid all day and covering the vanilla plantation and tortoise pen too. Stay the night; the beach empties out once the day-tripping tour groups clear off in the late afternoon.
Day 5: Direct back to Mahe
Take the direct CAT COCOS sailing from La Digue to Mahe, about 1h45, from roughly EUR68 economy one way, skipping the Praslin stopover the standard Mahe-Praslin leg makes. Build in a buffer before any flight home, since it’s the longest single travel segment of the trip.
Is the extra Praslin day worth it over going straight to La Digue?
Yes, on cost alone: it adds a full day with no ferry fare and no major entry fee, just parking and food, while giving Anse Lazio the unhurried visit a rushed itinerary usually denies it. It also means arriving on La Digue only once, cleanly, rather than backtracking.
Should you swap the order and do La Digue before Praslin?
Not really. Ferry schedules make Mahe-Praslin-La Digue-Mahe the more reliable direction, since the direct CAT COCOS La Digue-Mahe sailing exists specifically for the return leg; doing La Digue first means either backtracking through Praslin twice or relying on a less frequent direct sailing mid-trip instead of at the end.
Reserve the La Digue-Mahe direct ferry a day or two ahead if you’re traveling in July-August or around the holidays; it runs less frequently than the standard Mahe-Praslin crossing and is the one leg worth locking in rather than risking as a walk-up.