Seychelles · Island hopping · 7 days
Seychelles: four islands in 7 days
7 days, 7 nights · Mahé, Praslin, Curieuse, La Digue · self-drive and ferries
Tested by Paulius Pikelis · 140 countries
The guide
Trip details
Duration
7 days, 7 nights
Islands
Mahé, Praslin, Curieuse, La Digue
Pace
Unhurried – a ferry every two to three days
Difficulty
Easy
Season
May to October; July and August are peak
Format
25-page PDF, printable A4, instant download, companion Google map
Last reviewed
July 2026
Location
- Starting pointMahé International Airport (SEZ)
- Stop 1Mahé
- Stop 2Praslin
- Stop 3Curieuse
- Stop 4La Digue
- FinishMahé International Airport (SEZ)
- Most itineraries lock you to one resort island for a week – this route covers four islands in seven days without ever feeling rushed
- Every ferry, gate hour and booking deadline is already worked out, so you can book the whole trip in an evening
- Hotel and restaurant picks at three price levels on each island, from real visits
- The whole country runs on two ferry routes and a bicycle – no tour operator needed
- Independent travellers who want the whole country in one trip
- Couples and pairs who would rather drive and cycle than be driven
- First-time visitors who do not want to build a ferry spreadsheet
- Anyone booking a single resort week and not leaving it
- Backpacker budgets – this route assumes mid-range and up
- Travellers who want a tour operator to run the days
- Seven day-by-day plans, timed from wake-up to dinner
- Route snapshot: pace, difficulty, season, what to expect
- Hotel picks, three price levels on each of the three islands
- Restaurant picks, split into reserve-ahead, walk-in and takeaway
- Full cost table at lean, core and splurge, per couple
- Essential reservations, ordered by booking deadline
- Before-the-flight page: paperwork, money, plugs, driving
- Packing list built for this trip, not a generic one
- Ferry routes, site gate hours and tide notes
- Companion Google map with every pin from the guide
Seven days, four islands. On paper it sounds like the kind of trip where you spend more time queuing for ferries than actually being anywhere. It was not – it is one of the best-paced trips we have done, and it never once felt rushed.
We rode bicycles through the dark to reach the most photographed beach on earth before the sun did, and had four empty coves almost to ourselves while the granite turned from grey to gold to pink. We shared a beach with giant tortoises over a hundred years old, walked into the only forest where the coco de mer grows wild, and ate the best meal of the whole trip at a takeaway counter we reached by bike.
What made it work was giving each island enough time to become itself – long enough on Mahé to drive the mountain roads and find the quiet beaches, long enough on Praslin for the jungle and the headline sand, and a proper couple of days on La Digue, which deserves them.
This guide is that trip, rebuilt as the version I would book again – the same islands, the same mornings, the same tables, with everything we had to figure out already figured out.
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The PDF includes the day-by-day plan, transport timings, booking links, and weather rules. Instant download after purchase.
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