port louis is the London of Mauritius. It's the economic nerve centre of Mauritius and along with the tall sky scrapers of the business district, it boasts some fabulous shopping, restaurants that rank among the top in the country and some wonderful museums and colonial type architecture to boot.

In short, no holiday to Mauritius is complete without visiting Port Louis. As you can imagine, Port Louis is a highly popular tourist destination, with the majority of points of interest located along the waterfront.

Major Points Of Interest In Port Louis

If you have a couple of days to spare, you can do and see a lot of the things that Port Louis is famous for.

Port Louis Casino – located along caudan waterfront is the interestingly crafted Casino. It's shaped like a ship and is quite popular with tourists and locals alike. You wont be able to get in with your baggy shorts and flip flops though – a smart casual dress code is in place.

Museums In Port Louis – There are two major museums within Port Louis. The Natural History museum (Chaussee St) is free to enter and offers a collection of mostly extinct birds including the Dodo (by far the most notable). The other museum is the Blue Penny Museum located along the Caudan waterfront. Admission is not free here, but it's worthwhile going as it displays the history of Mauritius from it's earliest days to the present – and includes various photos, maps and other artefacts from the different era's.

There is also a Photography Museum (Old Council St) and the small Mauritius Postal Museum (Pl du Quai) to keep museum enthusiasts interested.

Central Market – One of the must see attractions of Port Louis is the often frenetic Central Market. There's a lot here from little stalls selling T shirts to vegetables, spices, meat and fish. Some stalls also sell a variety of Ayurvedic (ancient Indian) medicines. Tourists also enjoy the variety of different handicrafts and souvenirs that are sold along some of the stalls – if you're planning to buy, you can bargain your way to a better price. A word of warning – beware of pickpockets that operate in the Port Louis Central Market – keep your wallets and purses secured and don't leave your bags open.

You should also note that a lot of the designer gear you may buy is fake, and as you walk along you'll often be approached by stall vendors quoting you special prices and deals.

There are also other shopping options within Port Louis – there's a Craft Market along Caudan Waterfront and there are book and music shops within the city too.

If bartering and markets is not your thing, and you want to pick up some souvenirs without the stress of bartering then you can often find similar ones in the larger supermarkets for a fixed price.

Chinatown – Interestingly, Chinatown is home to the Jummah Mosque which was built in 1853. As you might expect, there are not only a selection of Chinese shops selling provisions, vegetables, fruits and more – but the best Chinese food available in Port Louis (and in fact Mauritius) can be found here. You'll also find the Pere Laval shrine within Chinatown – many tourists come here to pay respect and investigate the supposed healing powers of the shrine.

Champ de Mars Racecourse – The Mauritius racing season begins in May and goes on to November. You can find races on most Saturdays during this season – the racecourse is packed on this day every week, and gambling on the races is big business in Mauritius.

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