The Seychelles: Island Paradise Fit for Royalty

With summer soon approaching, avid travelers are searching for the perfect place to relax and take a break from their stressful lives. If you’re looking for a serene atmosphere to lie under the sun, feel the ocean breeze with the view of the water right in front of your eyes, we might have just found the perfect place for you. Why not head to the Seychelles? It’s fit for royalty? William and Catherine are there on their honeymoon.

With pure white sand, turquoise blue lagoons, colorful coral reefs, and tropical gardens, Seychelles fulfills destination fantasies all in one place. The sunny archipelago located in the Indian Ocean offers a balance of privacy and stunning scenery quite in contrast with such tourist destinations as France or New York.

Consisting of over 100 islands, travelers have the option of going island-hopping or simply relaxing in one of the many tourist villas that the islands offer. If you go now, you might even have the chance of running into royalty. Prince William and wife Catherine Middleton, now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge landed in North Island, one of the 115 islands of Seychelles on Tuesday.

A popular destination for the rich and famous, villas and hotels in Seychelles may go up to the thousands per night. The villa the Duke and Duchess are staying in for example costs $5600 per night. However, for us non-royals looking for vacation fit for royalty without spending too much, there are much more affordable plans.

Here are some tips for traveling to Seychelles on a budget:

1.) Travel off season: Located close to the equator, the climate at Seychelles varies very little throughout the year from 75.2 to 86 °F. In fact, July and August are actually the coolest months there. So consider traveling during the fall or spring where winds are calmer to visit this paradise.

2.) Travel to the main islands: Traveling to one of the main islands, rather than going to a private one such as the one William and Kate are staying on will definitely cut spending costs. Mahe, Praslin and La Digue are the three main Seychelles islands. With a population of only 86,000, the smallest of any African state, the islands offer enough privacy as is and it will definitely cut back costs.

3.) Use the internet: Before diving in to your travel fantasy, make sure to use sites such as Orbitz, expedia, and travelocity to find the best deals online for plane and hotel.

Photo by rachel_thecat via Flickr