"VICTORIA - CAPITAL CAPITAL" a Victoria Travel Page by JohnnySpangles

Victoria is on the island of Mahe and is the capital city of the Seychelles. I suppose it is a city, or likes to think it is, but it’s more like a small town. That’s not to take anything away from it though. It’s got a certain colonial charm, both from its name and the clock tower which is a replica of that outside Victoria Station in London. Although it looks British, and talks British, most things about it are French with a twist of African and Indian.

The shops are not Oxford Street, Fifth Avenue or even Birmingham. Mostly they’re little shacks selling the essentials. There’s not a lot of nightlife but it’s got a fish market. That’s worth a visit if you like looking at dead fish. There are some shops selling tourist nonsense, but if you were looking to go wild with the credit card you’d be better spending it on an airline ticket to Milan. Let’s face it you didn’t really come to the Seychelles for a shopping trip.
There's quite a nice botanical gardens and if you're not going to make it to Praslin it may be your only chance to see the rudeness of the Coco De Mer.

The main bar/restaurant place is The Pirates Arms. The food is okay and it has a certain ambience. It’s the sort of place that you could imagine Ernest Hemmingway sitting in and watching the world go by, and then punching somebody’s lights out.

So if you’ve hired your mini-moke, done a lot of the beaches and want a quick reminder of what pavements look like then spend half a day in Victoria.

Other words of wisdom on the Seychelles can be found on my pages entitled ‘Seychelles’, ‘Mahe’, ‘Bird Island’ and ‘La Digue’.