Home / Experience Mauritius / Feel Like a Local / Port Louis Market
The capital’s bazaar since the nineteenth century — four halls of fruit, vegetables, spices, herbal remedies, textiles and street food, loudest and best before noon.
The central market has traded on this site beside the harbour since the nineteenth century, and its cast-iron halls — restored some years ago without losing the character — remain the city’s commercial heart. It is laid out in sections: fruit and vegetables in one hall, meat and fish in another, and above them a mezzanine of textiles, souvenirs and crafts. The upper level is where visitors tend to end up; the ground floor is where Mauritians actually shop.
The produce section is the reason to come. Piles of lychee, mango, pineapple and victoria, mounds of chilli paste, vanilla pods, curry leaf, turmeric and masalas blended to order, and the herbal stalls where vendors will explain what each dried root is for. The food stalls sell dholl puri, gato piments, samosas and boulettes, and alouda — a sweet milk drink with basil seeds and agar jelly — which is the local order in the heat. Prices on the craft mezzanine are negotiable and the pitch is direct, so haggle politely and know what you want to pay; the produce stalls are fixed-price and best approached in the morning, before stock thins and the heat builds. The market generally trades Monday to Saturday and winds down early on Sundays, closing by around midday where it opens at all.
Monday to Saturday, 5:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Sunday, 5:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Produce halls are busiest before noon
Cash in small notes, a tote bag and a little patience. Keep valuables zipped away — the halls are crowded — and be ready to negotiate on the craft mezzanine.
Ground-floor halls are level but narrow and busy, with the craft mezzanine reached by stairs. There is no market car park — use Caudan or the Granary and walk across, or take the Metro Express. Photographs of stallholders are usually fine, but ask first.
Five minutes on foot: shophouses, temples and the best boulettes and noodle kitchens in the capital.
Directly across the road: the UNESCO-listed depot where nearly half a million indentured labourers first landed. Free entry.
Across the road on the harbour: shops, the craft market, the Blue Penny Museum and the easiest parking for the city centre.
Port Louis Central Market,
Farquhar Street, Port Louis,
Mauritius
Around 10 minutes’ walk from Caudan Waterfront
Approximately 40 minutes from Grand Baie
Around 50 minutes from the airport
In the centre of Port Louis beside the harbour, a few minutes on foot from the central bus station and Caudan. There is no market car park — park at Caudan or the Granary, or arrive on the Metro Express.
Monday to Saturday from 5:00 AM to 4:30 PM, and Sunday from 5:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The produce halls open very early and are at their fullest and liveliest before noon, so come in the morning.
Vanilla pods, masalas blended at the stall, chilli paste and dried herbs from the produce halls; textiles, basketwork and souvenirs on the mezzanine above. Produce prices are fixed; craft prices are negotiable.
Dholl puri is the essential one — a split-pea flatbread with bean curry and chutney. Add gato piments, samosas or boulettes, and wash it down with alouda, the sweet milk drink with basil seeds and agar jelly.
On the craft and textile mezzanine, yes — the pitch is direct and prices start high for visitors. Decide what you are willing to pay and stay friendly. In the fruit and vegetable halls, prices are what they are.
There is no market car park. Use the Caudan Waterfront or Granary car parks and walk across, or arrive on the Metro Express — the market is a few minutes on foot from the central bus station.