Seychelles' second island — Vallée de Mai palm forest and Anse Lazio perfection
Praslin is the Seychelles' second-largest island and arguably its most rewarding — home to the UNESCO-listed Vallée de Mai, a primeval palm forest that produces the coco de mer, the world's largest seed. The beaches are among the planet's finest: Anse Lazio regularly tops global beach rankings with its transparent turquoise water and framing granite boulders. Smaller, quieter, and more accessible than Mahé, Praslin rewards slow travel.
Praslin was uninhabited until the late 18th century, when the French established a settlement as part of their Seychelles colonisation project. The island's Vallée de Mai was once believed to be the original Garden of Eden by General Gordon of Khartoum, who visited in 1881 — the coco de mer's suggestive double-lobed shape and the lush isolation fuelled his theory. The island passed to British control and remained a quiet backwater until the tourism era opened it to the world after independence in 1976.