How much it costs to live on La Réunion

It is time to talk about money or how much it costs to live on La Réunion. I know that the prices on this remotest part of the European Union will be higher than in Germany. Many products however shocked me because many were 4 times as expensive as back home. This is just an overview what I paid however have in mind that my diet may different from yours or that prices are completely different after Covid-times.
Flights
During Covid19 everything changed, planning was a nightmare because you never knew if regulations change and if you are allowed to travel after all. So I booked my flights 3 weeks prior to depature. I paid 440€ for an Air France flight from Paris to La Réunion. October to December usually are the highseason on the island so it could cost easily double in non-pandemic times.
Accomodation
I only lived in AirBnbs because it felt like the most reliable option for me and my limited French skills. The reason why I speak about different prices per night is that I sometimes didn’t include the service fees that apply additional to the price per night that is shown on AirBnb.
If you want to stay in one place for several weeks on the island have a look for Facebook groups. I was part of one for Expats and there cheaper apartments/rooms were shared. The area between Saint Paul and Saint Pierre is the most expensive part. The higher you go the cheaper it gets. The south was pretty cheap compared to the other parts of the island.
Here is what I paid:
Apartment in Boucan Canot just 3 Min walk from the beach 60€/night
Room with bathroom in Saint Gilles-les-Haut with shared pool 32€/night
Apartment in Vincendo with own garden and seaview 26€/night
Car
I organized the car rental before I came to La Réunion but it should be easy to organize a car as soon as you get there. I paid the same as people who organized a car after they arrived. The prices start from 27€/day. I paid 31€ because I didn’t take the smallest car and wanted a full insurance.
Groceries
You get quite a lot of things in the supermarket however the prices are very high because most thing are imported and I heard about a special French fee for oversea departments. Beside the roads there are often stands which sell produce. It is a little bit cheaper there than in the supermarkets but still way more expensive than in Germany. Even the local fruits that have season aren’t cheaper.
Here are the products that were way more expensive than in Germany:
Bell pepper 200g 3€, Toast, 4,5€, Blueberries 7€, pack of cigarettes 11-14€, Sunscreen 300ml 28€, 25 Tide pots 22€, 750ml yoghurt 7€.
Free time activities
The French school was around 360-400€/week depending how long you booked your course for. The dives were around 50€ including all the equipment.
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Just a short introduction: my name is Manuel. I am from Munich and I decided to take a year of and live abroad. Then Corona came and I needed to adjust my plans. I don’t like to have fixed schedule anyway so and constantly monitor the situation and opportunities and try to make most of my time.
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[@TravelingisFREEDOM]

This seems to be a very charming place, I hope I can visit sometime in the future when all this is over. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much! And please keep up the great job! Subscribed!!

[@gpfifly]

Rougail sausage from the local shack, the best food ever, . beer buy local, very cheap dodo

[@dela354]

Your appartement is expensive. My parents had an appartment in St joseph. 500 euro per month and has germans, as I live in Germany and my parents are open to europeans. But they are too old to do it now. Where did you go to your groceries? Go to the market. The vegetables and fruits are less expensive than in Germany, and I can see that each time I am coming back. You go to Saint Joesph market.... Where did you go? In vincendo there are no big supermarkets. Go to Leclerc in St Joseph. I guess you did your groceries in a kiosk. Kiosk or little markets are expensive just as in Germany. Wines are cheaper than in Germany for a better quality price ratio and the beer pack cost the same as in Rewe You should have talk to locals.... From someone who is from Saint Jospeh.... Bodycare is expensive or european goods. But locals goods are not that expensive, that's not true You have Tuna fish for less than 20 euro/kilo. It is more than 50 euro/kilo in Germany. So eat local eat cheaper

[@Moira_Gloucestershire]

You talk too much. Just present more views and numbers.

[@ebmurphy8744]

Thank you Manuel! Do you have a link in English where you were able to find families to rent a room from? kind regards - Minneapolis,Minnesota USA

[@twatts1523]

Thank you! I’m also looking to travel abroad to study French. Would you recommend the school you attended?

[@TravellingwithManuel]

Yeah the school was great! Lovely atmosphere and they do a great job in designing a challenging yet motivating course even though attendees are on slightly different level.

[@twatts1523]

@@TravellingwithManuel 💕

[@notorious3602]

duolingo

[@neegee82]

your mic has too much bass bro... i cant understand you because of my woofers

[@googleuser3163]

Awesome video, very helpful! Where did you book such a cheap flight to Reunion? I hope to order my ticket soon to travel in September.

[@TravellingwithManuel]

I used skyscanner.com because they offer the search function for all dates of a month however I am well aware that my price was very low because of the pandemic and the uncertainties that came with it. I flew with Air France from Paris and booked directly on their homepage.

[@santamonicaplaza135]

Very nice lsland 🎥🌹

[@michaelpillingnow]

Incredibly useful information. Thank you Manuel

[@Starl_Ambi]

Hello there, very nice video , please can you share with me the expert group on Facebook for reunion, so I can connect with someone on my trip to this place !

[@ВолодимирКравченко-з6н]

Danke aus Deutschland 🇩🇪

[@sandraamadio6978]

HI there. How about the cost of eating out, please? Thank you

[@traceydingashe3928]

Thank you Manuel for this video.

[@hashmi2730]

Where is it 26e per night whould like to book it

[@meyummaadu]

Hi bro, what about rental scooters? Visiting Reunion by December.

[@dela354]

That could work for the bog traffic jam but there are a lot of crazy drivers

[@catherinemartina6469]

How about a scooter?

[@sharky9493]

Danke für den upload! Sehr informativ! Es ist wirklich teuer, ist halt eine Insel und EU! In Thailand habe ich 2019 für 450 Euro mtl. in einer 60 qm Wohnung, direkt am Meer, mit Pool, Gym, etc, gelebt. Vielleicht ist das mal eine Überlegung wert!! Mehr value für das Geld! Jetzt bekommst du eine 100 qm Luxuswohnung für den gleichen Preis!

[@fredericconstant9997]

Please dont comparé Thaïlande and an european région, literaly différent

[@brice8334]

Super sympa la vidéo mec !

[@ousamaabdu794]

I reside in America, and only speak English. What % of the population on Reunion Island speaks english, and is not speaking French a huge deal there? I've thought about visiting this winter for a month or so.

[@TravellingwithManuel]

I made an extra video about that. From my experience I would guess just 5-10% speak English on an intermediate to advanced level. Even at restaurants in touristic areas or in diving schools it was hard to find people who speak English. So for all activities outside the hotel I would recommend to have at least the basic skillset in French. But the people are very friendly and there is always a way to understand each other.

[@dela354]

That's true, even though the young generation should be able to speak english but they do not dare, (french esucation system does not provide the envirronement for peope to be confident to speak)I think in Saint Gilles you can find english speaking agencies I guess

[@makefutur]

So what was it altogether for a month?

[@smithplaystore7334]

So beautiful. We flew over Rèunion, in our way to the beautiful island of Mauritius. 🏝

[@davidvanniekerk356]

Geweldig baie dankie/ Danke sehr/ Merci beaucoup 4 this educational video, Manuel. I was wondering who much is the cost of living there? In every town there are an upper, middel and "economic" class. Thank you 4 the cost of a University class, in French, wil be. It is much cheaper in South Africa (Unisa = R1 700.00 = C100.00/ Die Universiteit van Stellenbosch = R7 000.00 = C400.00 per subject per year). U talk of between C50 and C26pd to rent a room/ flat (In ZA that is about between ZAR900 to 468). Per month it will be between ZAR27 000.00 and 14 000!!! OK. I'll stay on my sailboat. It will be much cheaper..... Cars/ ein auto? Use a motorbike! Or walk. La Reunion is only 50x80km. So on a good day u can walk 50km. An there is no bad places on the that part op Europe too! Same time ago I was a student teacher at schools and then I told the kinds about the nearest European or Western Economies to the Republic of South Africa. The one is the UK island of St. Helena with about 4.5k people and then the French island of La Reunion of nearly 1milj. ppl on it. The GDP pc is USD12k and the other USD 34k. (South Africa = USD6k; Australia USD56k; NZ37k; UK/ France/ Germany USD44k ish...) Danke Scho"n.

[@dataintech99]

Is possible to do remote job from reunion island as a data/IT analyst. I'm from India. I love Reunion...

[@dela354]

I guess yes we have the wifi, but it depends on your contracts. My neighbours kids did remote work Sadly I can not that when I get to see my parents there

[@sofiachawla]

Hi am a surgeon from India. What are the steps to become a surgeon in la reunion?

[@yasi-ontherun]

Hows it with the shark attacks now?

[@Die-sel13136]

Sorry! I COME ON YOUR CHANEL FROM curiosity! Unfortunatly, as a menaly impared person, an not as a native english user! Your way of talking is v anoyng! But being curious, i had to take the logitivity of your material!

[@Moccalocca100]

Is it a european zone? Also since its close to africa, are there many immigrants???

[@dela354]

After the slaves from Africa were freed, they took "workers" from india and then china to work on plantation. In reality they tricked a lot of indian workers like my great grand parent who came from India, he was 10 years old worked for 6 euros a day on plantation.