Vallée de Mai is one of only two places in the world where you can see the weird and wonderful coco de mer palm growing in their natural state - the other is nearby Curieuse Island. This valley's Eden-like forest is World Heritage listed and the very sight of sunlight filtering through its fronds will make you go all poetic.

You'll see several varieties of screw pine and latanier plams, and, if you're very lucky, the Seychelles black parrot. If you're going to visit the park, keep to the tracks, don't take anything away and don't leave anything behind - this is an incredibly fragile forest.

The best beach on Praslin - in fact, one of the best in the country - is Anse Lazio, in the far north of the island. The beach has glorious soft white sand, a few rounded granite boulders and a lively line-up of waves in a magical turquoise colour.

The beach is protected by a reef, which makes the water like a giant bath - it's shallow, warm and safe, and there's some nice snorkelling at the end of the beach. There's even a terrific restaurant right on the sand. Buses travel from Grand Anse around the coast to Anse Boudin, a short walk from Anse Lazio.

This is bird watching made easy - over 300,000 birds on an island just 1km (0.6mi) in diameter. Seven species of sea bird nest here, including fairy terns, white-tailed tropic birds and two varities of shearwater, and it's also home to the rare Seychelles warbler and magpie robin. Hawksbill turtles nest here in season.

Organised tours depart from Praslin from Tuesday through Friday.

Aldabra is one of the world's largest raised coral atolls, stretching 34km (21mi) east to west and enclosing a huge tidal lagoon, which is home to tiger sharks, manta rays and thousands of seabirds. Aldabra is also the original habitat of the giant land tortoise.

The only people who live on Aldabra are scientists. Anyone wishing to visit must first get written permission from the Seychelles Island Foundation (SIF), based in Victoria, which manages the island. There is accommodation for about eight visitors. The nearest airport is on Assomption Island, about 27km (17mi) south of Aldabra. From there, the Indian Ocean Explorer runs one-week cruises round the atoll.

La Digue is home to Anse Source d'Argent, the iconic image of emerald waters, sugar-white sands and sea-smoothed granite rocks. It's also the least developed of the main islands and life here still moves at the pace of an ox cart. It's the sort of place you won't want to leave.