Twenty minutes from the residence, on the road to Saint-Louis, a plume of white steam signals from afar one of the last two sugar mills on Réunion. Founded in 1817, the Gol sugar mill processes sugarcane from across the south and west of the island and remains Europe’s leading cane sugar production facility: a truck enters the yard every four minutes, and forty metric tons of sugar leave every hour.
Here, nothing is a reconstruction; this is a working factory that you walk through—helmet on—amid the noise, the heat, and the sweet smell of boiling sugarcane juice. The guided tour lasts about 1 hour and 30 minutes and follows the entire process, from receiving the sugarcane to crushing, evaporation, and crystallization, culminating in the golden sugar crystals that you taste at each stage.
It ends with a tasting at La Kaz à Sucre: specialty sugars, rums, and local jams.
Good to know: Tours are offered only during the sugarcane season, from July through December, and by reservation only—for 2026, they resume on July 30. Strict safety guidelines apply: long pants, closed-toe athletic shoes, no jewelry, and a minimum age requirement. This tour is not recommended for people with asthma or those sensitive to heat. Our front desk can help you book your time slot.
