fiji travel hotel guide

Suva City Travel Guide

Suva City is the capital of Fiji with a population of around 150,000 spread out along the 20km Nausori corridor where the second international airport is located. Downtown Suva is set alongside a picturesque harbour on a small peninsula backed by tropical rain forest and high mountains on the wet south east coast of Viti Levu.

Suva City Accommodation Search


 Although lacking beaches, sunshine and tourist resorts, Suva City is the best place to take in a bit of Fijian urban culture and stroll amongst old colonial style buildings. There are plenty of nightclubs and bars, an excellent museum, lots of shops, a huge market and plenty of good restaurants. And poverty, prostitution, gambling shops, pawn shops, crime and drunkenness. This is the modern world with a rather unusual mix of hardened city life and placid South Pacific living. Suva is also considered the hub of the South Pacific Islands with the University of the South Pacific and modern high rise buildings of Fiji's government departments, foreign embassies and regional headquarters.



Most sights in Suva City are in a small area known as downtown Suva. The extent of this area goes from the bus stand and market, along Victoria Parade to Albert Park and the Fiji museum in Thurston gardens. Most of the pavements are covered by shop awnings or pillared balconies, which is just as well, for if its not raining, then the sun will be hot on the head. Taxis are plentiful and cheap and will take you anywhere your legs won't go.

The city has plenty of hotels aimed mostly at business travellers and include Tanoa Plaza in the heart of downtown, Suva Motor Inn opposite the Albert Park and close to the museum, and Novotel Suva, on the waterfront a few miles from downtown in the quaint seaside suburb of Lami Town


The following is a summary of some of the best sights of Suva City:

Parliament
A short pleasant ride from the city centre to Nasese takes you to the rather impressive new Parliament buildings that opened in 1992. The buildings were designed in the style of a traditional Fijian bure, with plenty of magimagi and tapa, painted orange and landscaped. Visitors are free to visit the complex and can arrange to sit in on cession by calling 305811.


 Government House
 Adjacent to Thurston gardens is the official residence of Fiji's president. This grand whitewashed colonial building with majestic gardens is guarded round the clock by sulu clad soldiers. Every hour the soldiers perform a changing of the guard ceremony at the gates for anyone to photograph. The building can be seen from the road but is not open to the public. The Fiji flag in front of the mansion, when flying, signifies the presence of the President.


 Thurston Gardens
 These cool tropical gardens are well landscaped and never crowded. Open all year round, with labelled fauna from Fiji and the South Pacific, the gardens are a lovely place to wander. Children will even enjoy the park with its colourfully painted sugar train, a relic from the times when sugar was harvested and crushed in Suva.


 Fiji Museum
 Within the grounds of Thurston gardens, this excellent museum takes you right through Fiji's history with artefacts from the past and pieces of memorabilia. Simple in its layout, the museum is informative and has some wonderful pieces such as cannibal forks, war clubs and even a piece of Reverend Bakers shoe which is said to have been devoured along with his body! The museum is open Monday to Friday from 8.00am to 4.30pm and Saturday 9.00am to 4.30am. Admission is F$ 3.30 and worth every penny.


Old Parliament & Clock Tower
 Alongside Albert Park, the weathered stone buildings with an impressive clock tower housed Parliament from 1939 to 1987. Statues of Fiji's two most important chiefs sit in front of the building and the famous clock tower can be seen and heard from the nearby vicinity.


 Government Handcraft Centre
 Some lovely traditional handcrafts can be found in this peaceful centre that is hidden on the corner of Carnavon Street and Victoria Parade. If you'd rather a haggle and a bargain and want to sift through the tourist trinkets, go to the Municipal Handicraft Centre between the Post Office and the sea wall.


 Cumming Street
 What used to be the sight of the town market is now a narrow pillar lined street with small Indian owned shops. Here you can buy camera equipment, clothes and jewellery.


 Flea Market
 Recently opened opposite the bus stand, this indoor market has a fun atmosphere with cheap goods and food.


 Municipal Market
 Always colourful with local characters, fruits, vegetables, fish and seafood, the market is busiest Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Chaotic at times with people chatting more than they are buying, the market is well worth a visit and the best place to buy and sample the local food.


Around Suva

Colo-i-Suva, less than 6km inland from Suva, offers trails through rainforest. The area offers waterfalls, indigenous flora, bird life, scenic lookouts and accommodation at Raintree Lodge. The road beyond Colo-i-Suva heads into the heart of Naitasiri and Namosi, both constantly veiled in clouds and often its roads under water. Fijian villages are found throughout this interior, many of which are far from roads and electricity. Here lies the most remote and conservative village environments, and the most hospitable of Fijians. The region is steeped in history and tradition, has some breathtaking mountain scenes, river gorges, caves and waterfalls and are known only by the locals themselves. The area is excellent to explore but there is nowhere to stay, buses are infrequent and no tour companies offer these off the beaten track itineraries.


Suva spreads in a suburban sprawl along the eastern coast towards Nausori, 20km to the north, a small town with an even smaller International Airport. The intertwining mangrove forests around Nausori are vast and rich in wildlife. The best way to explore this region is by staying on the offshore islands at the upmarket Toberua Island Resort. Both resorts are located on tiny coral islands with exceptional snorkelling and both offer boat tours through the mangrove forests and to Mabualau Island, a bird sanctuary where you can get up close to see nesting Boobies and other sea birds. From Caqalai it is possible to take a 30-minute boat ride over to Ovalau Island and the old historic capital of Levuka.


At the market town of Korovou, 20-minutes north of Nausori Town, the road splits in two - the slow winding coastal road heads along the scenic Coconut Coast whilst the Kings Highway cuts inland along flat forests all the way to Rakiraki on the north coast.

Along the scenic Coconut Coast, the tar sealed road ends at Natovi Landing where passenger ferries leave for Ovalau Island from Natovi Island. A few miles south of Natovi is the chiefly island of Bau which is steeped in history, although visiting is impossible without invite.