Suva is the capital of the South Pacific island nation of Fiji. It's a city of broad avenues, lush parks, and grand British colonial buildings, such as the Suva City Library. Suva's colorful, lively Municipal Market offers a range of local fruit and vegetables. Fiji Museum, set within the Victorian-era Thurston Gardens, contains examples of traditional canoes, war clubs, and tattooing tools.
Here are the Top 10 Places to Visit in Suva, which are worth visiting on a Suva trip:
1. Fiji Museum
In Suva, there is the National Museum of Fiji. The museum is located in a nice garden. The different exhibits in the museum include ancient artifact displays of weapons, tools, and pottery. There is also a biodiversity display about some of the plants and animals found in Fiji as well as a room mostly dedicated to fabrics and weaving. You’ll also find large impressive boat and raft replicas in the maritime exhibit. Throughout the museum, there is lots of written information that, if you read it all, would take you hours to get through! But, if you focus on the highlights then your visit might only take an hour.
2. President’s House
The president lives in a huge beautiful house up on a hill in Suva. You cannot enter the house, or even get past the gates for that matter, but you can look at the house from the gates and even take a picture with the guard. The President’s House is located right near the museum in the heart of Suva on Queen Elizabeth Drive.
3. Colo-I-Suva Nature Reserve
Just outside of Suva, Fiji is the Colo-I-Suva Nature Reserve. Here you will find luscious flora and fauna as well as a couple of amazing waterfalls and natural swimming holes. This is an attraction many tourists miss because it is very off the beaten path. The nature reserve is not overly touristy or built up and makes for an authentic rainforest experience. To visit you’ll need to either hire a rental car and drive yourself or join an organized guided tour. With a guide, you’ll be sure to see the best parts of the reserve as well as have some help spotting wildlife and birds.
4. Suva Municipal Market
When you come to Suva — either by sea, via the Queen’s Road along the coast, or on Edinburgh Drive on your way in from the airport at Nausori — the Suva Municipal Market is one of the first reminders that this is, indeed, a cosmopolitan town. On the market’s ground floor, you’ll see Polynesian, Chinese, Indian and Fijian vendors hawking everything a local household might need.
5. Suva Curio & Handicraft Centre and Suva Flea Market
Visitors interested in a more complete selection of handicrafts should note there are two other marketplaces worth perusing. The first, operated under the aegis of the Suva City Council, is the Suva Curio & Handicraft Centre, located about 300 feet from the Suva Municipal Market, toward the center of town, just off Stinson Parade, next to the modern multistory Car Park. It’s a long, cinderblock building populated by carvers and other craftspeople. There is a plethora of stalls stuffed with carvings, shell necklaces, mats, handbags, and other items.
6. The Triangle
The true historical center of Suva is the Triangle, but those visitors who have seen it now would not have recognized it a century ago. Then it was a small lagoon fed by a creek coming down Pratt Street.
7. Albert Park
Alberta Park is a large, and beautiful, park in Suva. Sure, wandering around this park makes for a nice way to spend an hour or two, but Albert Park is about so much more than that. Albert Park holds a lot of historical significance for Fiji and the people. First of all, in 1928 it was the landing site for Sir Charles Kingsford Smith when he was completing the first trans-Pacific flight from the USA to Australia.
8. Thurston Botanical Gardens
The Thurston Gardens are the botanical gardens of Fiji. Here, you can find tons of walking trails, beautiful flowers and plant displays, and several greenhouses. You’ll also find the Thurston Express which is a locomotive that was once used to transport cane sugar, however, now it is more of a display or place for children to play.
9. Tiko’s Floating Restaurant
Tiko’s Floating Restaurant is one of the top restaurants in Suva, Fiji! Here, you can choose from a variety of tasty seafood or steak dishes. They update their “blackboard menu” daily with their catch of the day and the freshest food. The food is super tasty.
10. Sacred Heart Cathedral
The Sacred Heart Cathedral also known as the Cathedral of Suva is Fiji’s most prominent Roman Catholic edifice. Located on Pratt Street, construction of the building began in 1894 but it wasn’t completed until 1939, nearly 100 years after the first Marist missionaries arrived in Fiji. The grand neo-Gothic design includes sandstone blocks imported from Australia, concrete staircases and balustrades, and two towers. The central stained-glass window above the altar contains an image of a bilo (coconut shell cup) beneath the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Besides this, there is much more to explore in Suva!!! While in Suva, you might as well get adventurous and try some Fijian dishes! The two most common are Kokoda (Fijian ceviche), which is fish cured in lime juice and served with coconut milk, or Ika Lolo which is a cooked fished dish served with veggies and cassava in coconut milk! Both are amazing and you will find them at pretty much any restaurant in Suva!
