Wallis and Futuna: Five Attractions and Natural Wonders

A French territory that still crowns its own kings

Wallis and Futuna, a French overseas collectivity made up of two small volcanic island groups about 260 kilometres apart in the South Pacific, remains one of the least internationally known corners of the French Republic — while formally French, both Wallis and Futuna retain their own traditional Polynesian monarchies, three traditional kingdoms in all, each with its king (the Lavelua on Wallis, and the kings of Sigave and Alo on Futuna), who continue to hold real customary authority alongside the French administration.

The five below cover both main islands. Given the very limited tourism infrastructure and infrequent flights, a visit here suits travellers specifically drawn to little-visited corners of the French Pacific.

1. Mata-Utu

Mata-Utu, the territorial capital on Wallis Island, holds a cathedral, the territorial administrative offices, and the royal palace of the Lavelua, the traditional king of Wallis, which stands beside the cathedral — a rare living example of a Polynesian monarchy still functioning today, with customary authority recognised alongside French governance.

2. The Royal Palace

Wallis's traditional monarchy dates back centuries and survived both missionary contact and French rule, with the Lavelua still presiding over customary ceremonies and community life, and the kingdoms administering customary law in civil matters, alongside the French administration — an unusual dual system that remains central to local identity, though rival clans have at times backed competing claimants to the throne.

3. Lake Lalolalo

Lake Lalolalo, filling a volcanic crater in the south-west of Wallis Island, is almost a perfect circle, ringed by sheer cliffs about 30 metres high dropping straight to the water's surface, its still, dark water giving it an almost otherworldly quality. The largest of the island's crater lakes, it is important in local mythology, and divers have found World War II-era ammunition dumped in its depths.

4. Futuna and Alofi

Futuna, a mountainous volcanic island in the Hoorn Islands, some 260 kilometres from Wallis and reached mainly by a small inter-island plane whose schedule is often unreliable, is even less visited than Wallis. The uninhabited island of Alofi lies just 1.7 kilometres across a channel. It holds its own two traditional kingdoms (Sigave and Alo, the latter also covering Alofi) and a rugged, undeveloped landscape rising to Mont Puke at 524 metres, the territory's highest point, quite different from Wallis's flatter, lagoon-fringed terrain.

5. Futuna's rugged terrain

Futuna's steep, volcanic terrain leaves little flat land for agriculture or development compared with Wallis, giving the smaller island group a traditional way of life centred on farming and fishing, with even less tourism infrastructure than Wallis.

Wallis and Futuna remain genuinely difficult to reach, served by Aircalin flights from Nouméa (New Caledonia), and suit travellers specifically seeking one of the least-visited corners of the wider French Pacific rather than a conventional island holiday.