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Travel guide
Dakar
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: November to April
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Welcome
Dakar, in a few days
Senegal's capital sits on the westernmost point of mainland Africa, a peninsula where Kermel market is twenty minutes by ferry from Gorée Island. A city of around four million people who live outdoors, between surf breaks, thieboudienne and concerts that run until dawn.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Gorée Island · half a dayA car-free island of ochre houses and bougainvillea off the port, UNESCO-listed since 1978, with the House of Slaves and its Door of No Return.
- Afternoon · Kermel Market free · about 30 minAn octagonal iron market hall in the Plateau district, built in 1910 and rebuilt after a 1993 fire, selling fish, shellfish, fruit, spices and flowers.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Le Djoloff€80 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Museum of Black Civilisations · 2 to 3 hA circular museum opened in 2018 opposite the Grand Théâtre, fulfilling a project launched by Léopold Sédar Senghor in 1966.
- Afternoon · The Corniche Ouest and Soumbédioune free · 2 to 3 hA clifftop road along the Atlantic; at Soumbédioune the pirogues land their catch late in the afternoon, and grills are lit after dark.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Al Afifa€85 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · African Renaissance Monument · about 1 h 30A bronze statue about fifty metres tall on the Mamelles hill, taller than the Statue of Liberty, inaugurated in 2010 and criticised for its cost.
- Afternoon · N'Gor Island · half a dayA small car-free island five minutes by pirogue from N'Gor beach, with two sheltered beaches, fishermen's and artists' houses and seafront restaurants.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Sokhamon€100 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Lake Retba (the Pink Lake) free · half a dayA shallow lagoon behind the dunes north-east of Dakar, so salty, up to ten times the sea, that swimmers float easily.
- Afternoon · Bandia Reserve · half a dayA private reserve of baobab savannah on the Mbour road, where giraffes, white rhinos, buffalo, Derby elands and zebras have been reintroduced.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Le Ndiambour€95 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Thieboudienne: rice cooked in a tomato and fish stock, served with the fish and vegetables. The national dish.
- Yassa: chicken or fish marinated in onions and lemon, then slowly cooked down.
- Mafé: a stew in a thick peanut sauce, with meat and root vegetables.
- Pastels: small fried pastries stuffed with spiced fish, sold as a snack.
- Bissap and bouye: cold drinks of hibiscus and of baobab fruit.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Paying before agreeing the price: settle it first, and bargain with good humour.
- Drinking tap water, or skipping malaria advice before you go.
- Photographing people without asking first.
- Following self-appointed guides and insistent sellers: a polite, firm no is enough.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Wolof
| English | Wolof |
|---|---|
| Hello | Salaamaalekum / Nanga def |
| Thank you | Jërëjëf |
| Please | Bu la neexee |
| Yes | Waaw |
| No | Déedéet |
| Excuse me | Baal ma |
| Goodbye | Ba beneen yoon |
| Do you speak English? | Ndax dégg nga angale? |
| I don't understand | Dégguma |
| How much is it? | Ñaata la? |
| Where are the toilets? | Fan la wanag bi nekk? |
| The bill, please | Adduna bi, su la neexee |
| Help! | Wóoy! |
| Cheers! | Santé! (everyday French) |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyWest African CFA franc (XOF)
BudgetAbout €68 a day, mid-range
Best seasonNovember to April
PlugC/D/E · 230V
Tap waterBottled only
TippingAppreciated
Emergency17 (police) / 18
EntryVisa-free for up to 90 days for EU, UK, US and Canadian passports, with proof of a return ticket and of accommodation to show at the border. Australian passports: visas have been issued free on arrival at Dakar airport but not at land borders, so check with a Senegalese embassy before you travel.
HealthHepatitis A, typhoid and yellow fever vaccinations are recommended; the yellow fever certificate is compulsory if you arrive from a country with transmission risk, and is often checked anyway. Malaria is present across the country: ask about prophylaxis.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/dakar
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.