Senegal

Senegal, in a few days

From Gorée island to the mangroves of the Sine-Saloum, by way of Saint-Louis and the Pink Lake: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

Dakar and Gorée

Days 1-2

A capital on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the westernmost point of mainland Africa. Offshore, the island of Gorée, UNESCO-listed since 1978, keeps the memory of the Atlantic slave trade.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Gorée island: ferry and guided visitHalf day · from €20
  Twenty minutes by ferry from Dakar, then the House of Slaves and the quiet lanes of an island with no cars.
• City tour and Sandaga market2h · from €15
  Two hours through the Plateau, the colonial centre, and the crowded trading streets around Sandaga.

✦ Free to visit

• The African Renaissance Monument
• Pointe des Almadies
• Yoff beach and its pirogues
• The Mosque of the Divinity

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Casa Mara Dakar ↗ (€55 a night) · Mid-range: Hôtel Le Djoloff ↗ (€95 a night) · Luxury: Pullman Dakar Teranga ↗ (€230 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Dakar and Gorée on GetYourGuide

2

Saint-Louis

Days 3-4 · 🚗 Car 3h

The capital of colonial Senegal until 1957, built on an island in the mouth of the Senegal River. Its old town, with wooden balconies and horse-drawn carts, has been UNESCO-listed since 2000.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Horse-drawn carriage tour of the old town1h30 · from €15
  An hour and a half around the island city at a horse's pace, past the balconied merchant houses.
• Langue de Barbarie National ParkHalf day · from €30
  A boat trip along the thin spit of sand between the river and the Atlantic, where terns and gulls come to nest.

✦ Free to visit

• The Faidherbe bridge
• Guet Ndar, the fishermen's quarter
• The Creole architecture of the old town
• Sunset over the river

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Chez Sofia ↗ (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Ndar Ndar House ↗ (€79 a night) · Luxury: Hotel Cap Saint Louis ↗ (€82 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Saint-Louis on GetYourGuide

3

Lake Retba (the Pink Lake)

Day 5 · 🚗 Car 3h

A shallow salt lake behind the coastal dunes, tinted pink by a salt-loving micro-alga. The colour is strongest in the dry season and under a high sun.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Lake tour and salt harvest, guided2h · from €15
  The salt collectors at work, chest-deep in the water, breaking salt from the lakebed and piling it on the shore.
• 4x4 over the dunes to the beachHalf day · from €40
  A ride across the dunes that separate the lake from the ocean, ending on the Atlantic beach.

✦ Free to visit

• The pink of the lake
• The dunes between lake and ocean
• The village of Niaga

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Le Calao du Lac Rose ↗ (€45 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Lake Retba (the Pink Lake) on GetYourGuide

4

The Sine-Saloum delta

Days 6-7 · 🚗 Car 3h

A maze of mangrove channels, the bolongs, and low islands. A biosphere reserve since 1980 and on the World Heritage list since 2011, it is explored by pirogue.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Pirogue trip through the bolongsHalf day · from €35
  Half a day gliding between the mangroves, with herons, kingfishers and oysters growing on the roots.
• Birdwatching and the shell islandsHalf day · from €30
  The birdlife of the delta, then islands built up over centuries from discarded shells, some topped with baobabs and old burial grounds.

✦ Free to visit

• The mangroves
• The village of Ndangane
• Fishing from the pirogues
• Empty beaches and islets

🛏️ Where to sleep · Mid-range: Les Palétuviers ↗ (€85 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in The Sine-Saloum delta on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

A car with a driver · The distances are long and the tracks of the delta are sandy. A hired car with a local driver is the simplest way to link the four stops.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
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

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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.

Words that help

English ↔ Wolof

✈️ Flight delayed by 3 hours or more, or cancelled? You may be owed up to €600. Check your flight on AirHelp.

The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/senegal

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.