Things to do in Banjul
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Banjul
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Prime dry season: coolest and least humid, all hotels and excursions running, and peak birding with winter migrants.
Dry season heats up hard, prices soften after Easter and some operators wind down, still good early in the stretch.
Rainy green season: heavy rain, high humidity, many hotels and restaurants closed and up country travel difficult.
What's on
- Kartong Festival usually February
Community rooted week of music, drumming, dance and workshops in the southern village of Kartong. Dates vary, confirm first.
- Independence Day 18 February
Parades and ceremony in Banjul, colourful and patriotic, and a good excuse for the Banjul day.
- International Roots Festival May/June
Diaspora homecoming festival centred on Juffureh and Kunta Kinteh themes, irregular in recent cycles. Never book around it unconfirmed.
- New Year period Christmas/New Year weeks
Kololi at its liveliest and hotels run gala nights. Book earliest of all for these weeks.
Best things to do in Banjul
Kunta Kinteh Island
The Roots pilgrimage island with a ruined slave fort, moving when a good guide tells the history properly.
Kachikally Crocodile Pool
A sacred pool full of Nile crocodiles, still used for fertility and healing rituals, with a small museum.
Bijilo Forest Park
Coastal forest near the hotels full of vervet and red colobus monkeys, plus serious birdlife on sandy trails.
Albert Market
The capital's living heart for fabric, produce, carvings and goldsmiths, best first walked with an official guide.
National Museum
Small museum giving the context the trip assumes, from precolonial kingdoms to colonial Bathurst and independence.
Arch 22
The 35 metre arch at the city entrance, worth climbing for the panorama over Banjul, the port and the mangroves.
Tanji Fishing Village
A working fishing port at landing time, with pirogues unloading and women running the smoking and haggling.
Tanje Village Museum
Small village museum next to Tanji fishing village that adds cultural framing to the landing time visit.
Where to stay in Banjul
Kololi / the Senegambia Strip
first trip, all-round base
The centre of gravity, with the densest hotels, restaurants and bars, the craft market and taxis to everywhere.
Kotu
balance of beach, calm and access
A gentler resort cluster by Kotu Beach and Creek, with the bird guides nearby and the strip a short walk away.
Fajara / Bakau / Cape Point
repeat visitors, golfers and quiet-seekers
Leafier and more residential, with the golf club, good restaurants and Cape Point's calm beach.
Bijilo / Brufut
resort-quiet and space
Bigger resort footprints and a spread out feel south of Kololi, with Bijilo Forest Park as the local walk.
The south coast (Sanyang, Gunjur, Kartong)
eco-lodges, birders and decompressing
Small owner run lodges and empty beaches, a stay put base for reading, birding, swimming and eating where you sleep.
Think twice about
- Banjul city itself
Almost no beach holiday infrastructure, little to do after the market and museum close, streets that empty at night, and a long taxi to the beach every day.
- Serrekunda
A congested, dusty working city with heavy traffic, few tourist hotels, no beach and no evening infrastructure aimed at visitors.
Best restaurants in Banjul
Scala Restaurant
The strip's top table for years, with grilled barracuda, Thai style curries and service reviewers praise unprompted.
Darboe's Restaurant
The Gambian food gateway on the strip, where domoda and benachin are the orders and portions are generous.
GTS Bar & Restaurant
Gambian and international food on a big terrace with live bands most nights, the full strip evening in one venue.
Paradiso Bar & Restaurant
The strip's Italian fixture for pizzas and pasta alongside African dishes, with a loyal local following.
El Sol Steakhouse & Mexican
Gambia's only Mexican turned steakhouse, earning its place on consistency with fajitas, steaks and margaritas.
Ngala Lodge Restaurant
The most refined cooking on this coast in a clifftop garden setting, open to non residents who book.
Solomon's Beach Bar & Restaurant
Beach bar institution famous for fish cooked in foil with vegetables, eaten overlooking the water at Kotu.
Poco Loco Beach Bar
Barefoot beach bar where fish yassa and gambas piri piri are the dishes regulars name, daytime to sundown.
Outdoor things to do in Banjul
River Gambia Lazy Day Cruise
A deliberately unhurried river day from Denton Bridge with mangroves, birds, a swim stop and lunch on board.
Fathala Wildlife Reserve
The only safari day in range, with giraffe, zebra, rhino and antelope in a reserve just over the Senegal border.
Wassu Stone Circles
Mysterious laterite megaliths over a thousand years old near Georgetown, UNESCO listed and little visited.
Baboon Island
River islands where the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Project's chimps live, with hippos and crocodiles in the water.
Kotu Creek
Dawn birding at Kotu Creek and the ponds with Kotu Bridge guides can produce an absurd species list in two hours.
Fajara Golf Club
The country's one real course, 18 holes where dry season greens are oiled sand browns swept smooth for you.
Sport Fishing from Denton Bridge
Serious estuary and sea fishing from Denton Bridge for barracuda, snappers, rays and seasonal tarpon.
Lamin Lodge
Stilted lodge in the mangroves where women's associations run creek trips to see and taste mangrove oysters.
Best hotels in Banjul
Ngala Lodge
Small clifftop lodge in tropical gardens above Fajara beach, with styled suites and a devoted repeat clientele.
Coco Ocean Resort & Spa
The coast's full service luxury resort, with pools, a spa, three restaurants and space on quiet Bijilo beach.
TUI BLUE Tamala
Newer design forward beachfront resort on the Kotu Beach sand at Kotu, trading intimacy for location, rooms and a pool scene.
Balafon Beach Resort
Newer design forward beachfront resort on the Kololi sand, aimed at travellers who want to stay on the strip's beach.
African Princess Beach Hotel
Best reviewed all rounder on Kotu Beach, with swim up rooms, a large uncrowded pool and strong breakfasts.
Senegambia Beach Hotel
The strip's big green institution, with bird rich gardens, resident monkeys, two pools and the beach beyond the lawn.
Kairaba Beach Hotel
Grand garden resort next to the Senegambia, popular with birders for its notably lush grounds alone.
Is Banjul expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | GMD 2,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | GMD 6,500 a person |
| Splurge | GMD 18,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Kunta Kinteh Island: a few days ahead
- Fathala Wildlife Reserve: a few days ahead
- Wassu Stone Circles: a few days ahead
- Baboon Island: a few days ahead
- Ngala Lodge: weeks ahead
- African Princess Beach Hotel: weeks ahead
- Scala Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Ngala Lodge Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Best mid range hotels sell out in December to February, so book early and direct.
- Book Fathala and the two day up river trip at least two days ahead through a rated operator.
- Book Kunta Kinteh tours the day before at latest and carry your passport on the day.
- Reserve Scala and Ngala Lodge dinners in season.
- Secure the best Kotu Bridge bird guides before you arrive if birding is a priority in December to February.
- Carry a yellow fever certificate for the Senegal border on the Fathala day.
Is Banjul safe?
- Petty and hotel room theft are the documented pattern, so use the safe and do not flash valuables.
- Treat unlit beach stretches after dark as a no, stick to the lit strip and taxi home.
- Avoid night journeys up country, as driving standards and vehicle condition are the biggest everyday risk.
- Swim at lifeguarded hotel stretches and heed flags, as Atlantic undertows on this coast are strong.
- Take travel insurance with medical repatriation, as local facilities are limited and serious cases are evacuated.
- For persistent beach approaches, use a friendly firm line while walking and use official tourist guides.
Banjul travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Arch 22 as a standalone trip, when it only works inside the Banjul half day.
- Beach tout excursions that strip out the guide, lunch, entry fees or the return plan.
- Lion walking at Fathala as a must do, when the game drive is the substance.
- Abuko sold as a zoo day for kids, when it is a birders and naturalists reserve.
- Exchanging all your money at the airport, when rates on the coast are better.
Getting around Banjul: public transport and more
- Use green tourist taxis for excursions and yellow shared taxis for short set route hops.
- Agree the taxi price before you get in every time, and confirm if waiting is included.
- Prebook the airport transfer through your hotel, about 30 to 40 minutes to Kololi.
- Walk the beach and Kololi or Kotu by day, and take a taxi between areas at night.
- Never schedule the Banjul to Barra ferry against a flight, as sailings slip and queues build.
Who Banjul suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Banjul your trip
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