Things to do in Saint-Louis
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Saint-Louis
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best. Dry and coolest, Djoudj at peak and seas calmest for pirogues.
Very good but heating up, birds thinning by April and midday island walking is brutal.
Jazz Festival month, hot days and river cooled nights, the city at its best and fullest.
Rainy season, worst for most visitors, flooded streets, Djoudj effectively off and mosquitoes up.
Shoulder window, rains ending, birds arriving, festival crowds absent and prices normal.
What's on
- Le Fanal late December
Lantern tradition with lights, sabar dance and a parade of giant illuminated fanals through the island.
- Saint-Louis Jazz Festival usually May, 5 to 7 days
Africa's best known jazz festival, main stage on Place Faidherbe with fringe gigs in bars and hotels.
- Magal des Deux Rakaas around 5 September
Major Mouride religious gathering in Saint-Louis, attend only as a respectful modestly dressed observer.
Best things to do in Saint-Louis
Île de Saint-Louis
Walk the whole UNESCO island grid first with a guide, then alone, for facades, galleries and river quays.
Guet Ndar
Watch hundreds of painted pirogues land at dawn and the catch sorted, smoked and sold on the sand.
Pont Faidherbe
The 1897 iron bridge linking Sor and the island, best walked at sunrise and again at sunset.
Musée de la Photographie de Saint-Louis
Historic Saint-Louis portraiture and contemporary African photography in a restored colonial comptoir.
Galerie Arte
Part of the small island gallery circuit that makes Saint-Louis punch above its size for visual art.
Rama Diaw
Designer Rama Diaw's boutique atelier for handmade clothing and shoes, a cultural stop not a souvenir stall.
Musée de l'Aéropostale
Small museum of the heroic Aéropostale mail plane era, paired best with a drink at the Poste.
Calèche tour of Saint-Louis
A 1 to 2 hour horse cart circuit of both island quarters and the Guet Ndar edge at an easy pace.
Where to stay in Saint-Louis
The Island, Nord and Sud
first trip, all-round base
Walk everywhere on the UNESCO island, with galleries and cafés in the Nord and a quieter residential Sud.
Langue de Barbarie, Hydrobase to Gandiol
beach and lodge night or two
Pool lodges between river and sea with birds and fishing, but a taxi ride from every island evening.
Outside town, Bango and Lampsar
decompression, birders and riders
Green calm pool and garden lodges 15 to 30 minutes out, lovely as a satellite night not an island base.
Think twice about
- Sor
Hot, noisy and traffic choked as a short stay base, with a taxi to the island for every sight, meal and concert.
- Guet Ndar
Do not base here. A densely packed working fishing quarter on an eroding spit with almost no visitor lodging.
Best restaurants in Saint-Louis
La Kora Chez Peggy
French European Senegalese cooking cooked to order in a warm courtyard, the special occasion dinner here.
Chez Dasso
Highest rated cheap eat in the city for Senegalese home cooking, arrive at the start of lunch service.
La Linguère
Classic Senegalese address for thieboudienne, yassa and mafé, with lunch calmer than dinner.
Restaurant de l'Hôtel La Résidence
French European international menu on the rooftop and in the old room, eat here even if not sleeping here.
La Crêpe Saint-Louisienne
Breton style crêpes and galettes with vegetarian and vegan options, the best light lunch reset.
Siki Restaurant
Spanish European leaning menu inside the Siki, good for wine, a long table and a library bar after.
Ndar Ndar Music & Café
Café by day and live music room by night for mbalax, acoustic sets and jam energy off the festival stage.
Restaurant Fleuve Plus
Unpretentious grilled fish, capitaine and prawns when they run, order the catch and accept the wait.
Outdoor things to do in Saint-Louis
Parc National des Oiseaux du Djoudj
Pirogue past pelican colonies, flamingos and crocodiles in one of the world's great bird wetlands.
Parc National de la Langue de Barbarie
Sand spit park by pirogue with tern colonies, empty Atlantic beach and a calm river lagoon side.
Bou El Mogdad
A week long river cruise to Podor stopping at old trading posts, villages, markets and Djoudj.
Lompoul Desert
Orange dunes overnight with a sunset camel ride, dinner under stars and sandboarding in the morning.
Ranch de Bango
Horse riding and 4x4 trips into the adjoining reserve from a working ranch lodge in the bush.
Pirogue fishing with Guet Ndar fishermen
A morning handline or trolling for capitaine and barracuda as a guest of local fishermen.
Podor
Old river trading post and Fouta Toro culture, worth a 2 day road trip rather than a long day trip.
Kayaking the Gandiol backwaters
Kayak and backwater pirogue trips through Gandiol lodges, plus flat cycling on the island and Langue.
Best hotels in Saint-Louis
Jamm
The highest rated small design led island guesthouse and the closest Saint-Louis gets to a boutique splurge.
Maison d'hôtes Niokobokk
Franco Senegalese maison d'hôtes with courtyard feel, warmly hosted and walkable to everything.
Siki Hotel
Beautiful plant filled colonial hotel with a library reading room on the river side and a good restaurant.
Ndar Ndar House
Guesthouse attached to Ndar Ndar Music and Café with terrace, bar, tour desk, bikes and homemade jam breakfasts.
Hôtel de la Poste
The Aéropostale icon by the bridge, stayed in for history, terrace and location rather than pristine rooms.
Hôtel La Résidence
Slightly faded grande dame from the early 1970s with rooftop terrace, river side pool access and good food.
La Maison Rose
Art filled courtyard stay with spa and wellness area, priced as a character stay rather than modern polish.
Le Poulagou
Best evidenced true budget island pick, hostel plus money with a concierge and 24 hour desk.
Is Saint-Louis expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | F CFA 32,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | F CFA 61,000 a person |
| Splurge | F CFA 115,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Office de Tourisme Syndicat d'Initiative de Saint-Louis et de sa Région: a few days ahead
- Festival de Jazz de Saint-Louis: months ahead
- Parc National des Oiseaux du Djoudj: a few days ahead
- Bou El Mogdad: months ahead
- Lompoul Desert: a few days ahead
- Ranch de Bango: a few days ahead
- Podor: a few days ahead
- Réserve spéciale de faune de Guembeul: a few days ahead
- Book island rooms months ahead for Jazz Festival week in May and ahead for Fanal in late December.
- Book the Djoudj driver and guide 1 to 2 days ahead in season and confirm which fees are included.
- Book Bou El Mogdad months ahead and confirm the current disrupted itinerary for your dates.
- Verify MuPho and Aéropostale opening the day before via your hotel.
Is Saint-Louis safe?
- Do not swim in the ocean at the river mouth or off Guet Ndar, dangerous currents and a notorious bar.
- Ask before photographing people, especially in Guet Ndar, and dress modestly there and near mosques.
- Watch petty theft in festival crowds and dark island side lanes, and watch Sor traffic.
- Expect flooded streets in low quarters in the rains and severe erosion along the Guet Ndar shore.
Saint-Louis travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Agree calèche and pirogue total price, per cart or boat, duration and inclusions before departure.
- Use hotel recommended or top rated guides, not bridge touts, and skip commission shop artisan visits.
- Do not treat Hydrobase as a swimming beach holiday, currents, plastic and sea wall works apply.
- Do not buy Djoudj in the rains at dry season prices without confirming the park is open.
Getting around Saint-Louis: public transport and more
- Walk the island. Yellow taxis for Sor and Gandiol hops, agree the fare before moving.
- Dakar is 4 to 5 hours by road. Pre-book a transfer if arriving via Dakar airport.
- For Djoudj, Gandiol and Lompoul you need a car and driver or a lodge transfer.
Who Saint-Louis suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | OK |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Saint-Louis your trip
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