Things to do in Timbuktu
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Timbuktu
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The cool season and the window: highs about 29 to 34 degrees, cool nights, no rain, caravan season, and the historic January festival month.
The shoulder, heating fast to about 36 degrees, with wind and dust rising. Short, heat aware visits only.
Brutal heat: average highs about 39 to 42 degrees, individual days above 45, sandstorms. Avoid.
Short rains and the rising Niger: scarce rain over town, humidity and mosquitoes near the river, and river navigation reviving.
Transition: heat about 38 degrees, rains over, river still useful, caravan season starting in some years.
What's on
- Festival au Desert January, last held January 2012
Held at Essakane 2003 to 2009 and near Timbuktu 2010 to 2012. Postponed in 2013 and not held in Mali since, due to security.
- Azalai salt caravan arrivals Cool season, roughly November to March
Camel caravans from the Taoudenni salt mines reach Timbuktu in the cool months. Arrivals cannot be scheduled or guaranteed.
- Eid al-Fitr Moveable, end of Ramadan
Family festival closing Ramadan. Expect altered eating hours and closures. The month varies by year.
- Eid al-Adha Moveable, about ten weeks after Eid al-Fitr
Major family festival following the Hajj period. Expect closures and heavy family visiting. The month varies by year.
Best things to do in Timbuktu
Djinguereber Mosque
The oldest of the three great mosques, a mud landmark from 1327, seen from outside by non-Muslim visitors.
Sankore Mosque
A great mosque and madrasa quarter that anchored a university known across the Islamic world for scholarship.
Sidi Yahya Mosque
The third great mosque, from the 15th century, whose sacred door was destroyed in 2012 and later restored.
Ahmed Baba Institute
The state manuscript institute named for Ahmed Baba, where thousands of manuscripts were burned in January 2013.
Mamma Haidara Library
The largest private family library in Timbuktu, about 22,000 manuscripts kept by the Haidara family for centuries.
Fondo Kati Library
A private family library in the Kati chronicle tradition, visited only by arrangement with its custodians.
Heinrich Barth House
The house where Barth lived in 1853 to 1854, the one explorers house long open as a small museum.
Alexander Gordon Laing House
A plaque marked house linked to Laing, the first European to reach Timbuktu in 1826, killed after leaving.
Where to stay in Timbuktu
Timbuktu town and old town
only practical base, all sights on foot
All hotels are small properties in or near the town and old town, where the mosques, libraries and market sit.
Kabara and the river landing
river arrival days only, not a sleeping base
The historic port area south of town is a visit and a landing, not a hotel district. Sleep in town.
Think twice about
- All of Mali today, including Timbuktu, for leisure travel
Active conflict across Mali makes leisure travel impossible now. Save this trip for when that changes.
- The desert north of Timbuktu and the Taoudenni route
Remote Sahara crossing through one of the most insecure areas in Mali. A serious expedition in any era, never a casual excursion.
- Roads and river routes into Timbuktu today
Roads face attack, checkpoints and blockades and the airport serves UN, humanitarian and military flights in practice, not tourists.
- Essakane and any camp outside town after dark in an uncertain window
Drop excursions outside town first if conditions tighten. No night stop outside town without a guide judgement that day.
Best restaurants in Timbuktu
Hotel La Colombe Restaurant
A hotel table that was one of the few full ordered dinners in town, Malian staples cooked to order, slowly.
Amanar Restaurant
The standalone restaurant with the clearest recent record, serving Malian cooking and traditional rice dishes.
Restaurant Poulet d'Or
The chicken restaurant name kept in the town listings, for grilled chicken, rice and sauce at local prices.
Amel Restaurant
A small local restaurant in current directory records, serving rice dishes, stews and grilled meats.
Le Souvenir
A long lived small restaurant in place records, a neighbourhood room for chicken, rice, sauce and tea.
Patisserie Aco
The town patisserie for a morning pastry, coffee and a cool room while the market wakes.
Market Food Stalls and Tea
Stalls and tea makers at the market and port: skewers, fish, bread, rice and strong sweet tea all day.
Outdoor things to do in Timbuktu
Kabara Port
The historic Niger port of Timbuktu, a working riverbank of pinasses, nets, fish and porters south of town.
Niger River Pinasse Trip
The historic way in by motorised pinasse on the Niger, seasonal, basic and best approached from Mopti in high water.
Camel Ride into the Dunes
Camels from the edge of town at sunset, tea in the sand, and a return under the first stars.
Tuareg Camp Outside Town
Tea with a Tuareg family outside town, by arrangement through a guide who knows the camp.
Essakane
The desert oasis that hosted the Festival au Desert from 2003 to 2009, visited now for its story, not a festival.
Azalai Salt Caravan Arrival
Cool season camel caravans bringing Taoudenni salt slabs into Timbuktu, unguaranteed and worth dropping plans for.
Best hotels in Timbuktu
Hotel Hendrina Khan
The local ceiling: a mid range hotel in the recent record, with large rooms, bathrooms and air conditioning.
Hotel La Colombe
One of the standard mid range stays of the visiting years, a small hotel with a restaurant used by tour groups.
Hotel Bouctou
The longstanding budget hotel near the market, basic rooms at a small price, with a mixed historic review record.
Hotel du Desert
A straightforward hotel in the town directories, valued as much for arranging guides and camels as for its rooms.
Auberge du Desert
The classic budget auberge name, flagged here as shown permanently closed in one record and to check on the ground.
Sahara Passion
A desert minded budget hostel in travellers directories, a name to ask about for a cheap bed with local knowledge.
Is Timbuktu expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | F CFA 15,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | F CFA 35,000 a person |
| Splurge | F CFA 75,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Ahmed Baba Institute: a few days ahead
- Mamma Haidara Library: weeks ahead
- Fondo Kati Library: weeks ahead
- Niger River Pinasse Trip: weeks ahead
- Tuareg Camp Outside Town: a few days ahead
- Essakane: a few days ahead
- Hotel Hendrina Khan: weeks ahead
- Hotel La Colombe: weeks ahead
- Book any future trip through a vetted operator and a Timbuktu guide who can confirm that month what is operating.
- Arrange private library visits well in advance through custodians, and accept a refusal without pressure.
- Confirm conditions with a vetted operator when planning, when booking, and on the day of travel. If conditions say do not travel, do not travel.
Is Timbuktu safe?
- Do not travel today: armed groups are active across northern Mali and Timbuktu is not safely accessible.
- There is no routine or emergency consular service outside Bamako, and do not assume standard travel insurance covers a trip here.
- Never photograph soldiers, checkpoints, the airport or official buildings, and ask before photographing people.
- Malaria risk is lower than in southern Mali but present near the river in and after the wet season. Take travel clinic advice.
Timbuktu travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Anyone selling an old manuscript or a loose manuscript page. Decline always.
- Anyone guaranteeing a festival, a caravan arrival, or a casual Taoudenni trek. None can be honestly guaranteed.
- A too cheap offer to get you to Timbuktu at all. Cheap access here is a warning, not a bargain.
- Large banknotes in the market. Carry small XOF notes.
Getting around Timbuktu: public transport and more
- Walk the old town with a local Timbuktu guide. Use a vehicle for Kabara, Korioume and Essakane.
- Historic access was by Niger pinasse from Mopti, by intermittent domestic flights, or by long hard roads. None runs for tourists today.
- Do excursions in the cool hours and be back in town before dark.
Who Timbuktu suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | OK |
| Couples | Not ideal |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Not ideal |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Timbuktu your trip
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