Home › What to do and see in Senegal: our iconic places, region by region
From 31 October to 13 November 2026, Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly will host the Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event in history to take place in Africa. Which sports…
Read the article ›In Touba, you do not arrive as a tourist but as a guest of the Mouride brotherhood. The history of the mosque,…
Read the article ›A good share of the water that runs from Dakar's taps comes from a lake in the Sahel, some 250 km to…
Read the article ›A Diola island with no road or bridge, deep in the *bolongs* (tidal creeks) of Oussouye, where the impluvium houses are homes,…
Read the article ›A quarter of an hour to half an hour by pirogue from Ndangane, Mar Lodj is defined by what it does not…
Read the article ›At the end of the Palmarin road, Djifère is a fishing village facing Sangomar, the sacred island of the Serer. This is…
Read the article ›The chief town of the Gandoul Islands without being a commune, an island of fishermen, shellfish gatherers and gardeners, Niodior is also…
Read the article ›Long celebrated as one of the most beautiful bays in the world, Hann Bay has become a symbol of pollution in Dakar.…
Read the article ›Created in 1903, Hann Forest and Zoological Park is Dakar's great breath of fresh air: some sixty hectares of trees, a lake…
Read the article ›🇸🇳 RESIDENTS OF SENEGAL
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The resident rate applies to every activity in the catalogue, once your status has been verified.
Request my resident accountAlready have an account? Log in ›Our “Discover” pages are not lists of monuments: a place is better experienced when you know what you are looking at. Why Lac Rose (Pink Lake) changes colour, why nobody swims in Hann Bay any more, why the whole of Gorée is listed. Here are all our guides, by region, with the angle of each one.
Do you live in Senegal? These pages are made for weekend getaways and for the places you think you know because they are on your doorstep; a resident account unlocks the resident rate: up to 30% off. Just passing through? Choose few and choose well: one region, two or three places, and the time to understand them. Official entrance fees are payable on site and not included in the price.
It all starts here. → Dakar Region
Memory and culture
- Gorée Island: an entire island listed in 1978, to be read as a whole.
- House of Slaves (Maison des Esclaves): you do not come here to check a figure, but to understand a system.
- Museum of Black Civilisations: Senghor's idea in 1966, which became a building more than fifty years later.
- Théodore Monod Museum of African Art: over 9,000 objects, the Plateau's best-kept secret.
- African Renaissance Monument: unveiled in 2010 amid criticism, now the peninsula's landmark.
- Mamelles Lighthouse: in service since 1864, on Dakar's highest hill.
Places of faith
- Great Mosque of Dakar: Lebou land, Moroccan craftsmanship, Senegalese prayer.
- Mosque of the Divinity: in the Ouakam cove, best seen first from the sea and the cliff.
Sea and beaches
- Ngor Island: calm coves on one side, the surf reef on the other.
- Ngor Beach: the shore of a Lebou village and the jetty to the island.
- Anse Bernard: the only beach in the city centre, which nearly disappeared.
- Madeleine Islands National Park: you can only land with the park's permission.
- Hann Bay and Bel-Air: a once-celebrated bay that has become a symbol of pollution.
Nature and family outings
- Hann Forest and Zoological Park: Dakar's breath of fresh air since 1903.
- Lac Rose: its colour, its buoyancy and the 2022 crisis all come down to salt.
- Tortoise Village (Village des Tortues): African spurred tortoises at Noflaye, ideal with children.
- Dakar's iconic markets: one market per trade, and the art of haggling without giving offence.
Planning your stay
- The ideal 3-day itinerary in Dakar: think in districts, and avoid the Monday trap.
- Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG): from 31 October to 13 November 2026, across Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.
- TER (Regional Express Train) Dakar–AIBD: the train has served Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD) since 28 September 2026.
- Dak'Art, the Dakar Biennale: the 16th edition, from 19 November to 19 December 2026.
- AFCON 2025 and the fervour of the Lions: final won in Rabat, title stripped by CAF, case under deliberation at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS); the fervour, though, is beyond dispute.
Lagoons, reserves and Serer villages. → The Petite Côte
A lived-in delta, explored by pirogue. → Sine-Saloum
The river, the birds, the dunes. → Saint-Louis Region · Louga Region
Islands without roads and Diola villages. → Casamance
Around Oussouye
- Eloubaline Island: impluvium houses that are homes, not showcases.
- Enampore: a village of the former Bandial kingdom.
- Mlomp: two-storey houses of earth, palmyra palm and mangrove wood.
- Edioungou: jars shaped without a kiln.
- Pointe Saint-Georges: the mangroves, and perhaps a manatee.
Around Cap Skirring
- Boucotte: the first step outside the resort.
- Kadioute: not an island, an open-air museum.
- Katakalousse: where the road ends and the islands begin.
- Diakène: the gateway to the mangroves.
- Egueye Island: no road, no village, just the tide.
The islands of the estuary
- Carabane Island: the former capital of Casamance.
- Cachouane: a peninsula you reach by water.
- Wendaye Island: between rice paddies and mangroves.
- Ourong: the last inhabited island south of the estuary.
- Djilapao: a house of sculpted earth.
At the foot of the Fouta-Djalon. → Kédougou Region
The holy city of Mouridism, where you come as a guest.
Every guide links to the activities bookable on site; see the booking process.
