What a visitor's money does in Senegal: every guide rated from very cheap to very expensive, cheapest first, then the things that cost travellers money without buying anything — the ATM, the taxi, the SIM.
West African CFA Franc (XOF) · 1 EUR = 656 XOF (fixed) · 1 USD = 576 XOF
The CFA franc is pegged to the euro at a fixed 655.957, so euros are the currency to bring and the rate never moves. Change at a bank or a bureau in Plateau rather than at the airport. Cards work in hotels and supermarkets and nowhere else that matters.
Avoid: airport exchange desks, machines at weekends, when they run dry
Use: Ecobank, SGBS, BICIS, CBAO
The CFA franc is pegged to the euro at a fixed rate, so euros are the currency to bring and the rate never moves against you.
A short ride in Dakar: 2,000–5,000 CFA across town — cheap
From the airport: Dakar airport to the centre 15,000–25,000 CFA, and it is 45km out
Cheaper than the yellow taxis, which are negotiated and expect a foreigner to overpay.
Thieboudienne — fish, rice and vegetables in tomato — is the national dish and one of the great rice dishes anywhere; eat it at lunch, which is when it is made. Yassa poulet with onions and lemon is the other. Buy café Touba from a street seller and expect it to be sweet and peppery.
The cost rating is this site's own, for a visitor, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in. The general rules — the conversion prompt, shoulder season, the airport taxi — are in budget travel tips.
