Dakar

Currency

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.

ATMs & cards

Ecobank, SGBS, BICIS and CBAO machines in Plateau and the Almadies. They run out of cash at weekends and around public holidays, so draw on a weekday. Take small notes where you can — nobody at a market has change for a 10,000 CFA note.

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.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

Dakar is generally safe and Senegal is one of the more stable countries in the region, but petty theft is common on the Corniche, at Sandaga market and on the beaches — keep your phone away and do not walk with a bag on the seaward shoulder. Occasional political demonstrations turn tense and are worth avoiding entirely. Swimming off the city beaches has strong currents.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

• Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present

Worth having

• Routine vaccinations up to date
• Yellow fever, which is recommended for the whole country whatever the entry rule says
• Hepatitis A and typhoid
• Malaria prophylaxis — the risk is year-round and higher in the south and in the rains

Getting treated

Private clinics in Dakar are decent and are what visitors use; public hospitals are stretched. Outside the capital the options thin quickly and evacuation to Dakar or Europe is the plan for anything serious. Insurance with repatriation cover is not optional here.

Malaria is the real risk and it is year-round, worst from July to November after the rains. Take the tablets and use the net. The Atlantic here has strong rip currents, and the heat from March to June is heavy and humid on the coast.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

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.

Getting around

• Yellow taxis — no meters, so agree the fare first; a cross-town ride is a few thousand CFA
• Yango — the ride app that works here, and it removes the negotiation entirely
• TER — the new express train from the centre out to Diamniadio and the airport, clean and quick
• Car rapide — the painted minibuses are an experience rather than a transport plan
• Airport: Blaise Diagne is 45km out; the TER and a taxi both do it, and the taxi at night is not cheap

Internet speed

Broadband here runs at 42% of the global median of 128 Mbps.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured May 2026

Must-see

Things to do

• Take the ferry to Gorée and see the House of Slaves
• Hear mbalax live — this is the city Youssou N’Dour comes from
• Surf or watch the surf at Ngor
• Walk the Corniche at sunset with everyone else in the city
• Eat thieboudienne at a neighbourhood restaurant at lunchtime
• Drive out to Lac Rose and the dunes behind it

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Wolof

• Hello (peace be with you)Salaam aleekumsa-LAAM a-LEH-koom
• How are you?Nanga def?NAN-ga def
• I am fineMaangi fi rekkMAAN-gi fee rek
• Thank youJërëjëfJEH-reh-jef
• Yes / NoWaaw / Déedéetwow / DEH-deht
• How much?Ñaata la?NYAA-ta la
• Too expensiveDafa cherDA-fa share
• No, thank youDéedéet, jërëjëfDEH-deht JEH-reh-jef
• GoodbyeBa beneen yoonba be-NEHN yohn

French is the official language and everyone in Dakar has it, but Wolof is what the city actually speaks, and two words of it change how you are treated. The greeting is not optional — Senegalese conversations begin with a round of asking after each other and getting to the point first reads as cold.

Religion

Sunni Muslim, and Sufi

About 95% Muslim, and organised around Sufi brotherhoods — the Mourides of Touba and the Tijaniyya — in a way that shapes daily life, politics and music. Practice is devout and famously tolerant: the Christian minority is unremarkable, mosques and churches share streets, and Senegal has never had the sectarian trouble of its neighbours. Friday afternoon is prayer time and the city slows for it; Ramadan changes every schedule.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Greet before anything else — nanga def, and wait for the answer; skipping it is the rudeness visitors commit most
• Use your right hand for eating, giving and receiving
• Accept teranga: Senegalese hospitality is real and being fed by a stranger is normal
• Share from the communal bowl if you are invited to, eating only from the wedge in front of you
• Dress modestly away from the beaches; shoulders and knees covered, men included

Don't

• Do not photograph people, and particularly police or government buildings, without asking
• Do not eat or offer with the left hand
• Do not drink alcohol openly outside bars and hotels; this is a Muslim country that is relaxed but not indifferent
• Do not haggle aggressively — a bit of theatre is expected, contempt is not
• Do not be surprised by requests for money; a polite refusal repeated calmly is understood