Senegal - DESTINATIONS & HOTELS

• Introduction
• Destinations & Hotels
• Info & facts
• Itinerary Ideas
• Oasis Highlights
• Price Guide
• Themes

Saint Louis

Once you have crossed Pont Faidherbe bridge, designed by Gustav Eiffel, the heart of the old city is located on a narrow island in the Senegal River.

 Here the river is separated from the Atlantic Ocean in the west by a sand spit, the Langue de Barbarie. The third part of the city, Sor, lies on the mainland and is nearly surrounded by tidal marshes, where you'll find the lively fishing community of Guet N'Dar.  It's no wonder, Saint Louis was classified as a World Heritage Site in 2000,

Stroll along the streets set out in the grid formation. Here and all over the island are the magnificent balconied houses, the gallery houses as well as the rare Portuguese, Maison basses which give the city its aesthetic quality and identity.

Walk westwards, and the square opens up into a shady quadrangle, named after the Governor Faidherbe, whose statue towers over the gardens. This communal space is used for the city's festivities and is bordered to the north and the south by two initially identical buildings. These are the old barracks of Orleans and are used to hold military garrisons. 

Discover, the first hint of European settlement The St. Louis Cathedral an eighteenth-century cathedral, With a mellow neo-classical facade this cathedral is the oldest in West Africa and inside has an impressive stained glass window, depicting scenes of the life of Saint Louis, the French Crusader King. 

Wander through and then onto the old Ploërmel Monks school still exhibiting original façades.