Best time to visit Dakar

Senegal · Africa

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Dakar

Tap a month for its page

Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Go in Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Sep or Oct — these months score within a whisker of each other; 27C max, 2 rainy days. Feb is the next best.

Dry season: Oct–Jul, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.

Plan this trip

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Flights

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Where to stay

Things to do

Car hire

Travel insurance

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Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.

Things to do in Dakar

African Renaissance Monument This colossal copper monument opened in 2010 and is dedicated to Africa's emergence from…
Ile de Gorée It was named by the Dutch after taking over the island from the Portuguese in the late…
Lake Retba Also called the "Pink Lake", the high concentration of cyanobacteria indeed gives the…
Les Almadies The Western tip of the African continent where plenty of seafood restaurants are located.
Musée Civilisations noires Focus on African civilization and culture, the Nubian way of life.
Dakar Cathedral Roman Catholic cathedral in Dakar, Senegal
Dakar Grand Mosque Built in 1964 by French and Moroccan architects.

Tours and tickets in Dakar

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Dakar), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	24°	0d	63%	10.1h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Feb	23°	0d	67%	10.6h	good	23C max, 0 rainy days
Mar	22°	0d	77%	11.0h	sweet spot	22C max, 0 rainy days
Apr	22°	0d	79%	11.6h	sweet spot	22C max, 0 rainy days
May	23°	0d	84%	11.5h	sweet spot	23C max, 0 rainy days
Jun	25°	0d	85%	11.1h	sweet spot	25C max, 0 rainy days
Jul	27°	2d	82%	10.2h	sweet spot	27C max, 2 rainy days
Aug	28°	7d	82%	9.5h	good	28C max, 7 rainy days
Sep	29°	6d	82%	9.8h	sweet spot	29C max, 6 rainy days
Oct	29°	1d	80%	10.3h	sweet spot	29C max, 1 rainy day
Nov	28°	0d	70%	9.8h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Dec	26°	0d	64%	9.6h	goodbusy	busier than usual

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the centre, 39 km from the airport (DSS): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in January and November; quietest in May and June.

Then and now

No month in Dakar is clearly warmer than in 1981–1990: the differences are inside the ordinary spread between one year and the next.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	25.7°	25.8°	26.3°	25.6°	26.3°	28.1°	28.9°	29.1°	29.4°	30.4°	30.0°	27.7°
2017–26	24.3°	23.1°	21.6°	22.0°	22.8°	25.2°	27.2°	28.0°	28.5°	29.1°	28.5°	26.0°
Change	-1.4°	-2.6°	-4.7°	-3.6°	-3.5°	-2.8°	-1.7°	-1.1°	-0.9°	-1.3°	-1.5°	-1.8°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Dakar is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Cost of living	very cheap — prices run about 36% of the United States' (World Bank, 2025)
Currency	West african cfa franc
Languages	French, Wolof, Badyara, Balanta
Plugs	Type C and E and K, 230 V
Driving	On the right
Calling code	+221
Travel advice	No advice against travel — UK Foreign Office, updated 2026-05-13
Health	UK Foreign Office health advice

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank, refreshed 2026-10-08. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — The currency is the West African CFA franc (XOF). Larger and more upmarket places that cater for tourists usually take foreign cards, and the mobile payment apps Orange Money and Wave are widely used. Dakar has ATMs that take foreign cards, though withdrawal limits can be low and machines regularly run out of money; there are few elsewhere in the country. Change money only at banks or reputable bureaux, as fake notes are a risk.
UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.

Getting around Dakar

Since 28 September 2026 the TER train has run between Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD) and Dakar. Dakar Dem Dikk's air-conditioned Express AIBD buses run round the clock between the airport and its HLM Grand Yoff terminus, opposite the Léopold Sédar Senghor stadium, for 6,000 CFA francs one way. Taxis from the airport to Dakar cost 13,000 CFA francs by day and 18,000 at night, as the airport lists them, plus the toll if you take the motorway.

Apps — Rides: Heetch. Maps: Google Maps. Taxis, marked yellow and black, have no meters: agree the fare before you set off, have small notes ready, and do not let the driver pick up other passengers; avoid motorcycle taxis, called jakarta. At the airport, beware of drivers who pretend to know you and then overcharge: arrange transport with your accommodation or an authorised operator.

Unlike the chaotic regular bus system, the train-like BRT has stations and dedicated lanes. Tickets have to be purchased before you get on board and cost 400 or 500 CFA depending on distance. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Dakar, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Open in Google MapsDakar on the map

Help

Emergency — police 17 · ambulance 15 · fire 18. Call 123 for the military police, who may respond faster in the countryside.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 8 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (11)

Dakar in pictures

Gorée 2024 coucher de soleil sur Dakar 25 — i

Fawaz.tairou, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Monumento al Dakar, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, 2016 02 04, DD 47 — i

Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hino Ranger No.517 2019 Dakar Rally — i

TTTNIS, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pointe des Almadies Senegal — i

Jeff Attaway, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Gorée 2024 Vue de Dakar 31 — i

Fawaz.tairou, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Dakar is like

Dakar is the capital and largest city of Senegal and is often regarded as the cultural and commercial center of French-speaking West Africa. Dakar is often the first stop in exploring French-speaking West Africa because it has good flight connections with Western Europe. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: African Renaissance Monument. 24/7. This colossal copper monument opened in 2010 and is dedicated to Africa's emergence from the oppressive European regimes that once ruled the continent and the end of slavery. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: Dakar has a vibrant music scene and is very popular with young people. Check out the incredibly rich and variant styles. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: Aéroport international Blaise-Diagne (DSS IATA). The airport is about 50 km from Dakar near the village of Diass. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe: Petty crime in Dakar is relatively high; crime against tourists is common, even around Place de l'Indépendance. Use common sense: women should not walk around alone after dark. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Dakar, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Dakar

Nearby

Kind of place

Dakar is in Senegal, Africa. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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