Dakar, Senegal · Africa
Dakar is worth a stop: 5 minutes from Le Plateau, 27km from Lake Retba (Lac Rose).
Dakar is in Senegal, with about 2.6 million people. The nearest town is Le Plateau, about 4 km away.
Dakar ( UK also: ; French: [dakaʁ]; Wolof: Ndakaaru) is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 million in 2023.
Dakar is situated on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the westernmost point of mainland Africa.Read more
Cap-Vert was colonized by the Portuguese in the early 15th century. The Portuguese established a presence on the island of Gorée off the coast of Cap-Vert and used it as a base for the Atlantic slave trade. France took over the island in 1677. Following the abolition of the slave trade and French annexation of the mainland area in the 19th century, Dakar grew into a major regional port and a major city of the French colonial empire. In 1902, Dakar replaced Saint-Louis as the capital of French West Africa. From 1959 to 1960, Dakar was the capital of the short-lived Mali Federation. In 1960, it became the capital of the independent Republic of Senegal. Dakar will host the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics.
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Discover famous landmarks, scenic roads, and more near Dakar.
Within an hour or so of Dakar: House of Slaves, Gorée Island (6 km), Lake Retba (Lac Rose) (27 km).
Dakar is in Dakar, Senegal, about 4 km from Le Plateau.
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Places within a drive of Dakar. Keep the ones you like and add them to your trip.
2 notable places within an hour's drive.
museum
An 18th-century Dutch-built house on Gorée, 3 km off Dakar, opened as a memorial museum in 1962 with its much-photographed Door of No Return facing the Atlantic. Reached by ferry from the city.
6 km · about 10 min drive
natural wonder
A hypersaline lagoon behind the dunes northeast of Dakar that turns strawberry pink from Dunaliella salina algae, strongest late January to March. Salt collectors work it waist-deep from wooden pirogues.
27 km · about 30 min drive
Year-round
Tropical latitude: plan around the wet season rather than temperature.
Other places to explore near Dakar.
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