Travel Guide

Place to Visit: Nouakchott

Biggest City in the Sahara

Atlantic Mauritania, Mauritania

Located on Africa's Atlantic Coast and surrounded by the Sahara Desert, Nouakchott is the capital city of Mauritania. Travellers heading for Mauritania will most probably spend a day or two in Nouakchott.

With few tall buildings and rapid growth over recent years, the city is quite spread out and offers a handful of things to see and do, not least offering a choice of very comfortable hotels. Travellers emabarking on a Mauritania Sahara adventure holiday, trip or tour usually join and end in Nouakchott.

Great Reasons To Visit

  • Discover the Ksar (the old town) of Nouakchott.
  • Search for handicrafts and silver then barter in one of Nouakchott's vibrant markets.
  • Head down to the beach and see colourful fishing boats with fishermen bringing in their catch.

Background

The modern city of Nouakchott was only created in the 1960s when Mauritania ceased being a French Colony and gained it's independence. The main street - the Avenue Abd an-Nasir - is a wide tree lined street running through the centre of the city from the airport.

Other major streets are named (in French) for notable Mauritanian figures, or international personages of the 1960s including: Avenue de Gaulle, Avenue Kennedy, and Avenue Lumumba.

Relaxing

Nouakchott's beaches offer fun and relaxation, but head down in a small group to ensure your privacy. A hotel swimming pool offers sanctuary from daily life in a West African city.

Nouakchott

Visit the Ksar (the old town) of Nouakchott and Nouakchott Museum. Several markets include Nouakchott Silver Market, the Craft Market and Camel Market. Nouakchott also offers beaches - one beach is dedicated to colourful fishing boats, setting off and returning from the Atlantic with their catch. The city also hosts the National Library and National Archives. Nouakchott is the principal location in Africa for the world distribution of native Saharan meteorites.

Grande Mosquée, Nouakchott

Detail of Grand Mosquee, Nouakchott

Atlantic Mauritania, Mauritania

Nouakchott's Grande Mosquée is also known as the Mosquée Saudique, and is Mauritania's premier mosque. Located right in the centre of Nouakchott it is an important landmark worthy o...

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Musee National, Nouakchott

Musee National

Atlantic Mauritania, Mauritania

Moorish culture and a prehistoric gallery with archaeological exhibits are the highlights of Mauritania's National Museum. Worth a visit for those with a deep interest in museums and local cultur...

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Port de Peche (Fish Market), Nouakchott

Bringing in the boats, Nouakchott

Atlantic Mauritania, Mauritania

Nouakchott fish market is the place to head to stimulate the senses - boats return with their catch throughout the day, but late afternoon is the best time to visit. As the sun sets and boats are pull...

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Reviews

Mike Fox's Photo

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Reviewed by Mike Fox at 14:11 on December, 17th 2007

Some people love big cities in ‘developing countries’ for their sheer vitality and fascination. I am more of the “necessary evil” school. Cities for me are somewhere to get supplies, a hot shower if you’re lucky, and to find an airport if you need one. Give me the wide open spaces over the urban sprawl any day. Nouakchott is a big sprawling capital city: dusty, chaotic, full of traffic, colourful, bustling, vibrant and, at times, very hot. Street stalls selling every conceivable thing were everywhere, as were goats, who seemed to walk about the city as they pleased. But I was able to find my rather specialised lithium camera battery, so that was a result. And the beach when the fishermen came back with their catches was great.


         

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