Things to do in Saint-Louis

Neighborhood · The island, between the river's two arms

The UNESCO-listed core: a regular grid laid over a two-kilometre island, quays on both sides, ochre and pastel houses with wrought-iron balconies and interior courtyards, and the Rognat barracks and cathedral anchoring either end.

Local tip: Walk it at seven in the morning when the light is low and the streets belong to residents rather than to tour groups. The interesting buildings are the ordinary houses, not the monuments — look through open doorways at the courtyards.

Landmark · Linking the island to Sor on the mainland

A 680-metre metal bridge built between 1894 and 1897 and inaugurated that July, with a swing span that once opened for river traffic. It was corroded almost to failure and rebuilt over three years, reopening in 2011.

Local tip: Cross it on foot at dusk with the fishing fleet coming in under you. It is the single best free thing in the city and the one photograph everyone takes, so go at an hour when the light does the work.

Culture · The sand spit, west of the island

One of the densest urban quarters in West Africa: a fishing village compressed onto a strip of sand a few hundred metres wide, with the ocean on one side, the river on the other, and pirogues drawn up along both.

Local tip: Go with a resident and ask before photographing anyone — this is a working neighbourhood living through a slow disaster, not a viewpoint. The cemetery on the ocean side, which the sea has been taking, tells you the whole story without a word.

Nature · About 60 km north, in the delta

A UNESCO-listed wetland in the Senegal river delta and one of the world's great bird reserves — the first stop south of the Sahara for millions of Palaearctic migrants, with pelicans, flamingos and cormorants in numbers that are hard to credit.

Local tip: November to April is the season and early morning is the hour; a boat is worth more than a vehicle. Combine it with the delta villages rather than treating it as a two-hour tick.

Food · Island, river side

The eastern quay where the restaurants and terraces face the Sor channel and the sunset — the closest thing Saint-Louis has to a strip, and the centre of gravity during the jazz festival.

Local tip: Prices on the quay are tourist prices. Walk two streets inland for the same fish at a third of the cost, then come back to the quay for a drink you actually want to pay for.

Landmark · About 12 km south-east of the centre

Senegal's second public university, opened in 1990 on a campus in the sandy plain outside town, and the largest single institution in the north of the country.

Local tip: The campus runs its own cultural programme and it is genuinely open — lectures, film screenings and debates are a free way into intellectual life here. Rents in the villages along the road out are the cheapest reasonable option in the city.