The Gambia is often referred to as ‘West Africa for Beginners’ and after traveling the country for a couple of weeks I can definitely second that opinion. For one, the majority of people are incredibly friendly and welcoming.
Apart from that, at least the coastal regions have a surprisingly good tourist infrastructure, with tons of hotels, restaurants and all the amenities you might need (although that quickly changes once you move upriver).
That said, most of the travelers I met were on package holidays, staying in resorts and taking organized day tours. I found that The Gambia has so much more to offer beyond the typical tourist experience, and in this post, I’d like to show you just how easy – and affordable – it is to explore the country independently.
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Exploring The Gambia on a Budget
Budget Accommodation
While hotels are not as cheap as in some other African countries and hostels are pretty much unheard of, I still managed to find lots of affordable places to stay in The Gambia, most of them costing between 1,000 and 1,500 Dalasi for a single room (if you’re traveling as a couple, you’ll spend less).
Upriver it’s easiest, as you have plenty of local guesthouses catering to mostly Gambian travelers in the cities, while many of the riverside camps in the small towns are aimed at budget travelers, including the popular Tendaba Camp near Kiang West NP, Kairoh Garden in Kuntaur as well as most camps in Janjanbureh.
On the coast, you might have to search a little longer, but there are still affordable options in between all the resort hotels. For instance, I based myself at Sarawally Guesthouse in Serekunda for a few days, which is just about 1.5km from the coast. Once you leave the tourist area around Serekunda behind you, cheap seaside lodges can easily be found in places like Kartong or Jinack Island.
Cheap Local Transport
As far as I could tell, all people I met away from the coast had made their way there either by organized tours or by hiring a private taxi for the trip (locally referred to as a ‘town trip’). As you might expect, that can get quite expensive, but the good news it that you can easily reach most point in the country by using slightly slower, but much cheaper public transport.
Types of Transport: Gelly-Gelly’s and Bush Taxis
If you’re traveling on a budget, your best bet is to use the Gelly-Gellys (shared minibuses) or “bush taxis” (basically regular cars acting as shared taxis), which are used by locals and are far cheaper than private taxis. I found both options much more comfortable than in other African countries (Looking at you, Uganda), as the drivers didn’t fill them up far beyond capacity – once they were full, they usually stopped adding more people.
If you have a choice, the bush taxis are slightly more expensive (still cheap, though), but also faster, as they don’t stop so often en route to let people on or off. If you’re using a Gelly-Gelly, try getting a spot in the front next to the driver, where you usually have a little more space.
If you have luggage, they will mostly transport it on the roof, with a tarp or net on top to make sure nothing falls off. Sometimes, people will want some extra payment for the luggage (50 Dalasi should be enough). Also, don’t be surprised to find a couple of goats on top of your Gelly-Gelly in between the bags of rice – it happened to me several times.
How to Find Transport
The easiest way to use these types of transport is to find out where the local taxi park in any town is. Once there, you’ll just have to ask around and anyone will point you to the right car for your destination. For some destinations, you might have to change transports in between.
The main transport hubs in the country are Serekunda for destinations in the coastal region (Dippa Garage for Brufut, Tanji and Gunjur; Serekunda Market for Abuko and Brikama; Westfield Junction for Banjul) and Brikama (for destinations upriver).
You can also wave transport down along the road. To do so, hold your arm into the road and wave your hand with the palm facing downwards. The bush taxis aren’t always easy to recognize, as they are just regular cars, but basically anyone will take you along for a small fee (agree on one beforehand).
Pricing and How to Pay
At the taxi parks, there are usually ticket vendors for different destinations, where you’ll have to pay the fare before getting on the transport. If you wave transport down along the road, the driver (or the ticket guy in the Gelly-Gellys) will ask you for the fare shortly before reaching your destination.
The Gelly-Gelly’s have fixed fares, and almost no-one tried to shortchange me during my entire stay. If you’re unsure, just hand them a bill and look at them like you expect some change (which you will get eventually).
To give you an idea of the typical fares, here’s what I paid in the Gelly-Gelly on different routes:
- From one end of Kairaba Avenue to the other in Serekunda: 10 Dalasi
- Bakau to Fajara: 10 Dalasi
- Serekunda to Abuko Reserve: 20 Dalasi
- Serekunda to Tanji: 25 Dalasi
- Serekunda to Gunjur: 35 Dalasi
- Gunjur to Kartong: 20 Dalasi
- Gunjur to Brikama: 25 Dalasi
- Janjabureh to Buraba: 25 Dalasi
- Barra to Fass (for the weekly market): 35 Dalasi
- Farafenni to Kaur: 50 Dalasi
- Farafenni to Wassu: 100 Dalasi
- Brikama to Kwinella (for Tendaba Camp): 150 Dalasi
- Kudang (for River Gambia NP) to Basse Santa Su: 200 Dalasi
I think it’s fair to say, that with a taxi you would pay at least (!) 20 times the amount for each of these trips.
Affordable Food
Finding cheap food in The Gambia is super easy and apart from a few Westernized restaurants in the tourist areas, you’ll never have to worry about overpaying in any place. There are loads of small local restaurants, usually serving a selection of local dishes, as well as the occasional sandwich or pizza.
Some local dishes you should definitely try while here, include Yassa (A lemon-and-onion sauce, usually served with fish or chicken), Domoda (a peanut sauce, usually served with beef or chicken), as well as Benachin (a spicy rice dish, which mostly includes fish or chicken, but can also be served in a vegetarian version). In most places, these dishes shouldn’t cost more than 300 Dalasi, usually far less.
If you want to spend even less, there are usually some options for cheap street foods, especially around the markets and taxi parks. A great breakfast choice is tapalapa, which is a baguette-like sandwich which comes with different toppings, like Niebe Bean Paste and shouldn’t cost more than 50 Dalasi.
Other great street side snacks include Cassava Roots (20 Dalasi), homemade baobab or hibiscus ice pops (10 Dalasi) and Thiakry – a sweet and tangy yoghurt dish served in plastic bags (the price depends on how much you want, but 10 to 20 Dalasi is usually enough).
A drink you should definitely try is Wonjo – A sweet and sour Hibiscus Juice. Sometimes it can be a little on the sweet side, but when they get the mixture right, it’s amazing. Bouye (Baobab Juice mixed with milk) is also great. Finally, you’ll find lots of people my the roadside selling small paper cups of Café Touba, which is flavoured with spicy Selim grains and costs 10 Dalasi.
Entrance Fees
The entrance fees to the various historical sites around the country are fixed by the government. In most places, you’ll pay 200 Dalasi, while visiting the various historical sites connected to the Slave Trade in Juffureh and Albreda cost 400 Dalasi.
People used to East African prices will also be delighted to hear that the National Parks usually only charge an entrance fee of 200 to 350 Dalasi, so the most expensive part would be any guided tour inside the parks. Niumi NP can easily be explored independently, so this really only applies to River Gambia NP and Kiang West NP.
The prices of tours depend on the number of people taking part, but you’ll have to plan at least around 2,000 Dalasi per Person plus a tip for the guides and drivers. Some organized wildlife and birdwatching tours can also be booked online and you can browse for some options below.
Daily Backpacking Budget for The Gambia
As a solo backpacker staying in cheap guesthouses, using local transport and eating local food I paid about 2,500 Dalasi per Day, which comes up to about 27£/32€/35$. Some days were more expensive, especially when I was visiting National Parks, some days were much cheaper, but that was my daily average in February and March of 2025.
If you skip tours into National Parks altogether, eat mostly street food or travel as a couple or in a bigger group, I’d say you could get by on about 2,000 Dalasi per day at the shoestring end. If you want some more comfort, private transportation and the like, you can easily pay 10,000 Dalasi per day.
General Travel Advice for The Gambia
How Long to Stay in The Gambia
If you just want to explore the coastal regions, one week should be enough, but if you want to explore upcountry as well (which I highly recommend), you should plan two weeks in total. I spend a little over two weeks in the country and at the end had the feeling to have seen most of what the country had to offer.
I can also highly recommend spending some time in the Casamance Region of neighbouring Senegal, in which case three weeks would be a good amount of time to explore both this region and The Gambia.
When to Visit The Gambia
The main travel season coincides with the region’s dry season from November to May. I went in February and March, when there’s basically no chance of rain, temperatures are slightly lower (although it’s still very hot upriver!) and there are much fewer mosquitos around.
This is also a good time for wildlife watching, as animals will frequently use the few known watersources in the National Parks and vegetation is less dense.
Some Quick Facts About The Gambia
- Capital: Banjul (though the much larger Serekunda is the commercial hub)
- Official Language: English (Mandinka, Wolof, and Fula are the most common languages, but English is spoken by many people, especially around the coast)
- Population: Approx. 2.8 million
- Size: About 11,300 km² (4,360 square miles), making it the smallest country on mainland Africa
- Currency: Gambian Dalasi (GMD) – ATMs can be unreliable away from the coast and there hardly any places where you can pay by Credit Card, so bring enough cash with you.
- Electrical Sockets: Type G (same as the UK), 230V