Best Time to Visit Mauritania

Nouakchott: the one city on our list

Nouakchott is the only place we cover in Mauritania, so this page leans on it. The capital sits right on the Atlantic. That keeps it milder than the Sahara inland, and the sea breeze helps a lot.

The best window runs from November to June. Days are dry and sunny, and the evenings can feel pleasantly cool, especially from December to February. It's a good time for the fishing beach, where colourful wooden boats land the day's catch in the late afternoon.

The seasons

Mauritania has two seasons that matter. The dry season is long. The rainy season is short and falls in late summer.

September is the hottest month in Nouakchott at 30°C. August is the wettest at 59 mm. That's not much rain by most standards, but it's enough to flood streets, because the city has weak drainage. Humidity is sticky, and roads can turn messy fast. If you can, skip these months.

Heading inland? The desert is much hotter than the coast, so we'd stick to the cooler months. Towns like Chinguetti and Ouadane, old caravan towns with ancient libraries, are best seen from November to February. Many trips there also involve the long drive across the dunes, which is far more comfortable when it's not baking.

Holidays, crowds and high season

Mauritania doesn't have a big tourist rush. High season is simply the cooler months, from November to February, when the few tour groups arrive. Even then, you won't fight for space in Nouakchott.

Religious dates matter more than school holidays. Ramadan, the month of daytime fasting, changes with the moon and moves about ten days earlier each year. During it, many cafés and restaurants close until sunset, and the pace slows. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha bring family gatherings and some closed shops and offices. Independence Day, on 28 November, is a national holiday.

Travelling with a guide or driver for desert trips is the norm, and the best ones book up in the cooler months. If you want quiet, try March to May. It's warmer, but still dry, and you'll have the beaches nearly to yourself.