Home » Seasonal rentals in Senegal » Apartments » Apartments for Rent in Saint-Louis

There are two ways to come to Saint-Louis. You can pass through, tick off the UNESCO-listed island, the bridge and the Djoudj, and leave. Or you can live there for a few days — have an address, a key, a baker, a route you walk again every morning. A furnished apartment is the second way.

This page brings together apartments for rent in Saint-Louis, from studios to two-bedroom family apartments, on the island and in Sor. They are fully self-contained homes: your own kitchen, your own entrance, your own pace, with no reception desk or staff on site. If you would rather be welcomed and looked after, with building or house services, look instead at our residences and guesthouses in the city: same city, different kind of stay.

We are a Senegalese company and we put you in direct contact with the owners. The resident rate is shown on every property.

Saint-Louis & the neighborhood apartment

Saint-Louis is a walking city. It is obvious once you are there and a surprise for anyone arriving from Dakar: here, distances are measured in minutes on foot, not in traffic jams. The island is less than two kilometers from north to south, Sor is organized along a few main roads, and a single bridge takes you from one world to the other. This scale changes everything about how you stay. In a city like this, an apartment is not just a place to crash: it is an address in a neighborhood, with its neighbors, its corner shop, its café Touba seller in the morning.

The urban fabric lends itself to it. The historic center is an 18th-century grid, laid out street by street, where the trading houses with wooden galleries were built around inner courtyards: the ground floor for business, the upper floor for living. These buildings are naturally suited to being divided into apartments, and many have been restored along those lines — one unit per floor, sometimes two, with the original volumes. In Sor, construction is more recent and more generous in floor space: that is where you find the two-bedroom apartments, the terraces and the courtyards.

Finally, there is a social reason for this abundance of furnished rentals. All year round, Saint-Louis receives people who come for a few weeks: the university is on the edge of town, the river administrations have their headquarters here, and the delta's agriculture and fisheries programs have their offices here. These stays have created a stable supply of furnished rentals, equipped for real life — proper dishes, a stove that works, a desk. Travelers benefit: they rent an apartment designed to be lived in, not just visited.

What "apartment" covers in Saint-Louis

• Studio — one room, a kitchenette, a shower room. For a solo traveler, a short stay or a tight budget. The most common format in Sor.
• One-bedroom — a separate bedroom and a living room. The standard for couples, and by far the most requested format.
• Two bedrooms and up — two bedrooms, living room, separate kitchen. For a family, or two couples traveling together.
• Apartment in an island house — a whole floor of a restored old house, with high ceilings, shutters and sometimes a balcony over the street or the river. Character comes before floor space.
• Apartment with a terrace or courtyard — more common in Sor and at Hydrobase, and precious in the evening when the heat drops and life moves outdoors.

What all these homes have in common is complete independence. You come in, you lock the door, you do your own shopping and keep your own hours. Nobody comes to make up the room, nobody serves breakfast: that is the price of freedom, and for many travelers it is exactly what they are looking for. It is also, by definition, the most affordable option as soon as you stay more than two or three nights.

Choosing your neighborhood

• The island — the listed historic center. You sleep amid the heritage, step straight out onto the street, and do everything on foot. Homes here are smaller and parking is complicated, but it is the only place where you can head out at seven in the morning and watch the city wake up over the river.
• Sor — the mainland, and the working city: the main market, the bus station, the hospital, the government offices, the road to the university. Each neighborhood has its own character, and this is where you find the largest floor areas, courtyards and terraces. It is the choice for long stays, a controlled budget and everyday life.
• Hydrobase — to the south, on the sand spit, where Aéropostale landed its seaplanes in the days of the pilot Jean Mermoz. It is the Saint-Louis residents' beach. Newer apartments, a seaside feel, a few minutes from the island by taxi.
• Guet Ndar — the fishermen's quarter on the Langue de Barbarie, one of the most densely populated in the country. People go there when the pirogues come in, but very rarely stay: there is almost no accommodation, and life there is intense from morning to night.

A practical note: from one end of town to the other, the horse-drawn carriage (calèche) is still an ordinary means of transportation alongside taxis. It is not a tourist attraction; it is how people get around.

When to come

From November to May, the dry season brings cool mornings — Saint-Louis, further north and surrounded by water, is noticeably milder than Dakar at daybreak — and an almost constant trade wind. This is the window for the Djoudj, where migratory birds from Europe spend the winter, and the best time for long days outdoors.

From July to September, the rainy season (hivernage) brings heat and some showers, but also a city given back to itself, where you can find an apartment within a few days and rates ease off. Two events fill the city and are booked months in advance: the international jazz festival in spring, which held its 34th edition in 2026, and the Fanal at the end of December, a lantern procession descended from the signares' processions to midnight Mass.

Good to know & booking

From Dakar, allow about half a day by the national highway; the city also has its own airport. Once there, plan your first grocery run as soon as you arrive: the Sor market for fresh produce, and the fish landed at Guet Ndar, which is the best reason to have a kitchen in Saint-Louis.

If you are looking for a place with access to a pool — which changes the shape of the day from March to June, when afternoons become scorching on the island — our page on apartments with a pool in Saint-Louis brings them together.

As there is no reception desk, agree on your arrival time with the owner before you set off, especially if you land late. It is the only bit of planning an apartment requires — the rest is up to you.

You secure the apartment with 20% online and pay the balance to the owner when you arrive, usually in cash — sometimes by bank transfer, to be agreed with them. As there is no reception desk, the key handover is arranged directly with the owner, with whom you are in contact from the moment you book: it is the only bit of planning an apartment requires.

Cancellation is free up to 7 days before arrival between June and October, and up to 14 days between November and May. After that, the booking is final. And if you decide at the last minute, the booking is final upon confirmation but can be rescheduled once, up to 48 hours before arrival. The resident rate appears on every listing, is intended for people living in Senegal and the Senegalese diaspora, and is activated on an account verified by phone. For stays of a month or more, ask the owner for a length-of-stay discount. The tourist tax — 1,000 FCFA per person per night — is not included in the rates shown: it is collected on site by the owner, not by Senegal Rent. The amount is given for information only. Conversely, if the owner has to cancel, we offer you an equivalent apartment on the island or in town, and failing that you are refunded all fees paid in full.

Who is it for?

Independent travelers, who prefer an address to a lobby and want to plan their days without fixed hours. Couples, for whom a one-bedroom with a balcony on the island is probably the best way to get to know this city. Families, who gain in comfort and budget as soon as there is a kitchen and two bedrooms. Students and young researchers visiting the university, who stay a few weeks and want to live like the locals. And finally, budget-conscious travelers: from three nights on, an apartment is almost always the lightest option.

What you remember from an apartment stay in Saint-Louis is never the apartment itself. It is the morning walk to the bakery, the vendor who eventually recognizes you, the sound of carriages on the cobblestones, and that late-afternoon light striking the island's façades head-on. You don't visit Saint-Louis: you settle into its rhythm.

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