Mauritania is doable independently on the main paved roads, but it takes more planning and patience than Morocco or Senegal, and the desert tracks need a hired driver.
Buses and shared bush taxis link
Nouakchott with
Atar (6 to 7 hours) and
Nouadhibou (5 to 6 hours) for roughly 450 to 700 MRU (US$11 to 18). Beyond that, places like
Ouadane,
Banc d’Arguin and
Oualata require a 4x4 with driver at about 3,000 to 5,000 MRU (US$75 to 125) a day plus fuel. French or basic Hassaniya Arabic helps a lot, and you should carry 20 or more passport photocopies for police checkpoints.
Ten days is the right length for a first trip to Mauritania, enough for the Adrar plateau and the Atlantic coast without rushing.
With 5 days, stick to
Atar,
Terjit and
Chinguetti, since the bus from Nouakchott alone takes 6 to 7 hours each way. With 10 days, add
Ouadane, the
Richat Structure, two nights in
Banc d’Arguin National Park and the iron ore train from Nouadhibou. You need 15 days or more to reach
Tidjikja and
Oualata, because Nouakchott to Néma is about 1,100 kilometers, or two full days on the road.
Yes, you can travel around Mauritania without your own car on the paved roads, but every desert track means hiring a 4x4 with a driver.
Buses and bush taxis cover
Nouakchott to
Atar in 6 to 7 hours, Nouakchott to
Nouadhibou in 5 to 6 hours, and the Route de l’Espoir east to
Kiffa and
Néma. The iron ore train runs from Nouadhibou to Choum in roughly 12 hours. Shared 4x4s sometimes run from Atar to
Chinguetti (about 2 hours), but for
Ouadane,
Banc d’Arguin or
Oualata, budget 3,000 to 5,000 MRU (US$75 to 125) a day for a vehicle and driver.
The must-visits in Mauritania are the Adrar caravan towns of
Chinguetti and
Ouadane, the
Richat Structure and the birdlife of
Banc d’Arguin National Park.
Give Chinguetti 2 nights for its stone mosque, manuscript libraries and dunes, then spend another 1 to 2 nights in Ouadane, 3 to 4 hours away by 4x4, for its tiered ksar and the Richat rings about an hour’s drive away. Banc d’Arguin is best from October to March, with 2 nights in a tented camp near Iwik. With 15 days or more, add
Oualata for its red-ochre painted walls, 2 to 3 hours by track from Néma.
If time is short in Mauritania, skip the far east and the Senegal River towns and put your days into the Adrar plateau.
Reaching
Oualata and
Néma means about 1,100 kilometers each way from Nouakchott, so it only makes sense on trips of 15 days or more.
Rosso,
Kaédi and
Aleg are working towns with little to see beyond markets, and
Nouadhibou needs only one night if you are passing through for the iron ore train. In
Nouakchott, one day covers the fishing beach and the National Museum before you take the 6 to 7 hour bus to
Atar.
Yes, our itinerary-planner does exactly that. Set your trip length in days, give your interests and travel style, optionally give start- and end location and/or some mandatory stops you would like to include and the itinerary planner creates your personalized routes for Mauritania in seconds. Try it out!
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