When flying between Europe and Senegal, you have a wide choice of airlines, as you do when flying to other destinations in Africa, including to Bamako, Banjul, Abidjan and Bissau. Most airline offices are on or near the Place de l'Indépendance in Dakar, but it can be cheaper and easier to use a travel agency. Departure tax is US$15, but most tickets include that in the price.

The main entry points to the Gambia are along the Trans-Gambia Highway, Karang and between Vélingara and Basse Sante Su, although there are many more routes. The

Bush taxis run regularly from Dakar to Rosso, at Senegal's border with Mauritania, from where you catch a pirogue across the river. The whole journey can be done in a day if you leave early. Bush taxis also from Dakar to Labé, Guinea, and from Ziguinchor to Bissau, Guinea-Bissau (via São Domingos and Ingore).

The Dakar-Bamako train is the best way to travel overland to Mali, as the road is very bad. There are two trains, each takes 40 hours. The Mistral International departs Dakar on Wednesdays and is superior in every way to the Saturday train. Large, comfortable 1st-class seats can be reserved in advance; 2nd-class is more crowded with less comfortable, though adequate, seating. The train has a bar-restaurant car, or you can buy cheap food at stations along the way. Note that at each border post you have to get your passport stamped. It may be taken by an inspector on the train, but you still have to collect it yourself by going to the office at the border post. Nobody tells you this. So if your passport is taken, ask where and when you have to go to collect it. You may need a stamp at the police station in Kayes too, but this seems fairly arbitrary.

Air Senegal has daily flights from Dakar to Ziguinchor (and on to Cap Skiring).

The main roads between Dakar, Kaolack, Ziguinchor and other large towns are covered by buses (carrying 30 to 40 people) and good quality minibuses (between 15 and 30 seats). On many routes, you also find more rustic minibuses - sometimes, rather misleadingly, called cars rapides. These are battered, slow, crowded and worth avoiding if possible.

Your other option for long-distance travel is a bush taxi (taxi brousse). On the main routes, these are usually Peugeot 504s with three rows of seats: comfortable, safe and reliable. On rural routes, bush taxis are pick-ups (sometimes called bachés) that seat about 12 people on benches. Fares are reasonable.

Buses are about a third the price of bush taxis, and minibuses are somewhere in between. There's normally a small extra charge for luggage.

Train services around Senegal have been cut and your options are limited to a twice weekly service to Thiés and Tambacounda (and on to Bamako in Mali).

Car hire is not cheap - often twice as much as hiring a taxi's service for the same long-distance drive - but many of the big international companies have offices in Dakar. Some smaller outfits have cheaper deals available.