Guinea-Bissau Travel Guide @ TravelNotes.org

Travel Notes: Africa: Guinea-Bissau Travel Notes

Guinea-Bissau tourist information with details about travel to and around the country. Where to stay and what to see is made easier with insider tips and hand-selected Guinea-Bissau links, by dedicated editors and visitors to TravelNotes.org - The Online Guide to Travel.

Guinea Bissau Country Information

Guinea-Bissau is sandwiched between Guinea and Senegal and encompasses some 60 offshore islands; including the Bijagós Islands.

Countries neighbouring Guinea-Bissau are: Senegal and Guinea.

Guinea-Bissau is mainly low-lying and swampy with many large estuaries. The capital, Bissau, is located  on one such estuary - near the mouth of the Gêba River - in the middle of Guinea-Bissau's Atlantic coastline.

Nuno Tristão, a Portuguese slave trader, visited the area in 1446, but a Portuguese trading post wasn't established at Bissau until 1687.

The British briefly had a settlement at Bolama in the late 18th century.

Portugal had their land claims disputed by the French and British; and couldn't establish sufficient control over Guinea Bissau, until 1915.

Within 60 years Guinea Bissau became independent; helped in part by the overthrow of the dictatorship in Portugal, during the early 1970's.

Weather in Guinea-Bissau

View a graphical weather forecast for the week ahead in Guinea-Bissau.

Bissau Weather.

Getting to Guinea Bissau

Airlines & Airports:
Guinea-Bissau is serviced by Air Bissau and TAP Air Portugal. Air Mauritanie and TACV also connect Bissau with Mauritania and Cape Verde.

Bissau's Osvaldo Vieira Airport (OXB) is 8km from Bissau. If you get to the airport too early, you might find it locked.

Adventurous travellers can travel overland from Guinea or Senegal.

Guinea Bissau Language

A commonwealth of Portuguese-speaking countries was formed on July 17th, 1996, to preserve the Portuguese language, coordinate diplomatic efforts, and improve cooperation among its members: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Portuguese for Travellers:
Teach yourself basic Portuguese before you travel to Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea-Bissau Travel Guides

Books on Guinea-Bissau Travel:
Browse Amazon's best-selling list of books on travel in Guinea-Bissau.