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Commune and town in Adrar Region, Mauritania
Photo: Bertramz, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Atar is a town of 25,000 people (2013) in Saharan Mauritania. It is a great base for exploring the Adrar region, and tends to be slightly cheaper overall than Chinguetti. The Atar Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in the country, dates from 1674.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Museum with displays on local culture.
In the center of town, it serves typical Moroccan fare for around 600 ouguiyas a plate.
A little harder to find, this hole-in-the-wall Senegalese restaurant dishes out plates at around 300 ouguiyas.
On the pricier end, try a home-cooked lunch (from 700 ouguiyas) or dinner (3,500 ouguiyas for a 3-course menu)
Has rooms ranging from mattresses on one of two terraces to a number of traditional tents or stone huts. Plentiful bathroom and shower facilities (including hot water). The hospitality of the owners is genuine and they will gladly help arrange bush taxis or tours.
Souvenir shop selling the usual Mauritanian and African items.
Souvenir shop with a selection of meteorite rocks and other geological curiosities from the region.
By train
The Iron Ore Train typically departs from Nouadhibou sometime between 14:30 and 22:00, depending when the cargo is finished loading.
By road
There is a paved and fast road which runs from Nouakchott to Atar served by a variety of minibuses (including one run by a kindly French ex-pat) and bush taxis.
Atar is quite small and can easily be walked, although some auberges and resorts lie quite far out of town.
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