ML · Curated travel guide
Tomb of Askia, Bandiagara Escarpment, Great Mosque of Djenné and 7 more — what each one is, and why it is worth the detour.
Chosen from everything Wikidata knows about Mali and ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions describe them, which is about as close to "famous" as open data gets. 2 are on UNESCO's World Heritage list.
World Heritage
UNESCO World Heritage Site in Gao, Mali
A tomb in Gao, Mali, believed to hold the remains of Askia Muhammad I, among the most prolific emperors of the Songhai Empire. Built at the end of the fifteenth century, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Photo: Taguelmoust, CC BY-SA 3.0
World Heritage
Escarpment in Dogon country of Mali
A sandstone cliff in the Dogon country of Mali, rising about 500 m (1,600 ft) above the low sandy plains to its south and running for about 150 km (90 mi).
Photo: Ferdinand Reus from Arnhem, the Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0
Mosque in Djenné, Mali
The world's largest building of adobe brick, a mosque in the Sudano-Sahelian style of architecture in the city of Djenné, Mali, on the Bani River's flood plain.
Photo: Andy Gilham, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ancient center of learning in Timbuktu, Mali
One of the three medieval mosques and seats of learning of Timbuktu, Mali. Founded in the 14th or early 15th century, it was patronised and renovated in several periods under both the Songhai Empire and the Mali Empire, until its decline after the Battle of Tondibi in 1591.
Photo: Baz Lecocq at nl.wikipedia, CC BY 2.5 nl
Inland delta of the Niger River
Also called the Macina or Masina, the Niger River's inland delta: river wetlands, lakes and floodplains in the semi-arid Sahel of central Mali, just below the Sahara.
Photo: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC, Public domain
Learning center in Timbuktu, Mali
Also written Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber, a renowned centre of learning in Timbuktu, Mali, dating from 1327. It is among the three mosques linked with the historic community of scholars and students now called the "University of Timbuktu".
Photo: KaTeznik, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr
Highest point in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso's highest point, a hill on the border of its Cascades Region with Mali's Sikasso Region, near the source of the Black Volta.
Photo: Marco Schmidt [1], CC BY-SA 2.5
Dam in Kayes Region, Mali
A dam serving several purposes on the Bafing, in the basin of the Senegal River, in Mali's Kayes Region, 90 kilometres (56 mi) south-east of Bafoulabé.
Photo: USDA, PECAD/FAS, Public domain
Mosque in Bamako, Mali
A mosque in central Bamako, Mali, built at the end of the 1970s with money from the Saudi Arabian government, on the site of a pre-colonial mosque of mud brick.
Photo: FADI-BUREAU-FRANCE, CC BY-SA 4.0
Waterfall in Mali
Also called the Chutes de Gouina, falls on the Sénégal River in Mali's Kayes Region, between Diamou (downstream) and Bafoulabé (upstream), where the river flows north out of the Talari Gorges. They have been nicknamed the "Niagara falls of Mali".
Photo: Jacques Taberlet, CC BY-SA 3.0
Officially the Republic of Mali, a landlocked West African country covering 1,240,192 square kilometres (478,841 sq mi), eighth in size in Africa and 23rd in the world. Algeria lies to its north, Niger to its east, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso to its south, Senegal and Guinea to its west and Mauritania to its northwest.
Officially The Republic of Mali. Known locally as Mali, Mali.
Based on the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0: the facts are Wikipedia's, the wording is this site's.
This guide lists 10: Tomb of Askia, Bandiagara Escarpment, Great Mosque of Djenné and Sankoré Madrasah and others. Tomb of Askia and Bandiagara Escarpment are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
By machine, from open data, with no human ranking them and nobody able to pay for a place on the list. Everything Wikidata records in Mali that is a building, a landform, a protected area or a tourist attraction, has coordinates, a photograph and an English Wikipedia article, is ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions wrote about it. Provinces, cities, airports, stations and stretches of sea shared with the neighbours are filtered out.
2 of the 10 in this guide: Tomb of Askia and Bandiagara Escarpment. That is not the full count for Mali, only the listed sites that made this guide.
Bambara, French. The currency is XOF.
A travel eSIM is usually the cheapest way, and avoids a roaming bill. The plans suggested at the foot of this guide start at $7.70 for 1GB for 7 days. The eSIM is data-only and sits alongside your normal SIM, so calls, texts and WhatsApp keep working on your own number.
Orange. Your phone picks whichever has the best signal where you are, the same way a local phone does.
Maps, tickets and translation all want data, and roaming is the expensive way to get it. A Computatus eSIM eSIM connects to Orange once you land, and installs by QR code before you leave.
| Plan | Data | Valid | Price | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB for 7 days Cheapest | 1 GB | 7 days | $7.70 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 15 days | 3 GB | 15 days | $20.53 | Get it → |
No app needed. Install by QR code before you fly, keep your own number for calls, and it connects the moment you land.
A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this guide. Nothing above depends on it: the places are chosen before any price is looked up.
![Marco Schmidt [1]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mt_Tenakourou_MS_1954.JPG){kind=link}
