Saint-Louis was founded by the French in 1659 on the island of Ndar, at the mouth of the Senegal River, and was capital of the French colony of Senegal and, until 1902, of French West Africa, when Dakar took over. The island town was inscribed by UNESCO in 2000. The Faidherbe Bridge, opened in 1897, links it to the mainland at Sor; a second bridge crosses to the Langue de Barbarie, a sand spit only about 300 m wide that separates the river from the Atlantic and holds Guet Ndar, a fishing district where pirogues crowd the shore. The Saint-Louis Jazz Festival has been held since 1993, and the Mauritanian border lies less than 10 km away.
Nights sit around 24°C and afternoons around 35°C, though some days reach 40°C.
Saint-Louis barely changes season: afternoons sit around 32°C and nights around 21°C most of the year.
Rain is spread through the year — about 274 mm in total, from 104 mm in September down to 0 mm in March — so no single month is a washout.
Wind is a factor: April averages 20 km/h, enough to notice on a terrace or a bike. Air quality is worth watching: February averages an AQI of 110, while August clears to 65.
Days stretch to about 12.9 hours of light in June and shrink to 11.1 in December — something to weigh if you work to a fixed timezone.
For what you're after, the best months in Saint-Louis are December – September. Expect slow internet (19 Mbps) and a moderate cost of living (about €1250 a month).
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