Why go
Janjanbureh Island sits about 170 miles (272 km) upriver from the mouth of the Gambia River, in the eastern part of the country, and is the destination that turns a coastal beach trip into a proper river trip. The island carries three names that each mark a different era: Lemain Island before the British arrived, MacCarthy Island after the colonial governor it was ceded to, and Janjanbureh since the renaming in 1995. Its main settlement, also called Janjanbureh, still appears on many maps under its older European name, Georgetown.
Western traders had already settled the island by the 15th century, but wars between the neighbouring states of Wuli and Niani ended that trade. The British then bought it, first as a prison colony for the territory they held after losing most of their North American colonies, later as a military garrison. A treaty of cession signed in 1823 handed the island over in exchange for annual payments to the local chief, and the town founded there in 1832 as a Creole settlement quickly filled with freed and liberated Africans. That history is why, in 2025, Georgetown’s historic area was inscribed into the UNESCO Memory Sites of Enslavement network, one of only 28 such sites worldwide.
What you will see
The island itself measures about 10 km long and 2.5 km wide, with the town of Janjanbureh as its only real settlement, home to 3,446 of the island’s roughly 3,998 residents. Walking tours of the old town, led by local guides, cover the colonial-era streets and enslavement history that earned it the UNESCO listing, including landmarks such as the Freedom Tree. The island is also home to Gambia’s largest prison, a working facility and the thing most Gambians still associate with the place.
Beyond the heritage walk, Destination Janjanbureh, the local tour guides association, runs river and wildlife tours built around hippo watching, kayaking, cycling, hiking and birding, plus village tours to rural communities off the island. The island and its Kankurang masquerade tradition, which UNESCO proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2008, come together each January in the community-run Kankurang Festival, with parades, craft fairs and a kayak race through the town.
Visiting
No source publishes a general admission fee or opening hours for the island, since it is a working town rather than a ticketed site; guided heritage walks, river tours and the Kankurang Festival are arranged through the Janjanbureh Tour Guides Association rather than bought at a gate. Most visitors plan two to five days around the island and its surroundings. Cash is essential: the island has no ATMs, so bring enough dalasi for your stay before you leave the coast.
Getting there
Janjanbureh is reached by bridge from the south bank of the Gambia River, and by small boat ferries or the government ferry from the north bank. From the coast resorts, Destination Janjanbureh arranges road transfers and river routes; the getting around guide covers the wider transport picture, including the Senegambia Bridge crossing further downriver.
Nearby
The Wassu stone circles, a major prehistoric monument and one of the Gambia’s best-known sights, lie about 22 km northwest of Lamin Koto, the town on the north bank directly across the river from Janjanbureh. Further upstream, River Gambia National Park’s Baboon Islands have hosted a chimpanzee rehabilitation project since 1979, reintroducing animals confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade, and make a common add-on for visitors who come this far east. For the rest of the country’s river towns and the coastal resorts, the Gambia country guide has the wider picture.