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Must See Guide

Somaliland

Five-thousand-year-old cattle paintings, a capital of money-changers and camel traders, and a coral-stone port on the Gulf of Aden, in a self-declared state few have visited.

Best time to go
Only when advice allows; historically November to February, when the coast is bearable and the highlands are dry and mild
Local time
–
Currency
Somali Shilling (SOS)
Reading time
11 min
Language
Somalia and Arabic

Current advice, checked 26 October 2026. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), in advice last updated on 4 June 2026, advises against all travel to Somalia, including Somaliland, with one exception: for the three western regions of Somaliland (Awdal, which includes Zeila and Boorama; Maroodijeh, which includes Hargeisa; and Sahil, which includes Berbera and Sheikh) it advises against all but essential travel. It advises against all travel to Togdheer, Sanaag and Sool in the east, which takes in the Daallo forest. The FCDO warns of terrorism and kidnap risks throughout, including in Somaliland, and says there is no in-person consular help from the British Office in Hargeisa. The US State Department rates the whole of Somalia, Somaliland included, at Level 4, Do Not Travel, and Canada, updated 15 October 2026, says to avoid all travel to Somalia. Travel insurance is usually invalid if you go against your government's advice.

Somaliland occupies the north-west of the Somali peninsula, between Djibouti, Ethiopia and the Gulf of Aden. Internationally it is recognised as part of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Its own authorities declared independence in May 1991, as the Somali state collapsed, and since then have run a separate government with a president, parliament, army, currency and passports, holding a series of contested but largely peaceful elections. Israel announced its recognition of Somaliland in December 2025, the first UN member state to do so; the Somali federal government, the African Union and many other states rejected the move, and no other UN member has followed. This page uses "Somaliland" for the area the authorities in Hargeisa claim, without taking a position on its status.

For the few outsiders who have come, the draw is a combination found nowhere else: some of the finest prehistoric rock art in Africa at Laas Geel, a capital where traders sit behind walls of banknotes, and a coast of coral-stone ruins and empty beaches. The stops below run from west to east, from the medieval port of Zeila near the Djibouti border through Hargeisa and Berbera to the juniper forest on the edge of the eastern escarpment. Treat them as heritage worth knowing about, and visit only if and when advice allows. Neighbouring Djibouti and Ethiopia share much of the same culture, landscape and history.

The top 7 in Somaliland

  1. 1

    Zeila

    Zeila, close to the Djibouti border, was for centuries one of the great ports of the Horn of Africa, shipping slaves, ivory, incense and livestock to Arabia and beyond. It was the chief port of the medieval Adal Sultanate, visited by Ibn Battuta in the fourteenth century, and later passed through Ottoman, Egyptian and British hands. Today it is a small, sun-bleached town, and the remains of its past lie scattered among the houses: crumbling coral-stone buildings, old cemeteries, and on the outskirts the ruins of the Masjid al-Qiblatayn, a mosque traditionally said to have two prayer niches, one facing Jerusalem and one facing Mecca.

    Offshore lies the Saad ad-Din archipelago, a cluster of low islands and reefs named after a fourteenth-century ruler of Adal, with mangroves, turtles and seabirds. The islands are reached by local fishing boats when conditions allow, and are one of the least-visited stretches of coral coast in the region.

  2. 2

    Hargeisa War Memorial (the MiG monument)

    In the centre of Hargeisa a Soviet-built MiG fighter jet sits on a plinth, painted in the colours of the Somaliland flag. The aircraft belonged to the air force of Siad Barre's government, which in 1988 bombed Hargeisa from the air and shelled it from the ground in an attempt to crush the Somali National Movement rebellion; much of the city was destroyed and tens of thousands of people were killed or fled to Ethiopia. The monument, with painted murals around its base showing the destruction and the flight of civilians, is Hargeisa's main landmark and the clearest way to understand why so many in Somaliland feel separate from Mogadishu.

  3. 3

    Waheen market and the money-changers

    A few streets east of the monument, the Waheen market district is the commercial heart of Hargeisa, a dense grid of stalls selling cloth, spices, frankincense, electronics, sandals and household goods. Its most photographed corner is the open-air currency exchange, where money-changers sit beside waist-high stacks of Somaliland shilling notes, bundled with rubber bands and guarded by nothing more than their owners. The shilling's low value means even small purchases require thick wads, though most people now pay with mobile money on their phones, and the piles of cash are as much tradition as necessity. Much of the market was destroyed by a large fire in April 2022 and has since been rebuilt in stages.

    On the edge of the city, the livestock market is where camels, goats and sheep from the interior are bought and sold before many are trucked to Berbera for export to the Gulf. It is at its busiest in the early morning, when herders and brokers haggle in a haze of dust; ask permission before photographing people or animals.

    TipCarry small US dollar notes as well as a phone with mobile money set up, if that is possible; the FCDO notes that some ATMs in Hargeisa dispense US dollars to international cards.

  4. 4

    Laas Geel

    About an hour's drive north-east of Hargeisa, a cluster of granite outcrops rises above a dry riverbed, and on the walls and ceilings of their shallow rock shelters are hundreds of painted figures in red, white, yellow and black. Most show long-horned cattle, many wearing what look like decorated robes or ceremonial necklaces, with small human figures standing beside them with arms raised, alongside dogs, giraffes and antelope. Although local people had always known of them, the paintings were brought to wider attention by a French archaeological team in 2002; they are generally thought to be around five thousand years old, and they are among the best-preserved rock art in Africa, with colours still remarkably bright.

    The site is managed by the local authorities with guards on site, and visits have usually been arranged in advance with a permit from the tourism ministry in Hargeisa. The paintings are fragile and unprotected from the elements beyond the overhanging rock, so touching them, or wetting them to brighten the colours for photographs, does lasting damage.

  5. 5

    Berbera old town and beaches

    Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden about 150 kilometres north of Hargeisa, has been a trading port since antiquity and was, in the British era, the capital of British Somaliland for part of the year. Its old quarter, around the waterfront, holds a fading collection of buildings from the Ottoman and Egyptian periods of the nineteenth century: coral-stone merchants' houses with carved wooden doors and balconies, an old mosque and warehouses, many roofless or propped up and in need of conservation. The contrast with the new container port next door, expanded in recent years with Gulf investment, is stark.

    East and west of the town stretch long, almost empty beaches of pale sand, Batalaale the best known, backed by a handful of simple hotels and fish restaurants. The water is warm all year and the reefs offshore are largely unexplored. Summers here are extremely hot, often well above 40°C, which is why Berbera's residents traditionally decamped to the highlands from June to September.

    TipDress modestly on the beaches too; swimming in a T-shirt and shorts or leggings is the norm for locals and draws no attention.

  6. 6

    Sheikh and the Golis mountains

    Inland from Berbera the road to Burao climbs the escarpment of the Golis range in a dramatic sequence of switchbacks, rising from the scorching coastal plain into cool, green highlands. At the top sits Sheikh, a small market town that was a summer retreat in the colonial period and home to a well-known boarding school that educated much of Somaliland's later elite. The pass itself is the attraction: views back over the folded mountains to the coast, baboons by the road, and frankincense and myrrh trees on the slopes. Sheikh lies in Sahil region; the road continuing beyond it to Burao enters Togdheer, where the FCDO advises against all travel.

  7. 7

    Daallo forest

    Far to the east, near Erigavo in Sanaag region, the land rises to more than 2,000 metres before plunging to the Gulf of Aden, and on the cool, mist-catching rim grows the Daallo forest, one of the last substantial stands of African juniper in the Somali highlands. The escarpment edge offers huge views down to the coastal plain, and the area is rich in endemic plants and birds. The forest has been thinned by charcoal burning and grazing, and local conservation efforts are small. Daallo is in Sanaag, where the FCDO advises against all travel and where clashes linked to the disputed border with Puntland have occurred.

Safety and current advice

Somaliland has long been calmer than southern and central Somalia, and it has largely avoided the large-scale attacks seen in Mogadishu. Governments nevertheless treat it as part of a high-risk country, and the FCDO specifically warns that terrorist groups have threatened Westerners there, that kidnap is a risk, and that political and clan-based violence can flare up quickly. The eastern regions of Sool, Sanaag and Togdheer have seen fighting, notably around Las Anod, and the FCDO advises against all travel there. Israel's recognition at the end of 2025 brought new tension, with threats from al-Shabaab and tighter security checks inside Somaliland.

Practical points, if your government's advice permits a visit:

  • You need a visa. The FCDO says the Somali federal eVisa is not valid for entry at Hargeisa; visitors instead buy a single-entry visa, valid for one month, on arrival at Hargeisa airport. It is not clear whether visas are issued at other entry points.
  • The Somaliland authorities have generally required foreign visitors travelling outside Hargeisa to take an armed police escort, arranged through a hotel or tour operator. Check the current rules before setting out.
  • The authorities and the Somali government treat anyone of Somali or Somaliland descent as a dual national, which limits consular help.
  • Khat is widely chewed locally, but the FCDO notes that travellers found carrying it at Hargeisa airport are likely to be prosecuted.
  • Consular help for British nationals in Somaliland comes from the British Embassy in Addis Ababa, not from Hargeisa.

When to go

The cooler months from November to February are the most comfortable, with highland days in the twenties and the coast hot but bearable. The rains fall mainly from April to June and again from roughly August to October, and can cut unpaved roads. From June to September the coast at Berbera and Zeila is fiercely hot and humid, while Hargeisa and Sheikh stay mild at altitude. Ramadan changes daily rhythms considerably, with most restaurants closed by day.

Getting around

Hargeisa's airport has historically been served by flights via Addis Ababa and Dubai, and there have been overland crossings from Ethiopia at Wajaale and from Djibouti near Zeila, though their status for foreigners changes. Within Somaliland there is no rail and only a handful of paved roads, chiefly the Wajaale–Hargeisa–Berbera route and the road over the Sheikh pass to Burao. Visitors have almost always travelled with a hired car and driver from a local operator, which also handles permits and the police escort. Shared minibuses link the towns but are not practical for foreigners under the escort rules.

Local tips

  • Somaliland is a conservative Muslim society. Men and women should cover shoulders and knees, and women usually wear a headscarf in public.
  • Alcohol is banned and not available.
  • Always ask before photographing people, and do not photograph government buildings, police, soldiers or the port.
  • The Somaliland shilling is not accepted elsewhere in Somalia, and the Somali shilling is not used here. US dollars are widely accepted for larger payments.
  • Friday is the weekly day of rest; many businesses close around midday prayers.
  • English is spoken by many educated people and in hotels, and Arabic is widely understood. A few words of Somali, starting with the greeting iska warran, are warmly received.

Mogadishu and the rest of Somalia

Somalia's capital lies far to the south and is covered by the FCDO's advice against all travel and the US Level 4 rating; the FCDO lists repeated attacks in the city, including an assault on Lido Beach in August 2024 in which more than fifty civilians were killed. As heritage, Mogadishu is one of the oldest Swahili-coast cities: the Hamar Weyne quarter near the old port still holds coral-stone houses and the Arba'a Rukun mosque, one of the city's oldest, whose foundation is dated by an inscription to the thirteenth century. Lido Beach, a long sweep of sand lined with seafood restaurants, became a symbol of the city's partial recovery in the 2010s before the attacks. Much of the historic centre was damaged in the civil war from 1991 onwards. For a taste of the same coastal culture under calmer conditions, see Lamu in Kenya.

A short history

The northern Somali coast has traded with Arabia, Egypt and India since antiquity; it is often identified with part of the Land of Punt in ancient Egyptian records. Islam arrived early, and by the medieval period ports such as Zeila and Berbera were linked to the sultanates of the interior. In the nineteenth century Egypt and then Britain took control of the coast, and from 1884 the area became the British Somaliland protectorate, valued mainly for supplying meat to the garrison at Aden. On 26 June 1960 it became independent as the State of Somaliland and, five days later, joined the former Italian Somalia to form the Somali Republic.

Disillusionment with the union grew under the military government of Siad Barre, and the Somali National Movement fought a long rebellion in the north, met with the devastating bombardment of Hargeisa in 1988. After Barre fell in 1991, northern clan elders and the SNM declared the restoration of Somaliland's independence. The territory rebuilt largely through local reconciliation conferences and money sent home by the diaspora, while Somalia's federal government continues to regard it as part of its territory.

Eat and drink

Food here is hearty and meat-heavy. Breakfast is often canjeero, a spongy fermented flatbread similar to Ethiopian injera, with liver, onions and sweet tea spiced with cardamom and cinnamon. Lunch is the main meal: rice or pasta (a legacy of the Italian presence in the south) with goat or camel meat, a wedge of lime and a banana eaten alongside. Camel milk is drunk fresh or slightly soured, and Berbera and Zeila serve grilled fish straight from the boats. Xalwo, a sticky sweet flavoured with cardamom and nutmeg, is served at weddings and Eid.

Responsible travel

Tourism in Somaliland is tiny, which means that the few visitors have an outsized effect. Use local drivers, guides and guesthouses, pay site fees directly, and never touch or wet the paintings at Laas Geel. Ask before photographing anyone, especially women, and be careful with images of poverty or the 1988 destruction. Remember that the question of status is sensitive in both directions: Somalilanders may feel strongly about independence, and Somalis elsewhere may feel equally strongly about unity. Listening rather than offering opinions is the safest course.