The draw has been the famous music festival, held in the desert outside Timbuktu, but James Truman finds that the journey delivers even more rich and vivid culture

Perhaps you're an old hand in Africa, speak good French, and harbor a desire to engage Mali's wild savannas and Saharan desert one-on-one. It can be done, but there are compelling reasons to travel with a guide and a driver. Navigating the engine-choking roads and negotiating the many local African languages are two practical considerations. But to fully experience Mali, a society arranged along traditional lines of family and tribal relationships, the access a practiced guide can provide is essential—the difference between observing and participating. Malians are unfailingly polite, but you will likely remain an outsider without a go-between to make introductions. During my trip—which I took with an English-speaking guide and a Malian driver—second cousins, old friends, and multiple step-siblings popped up as if by magic to solve problems and proffer invitations into everyday Malian life.

The best months to visit Mali are January and February, when the climate is at its most benign. It's also the season of the two biggest music festivals. Though 2008 was a disappointing year for the Festival au Désert, the adventurer's choice, it may still reclaim its former glories, and the trek out to the Sahara is memorable (festival-au-desert.org; Jan. 8–10, 2009). The recently launched Festival on the Niger, held in the more accessible town of Ségou, won plaudits this year for great music and professional organization (festivalsegou.org; Jan. 29–Feb. 1, 2009).

Most tours follow similar itineraries. The cost difference between a high-end operator like Cox & Kings (coxandkings.co.uk; 13-day tour, $4,018 per person plus airfare) and the budget alternatives are reflected mostly in the comfort level of the accommodations, which outside Bamako can be primitive. If you're prepared to rough it in the campements, the rural B&Bs, the reward for forgoing creature comforts and, sometimes, running water is a broader choice of overnight stops and the opportunity to connect with your Malian hosts, who are welcoming and gracious. If you go that route, a travel pillow and a sleeping bag will become your greatest allies. The Malian idea of bedding is rudimentary by Western standards. I booked a private tour with Fulani Travel (fulanitravel.co.uk; 9-day tour, $1,884 per person plus airfare) and found it excellent. Saga Tours is another popular operator (sagatours.com; 8- to 17-day tour, $2,578–$3,100 per person plus airfare).

The country code for Mali is 223. Prices quoted are for November 2008.

BAMAKO
The two best hotels in the capital are the Hôtel Libya, formerly the Kempinski and officially titled the Laico El Farouk, a modern, smoked- glass box attractively located on the banks of the Niger (222-3030; doubles, $199), and the Sofitel-owned Hôtel L'Amitié, a huge Soviet-style pile with a golf course (221-4321; doubles, $251).

For a more African vibe, Le Djenné, owned by a former minister of culture, has small, individually decorated rooms and loads of atmosphere (221-3082; doubles, $78). The hotel restaurant, Le San Toro, is a few blocks away but is worth visiting for its West African cooking and decor, though no alcohol is served (Route de Koulikoro; entrées, $10–$15).

Escape the noise, dust, and street peddlers at the Hôtel Mandé, sequestered in an upscale district, with an excellent pool and lawns rolling down to the river—you'll have to remind yourself you're still in Africa (221-1993; doubles, $86–$95).

Bamako is dotted with tiny lunchtime restaurants, where for a few dollars you can try rice or millet served with one of the typical sauces. Arachide (peanut) and a stewed tomato sauce are safe choices. My favorite spot was Chez Ibrahim (Rue 309; 672-1139; entrées, $3–$4).

At night, the Hippodrome district teems with bars and restaurants (and Western-style discos to be avoided). Before or after dinner you can take advantage of what may be the best colonial legacy—the ubiquitous patisseries that, though mostly Lebanese owned, serve fine French coffee and cakes. The Bla Bla Bar, a current hot spot, serves good fish and chicken brochettes (Route de la Bla Bla; 675-7527; entrées, $11–$25). For more elaborate cooking, Restaurant Monte Cristo prepares the ubiquitous capitaine (river perch) using French technique (Rue 249; 221-1296; entrées, $25). The live music scene is highly fluid. Le Hogon, the former hot spot in Dar Salam, recently closed to become a mosque. Check with your guide or hotel to find out who's playing where.

If you're interested in African textiles, once you've scoured the Artisanat, the crafts market on Boulevard du Peuple, head out to the shop at the Association des Femmes Veuves et Enfants Déshérites de Sabalibougou, close by the town hall in the outlying Sabalibougou neighborhood. Here you'll find lovely and reasonably priced boubous (robes) and linens made from traditional bogolan fabrics.

Also worthwhile is a visit to the studio of Malick Sidibé, whose evocative black-and-white photographs of dance clubs and courtship beautifully express the rebirth of Mali post-independence. You may even run into the great man himself (Rue 508; 221-3948).

SÉGOU
Mali's second city is a little sleepy, though the new Festival on the Niger hopes to change that. The most convenient lodging is in the Hôtel L'Auberge, though the two-block walk from the rooms to the reception and restaurant will take you through a gauntlet of souvenir peddlers (232-1731; doubles, $26). A little farther from the center, Hôtel L'Indépendence has clean, functional rooms and a pleasant garden and pool (232-1733; doubles, $50–$56). Most visitors eat in their hotels, but the Restaurant Esplanade, overlooking the Niger, makes a noble pass at pizza and pasta (232-0127; entrées, $11–$13).

The old colonial quarter gives one of the few remaining glimpses of French rule and is worth a drive by. On the outskirts of town, Groupe Kasobane, a working textile factory, is a popular tourist stop and offers an instructive tour.

DJENNé AND MOPTI
The remarkable mosque in Djenné is Mali's most photographed monument and essential viewing for visitors. The more upscale tours come on day-trips, but overnighters stay at the centrally located Campement de Djenné, which, if you avoid the jail-block annex, is comfortable enough (242-0497; doubles, $22–$44). Much nicer is the new Hôtel Djenné-Djenno, a brief walk from town, whose Swedish owner has decorated the rooms and garden restaurant with her own fabric designs (933-1526; doubles, $44–$50).

A few hours farther northeast, Mopti is optimistically billed as the Venice of Mali, and it is a lively and charming port town on the Niger. Hôtel Kanaga is luxurious by Malian standards (243-0500; doubles, $116–$140). The new ten-room La Maison Rouge has beautiful decor but chaotic management (623-5078; doubles, $78). Le Bissap Café is a fun place for drinks and dinner, with a roof terrace overlooking the port (entrées, $18).

DOGON COUNTRY
The numerous ancient villages that cling to the central escarpment are not just picturesque; they illuminate a large piece of the country's cultural heritage, customs, and animist beliefs. Multiday hiking tours give the most intimate experience, but overnighting in the village campements can be more grueling than the trekking. Most visitors take day-trips into the hills and return to Bandiagara, to either the Hôtel Kambary, an architectural oddity of domed rooms (244-2388; doubles, $60–$78), or La Falaise, a friendly spot that lacks private bathrooms (244-2128; doubles, $35–$56).

Reading & Music

The Bradt Travel Guide ($26) and Lonely Planet West Africa ($32) are the best resources for visiting Mali. For cultural orientation, In Griot Time is American writer-musician Banning Eyre's delightful account of his seven months in Bamako apprenticed to a famous griot guitarist (Temple University Press, $25).

Eyre also contributes informative liner notes to the Smithsonian Folkways compilation CD Mali Lolo, to my mind the best introduction to the many styles of Malian music. For individual recordings, you can't go wrong with the following: Ali Farka Touré's Talking Timbuktu, a collaboration with Ry Cooder, is the most tuneful and accessible of his records; for the darker side of his deep-river blues, Niafunké and Radio Mali are unbeatable. Salif Keïta recorded Soro, his groundbreaking vision of traditional and modern Malian music, 20 years ago. He hasn't made a bad record since, and you can hear the highlights of them on the retrospective CD The Mansa of Mali. Kandia Kouyaté is to griotte singers what Aretha Franklin is to American R&B—a huge voice and a regal presence. Kita Kan is her most available CD. Kassé Mady Diabaté honors and updates his griot heritage on the Grammy-nominated Kassi Kasse. Toumani Diabaté, the kora virtuoso, has been at the forefront of the not-always-successful experiments in melding Malian and non-African musical styles—Songhai, his collaboration with a flamenco group, is among the best. But his latest recording with the all-African band Symmetric Orchestra, Boulevard de l'Indépendence, is better. Tinariwen, the rebel guitar band from the Sahara, is Mali's latest sensation, and its new CD, Aman Iman: Water Is Life, is as good as its first two.