Conakry was originally a fishing village on Tombo Island, a small landmass at the very tip of the peninsula. In 1887 the French built a causeway linking it to the mainland, and over time the gap silted up entirely — what is now the colonial heart of the city was once an island. Walk the southern streets and you can still feel the change in scale: tight blocks of two-storey colonial buildings, an old waterfront, the remains of the original port.
This is the part of Conakry that rewards a slow pedestrian wander — the Presidential Palace, the Cathedral, the old central bank, and the Sandervalia museum are all here, within a few blocks of each other. The colonial buildings are decayed but many are still in use; the streets are calmer than the sprawling districts further north. Start a visit to Conakry here before pushing inland into the noise.