Often overlooked in favour of the safaris of East Africa, here is why visiting Ghana should be on your travel list…

So Ghana has bumped itself onto your travel radar, and for good reason. Situated in West Africa, Ghana may lack the tourist crowds found in East and Southern Africa, but that in no way reflects the rich experience this part of the world has to offer.

Thriving with personality and its own unique experiences, visiting Ghana remains ‘off-the-beaten-track’ largely because of its location. But if you’re ready to branch out beyond the well-trodden tourist trails you will not be disappointed.

Ghana Quick Facts

Official Language English (official)

Akan, Asante, Twi & approx 80 others Capital Accra Currency Cedi (GHS)

£1= 7.25

$1=5.25

€1=6.20 Climate Tropical, warm all year round. Wet season is typically April – November. Power Mostly UK adaptors (plug types D and G both widely used).

Arriving in Ghana

The capital, Accra is the most likely port-of-entry when visiting Ghana with the country’s main airport. Regular flights by airlines such as Emirates, British Airways, Air France and South African Airways connect Ghana to Europe, Asia and the rest of Africa.

Prices from Europe can start from as little as GBP 350/USD 450 for a return ticket from London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam among others.

For most travellers to Ghana, you will need a visa before arriving. The fee for UK passport holders is £60 (check details at Ghana High Commission London). Other nationalities will need to check with your local Ghanaian consulate before travelling.

Visiting Ghana? Find accommodation in Accra, Kumasi or anywhere else in Ghana with our handy hotel search widget.

Exploring Accra

Accra is loaded with personality. Being a capital, it has all the museums and monuments, you’d expect with the Black Star Square (named after the star in the country’s flag) hosting the mandatory victory gate and an independence monument.

But the true Ghanaian spirit resides in its communities, bustling streets and buzzing nightlife. From restaurants with a rich local cuisine (try the bean curry ‘Red Red’ and fried plantain chips) to rooftop cocktail bars that keep the city dancing into the night, Accra is thriving.

The karaoke circuit alone is enough to keep you busy, though you’ve got some stiff competition. The locals take their singing seriously and know how to lift the roof! If singing is not your style try your hand at the dancing lessons some bars provide, or get to chatting with the locals. With their chilled-out vibe and lively humor you can’t help but get caught in the action

As is almost always the case, meeting a few locals or catching up with other travellers will plug you into the social pipeline.

The area with some of the most vibrant night life is Osu, especially Oxford Street, which is home to several popular bars and clubs. Follow your ears and you’ll soon find yourself in a lively party. Hemingways, Firefly and Monsoon, all on Oxford Street, are particularly lively on weekends with DJs, dancing and big crowds.

Nearby Labone and Cantonments also feature a bevvy of lively venues, but the best bet is to get chatting to locals and see where the party takes you.

The party is always wild in Accra! Pic by Tobias Nii Kwatei Quartey on Unsplash

Chocolate in Ghana

It’s been the second biggest producer of the raw materials of everyone’s favourite sweet treat for years. But, only recently has there been any industry around making this delicious confection. Yup, chocolate is a thing in Ghana. And that means a great excuse to go visit a factory.

Probably the best chocolate in Ghana, ’57 Chocolate is produced by two sisters on the outskirts of Accra. There are also chocolate tours advertised in hostels and hotels, or you can find one online too.

Getting around

Tro-tro

Within Accra the primary form of public transport is the ‘tro-tro’. The tro-tro network acts like an informal bus route, but instead of buses they are private basic minivans run by independent drivers between unofficial stops. There are no actual bus stops; rather people congregate in known areas where tro-tros pick-up and drop-off. And though they follow set routes the routes aren’t published, so to get to a particular destination just ask a local for advice.

Tro-tros also run between major cities. These leave from busy central ‘stations’, though again, not official stations with no clear signs. These are large hubs where upwards of a hundred tro-tros wait. To find a tro-tro you literally walk around shouting where you want to go, until a driver going there finds you and makes an offer.

In all cases tro-tros don’t run to a particular timetable, they simply leave once they are full (and don’t be surprised if you find yourself sharing your tro-tro with random animals). Tro-tros are the most cost-effective way of travelling around Ghana, with travel around the city costing anywhere between 30 pesewas to 1 cedi (USD0.05-0.20). Travel between major cities, like Accra and the Cape Coast would barely cost a few dollars.

Hot tip: Make sure you carry small change (pesewas) with you. Tro-tro operators will not be happy or be unable to break a cedi note.

Taxis

While tro-tros themselves are an adventure regardless of the destination, being crammed into an unregulated van with a goat might raise some red flags for you. Taxis also run around Accra, and between major cities, though they’re not a shining beacon of security either. Most taxis are also unregulated, and are generally not metered, so make sure you agree to a price before getting in, and share the taxi with other travellers where possible.

Where to visit in Ghana

Cape Coast and the Slave Castles

The sad legacy of the international slave trade is scattered across the Ghanaian coastline in the form of forts and castles. While they seem grand to look at, these castles stand as monuments to a harrowing past and harbour dark rooms and dungeons haunted by the sad stories of Africans sold, starved and chained on ships bound for Europe and the Americas. A local tour guide provides candid and respectful accounts of the local history and how the fort used to run. The experience is a sobering reminder of just how dark humanity can go and stands alongside such monuments as Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland and the Killing Fields in Cambodia.

The most popular slave castle for tourists is at Cape Coast, about half a day’s drive from Accra. Cape Coast itself is otherwise a charming little laid-back coastal town with fisheries, markets and a couple of cocktail bars on the beach. There are a handful of basic hotels and eateries serving local cuisine, run by friendly locals ready for a chat.

Elmina, just west of Cape Coast, is another small coastal town harbouring another slave castle. However, if you are strapped for time Cape Coast is the recommendation.

Kakum National Park

From Cape Coast be sure to head inland for a day, to the treetops of Kakum. About an hour’s drive, Kakum National Park is Ghana’s most visited nature reserve. Instead of allowing visitors to trample the grounds of the rainforest, they invite you instead to walk across suspended bridges meandering through the treetops, 30 metres in the air. As with any nature reserve, spotting wildlife is not guaranteed, but just the sensation of wandering through the canopy is an experience. It’s surreal, to be at the top of a forest instead of on its floor, being so up close (and up high) with nature.

Entry fees are slightly complicated, but not expensive. Basically, if you want to walk the canopy it’s 60 cedis (approx USD10), but there are extra fees for hiking to a nearby waterfall or through the forest. Accomodation is also very affordable. Check out the price list for Kakum national park here.

Wli Waterfall

Credit: Visit Ghana

If you really want to step off that beaten track there are some notable waterfalls and hikes north of Accra. One of the more popular is Wli waterfall. It is the highest waterfall in Ghana, and West Africa, and is made up of two cascades, an upper and lower.

The upper segments can only be accessed by hiking. The hike itself is not especially long, but it is quite steep. And it’s worth it. It is unlikely you’ll see anyone else on the hike, which means you’ll be tucked away into the forests of West Africa, with the clear pools and rushing waters of Wli to yourselves. There area is also home to a colonies of fruit bats, so you’re very likely to see some of these too, if you time your visit right.

Around the waterfalls is a small traditional village, so stock up before you go as there are hardly any shops. There are only one or two hotels close by, but they are well stocked and ready for visitors.

Mole National Park

Photo by Hannes Wolf on Unsplash

A trip to Africa is not complete without the thrill of seeing the native animals we all know and love. Safaris are conducted in Mole National Park, in Northern Ghana, almost a full day’s drive from Accra. You can hire a car in Accra, or alternatively fly or travel by coach from Accra to Tamale, then get a mini bus from Tamale to Mole Park. The park itself has accommodation, and there are luxury options nearby too.

Four of the big five can be found in Mole National Park; elephants, buffalo, leopards and lions, although due to decline in population a lion sighting is rare. There are also diverse species of monkeys, deer, birds and warthogs, and more…

Entry to Mole park is around 40 cedis (approx USD7), making it one of the cheapest places to do a safari. Even if you get the full safari package tour it’s likely to be much cheaper than the equivalent in East Africa. Compared to Kenya or Tanzania, it’s an absolute steal!

Unique Ghana: Paa Joe – Fantasy Coffins

Unique to Ghana is a locally operated coffin business by Paa Joe, specialising in custom-built coffins. The premise for the coffins is to reflect the interests or occupation of the deceased, to help them transition into a new beginning in the afterlife. The coffins are of exceptional quality and so popular that there is an international market for them. The forms of the coffins vary widely; fashioned into animals, shoes, phones , food, the list goes on. You can browse them on Instagram at @PaaJoeCoffins

The coffin workshop sits on the outskirts of Accra. While they welcome visitors it is not a museum, it is a place of work. There is no entry fee but if you are visiting Ghana and you want to hang out and see what they’re working on it would be common courtesy to offer a tip.

Sneaky side trip to Togo

It’s not often you find yourself in West Africa, so stealing a few days to check in on Ghana’s neighbour makes sense. Togo is the home of voodoo, which in its traditional (non-Hollywood) form is called Vodun, and centres on a deep connection with a spiritual realm. Vodun has been practised by many locals for centuries, and outside of Togo’s major cities some whole villages still adhere to these traditional ways.

Fun Fact: In traditional voodoo, pushing pins into a doll is not meant to inflict pain onto the person the doll represents, rather the pins are meant to serve as armour, protecting that person by warding off evil spirits.

Lome

Lome seafront – pic: Amanda Moller

Togo’s capital, Lome, is quieter than Accra and nestled by the ocean with palm trees lining its streets. Instead of tro-tros the Togolese have motorbikes for public transport, where you literally jump on behind the rider. These are not recommended, as they are a more dangerous and unlikely to be covered by travel insurance. It’s best to stick to taxis where possible.

Lake Togo and Togoville

Lome can be covered in a day, it’s the villages that really showcase Togo’s rich culture and history. If you can make your way to Togoville you’ll start to encounter signs of voodoo culture (and I say “if” because getting to Togoville independently really is for the adventurous; it will take a taxi, another taxi, a random boat ride across Lake Togo by whichever local boatman offers to take you, another taxi if you can find one but likely a fair bit of walking otherwise… honestly there’s no solid map on this trail. You’ll really be relying on old Lonely Planet instructions and locals for directions and advice).

At Togoville there are one or two hotels, but otherwise it’s a very quiet, rural village. Nearby you can find voodoo markets, which you will have to go into with an open mind. Here they sell everything from voodoo dolls to animal skulls and their insides. It’s helpful to remember that these markets are not a sordid tourist gimmick, but rather are more reflective of traditions from a culture that holds complex beliefs that we are not in a position to judge.









Voodoo village at Togoville, Togo – Pics: Amanda Moller

Very Hot Tip: Ask your hotel if they know a guide willing to take you to a local Vodun village. These villages adhere to traditional living, dress and custom. If you are lucky the local Vodun Priestess will meet with you and give you a blessing. It is helpful if you or someone with you speaks French; French is the official language of Togo but there many indigenous languages. Being that far out of a city local guides are unlikely to speak English.

If running off on a randomised trail into French-speaking voodoo territory is stretching your adventurous sensibilities a little too far, you can book day tours with local tour operators out of Lome.

Safety and travelling alone in West Africa

It all sounds very ‘Indiana Jones’, but is it safe? A fair question that needs to be asked, especially for women or solo travellers planning on travelling in West Africa.

Dangers for travellers visiting Ghana and Togo are similar to those faced in many other African countries; lack of safety regulations, robberies and kidnapping targeted at Westerners (especially women), scams, etc. These instances are not common, but it would be unwise to act as though they don’t happen at all. Adhere to common street-smart tactics; travel with others if you can, avoid travelling alone at night, don’t carry all your valuables (money, credit cards, travel documents, etc.) in one place, choose accommodation with good security.

If you want to go to West Africa but really don’t want to go it alone there are tour companies that travel the region. One of the most reputable is Intrepid. While this is likely to cost more, they do include many of the experiences covered here, with an added measure of organisation and security. But either way, travelling through the history, culture, villages and forests of West Africa is an adventure you’ll never forget.

Ready to fly away to West Africa and visit Ghana or Togo? Find flights to Accra using or handy flight widget below.