Craft centres in Eastern Region

The Eastern Region is one of the easiest places in Ghana to meet makers and see craft close up. Three very different stops sit within reach of each other, and each offers something the others don't. Aburi Botanical Gardens, opened in March 1890, spreads across 64.8 hectares of plant collections and recreation areas, with a craft centre and a hiking trail among its draws. In Koforidua, the Centre for National Culture, Eastern Region, is the regional office of Ghana's National Commission on Culture, and holds a craftshop, a traditional training school and a reported 1,500-seat theatre. A short way away, the Koforidua Beads Market fills the Gallaway neighbourhood beside Jubilee Park every Thursday, and the local assembly describes it as one of Africa's largest bead markets.

So the gardens give you greenery, family-friendly space and a craft centre in one outing; the Centre for National Culture adds museum and cultural displays plus training in traditional arts; and the beads market is the lively, weekly, buy-something-and-take-it-home stop. Together they suit anyone curious about Ghanaian craft, from families to collectors.