Attraction · Akwidaa
Cape Three Points Lighthouse
Cape Three Points is Ghana's southernmost tip, a fishing village and peninsula in Ahanta West known for its 1875 lighthouse ruin and working 1925 tower.
Photo: Friedmut Abel · Source
Explore Ghana
Heritage sites in Western Region
The Western Region holds some of Ghana's oldest traces of outside contact and its most personal stories of nationhood. Along this coast, Portuguese, Dutch, Brandenburg and British traders all left their mark, and the forts they built still stand above fishing towns and surf. Fort San Sebastian at Shama dates from 1520 to 1526, Fort Santo Antonio at Axim was begun in 1515, Fort Metal Cross at Dixcove was started in 1692, and Fort Gross-Friedrichsburg at Prince's Town is Ghana's only German-built fort. Fort Apollonia at Beyin now houses the Museum of Nzema Culture and History, while the Bisa Aberwa Museum at Nkontompo gathers around 2,200 artefacts on African struggle history.
The places differ as much as they share. Some are working landscapes, such as Takoradi Harbour, Ghana's oldest seaport, and Dixcove Harbour with its canoe basin and fish landing beach. Others are quiet monuments and ruins: the Cross in the Sea off Shama, the lighthouse ruins at Cape Three Points, Fort Dorothea at Akwidaa, and Bobowasi Island in Axim Bay. Inland, the Nkrumah Museum at Nkroful and the Wassa Amenfi Paramountcy Palace at Wassa Akropong tell different chapters again.
Good to know
Before you go
Plan this as a coastal route rather than a single day out, since the sites stretch from Shama and Sekondi-Takoradi west to Axim, Beyin and the Ivorian border. Check opening arrangements before you travel: Fort Santo Antonio at Axim has been closed since 18 December 2025, Takoradi Harbour is a secured working port with restricted public access, and Fort Dorothea at Akwidaa is reached on foot with permission from the local chief. Bobowasi Island is reached by boat from the Axim area. Allow time for road travel between towns, carry cash and water, and ask locally about guides, since several sites are community-run.
Start here
Places to explore
Attraction · Beyin
Fort Apollonia
Fort Apollonia is a colonial-era seafront fort at Beyin, Western Region, Ghana, housing the Museum of Nzema Culture and History since 2010.
Photo: Esthee2010 · Source
Attraction · Prince's Town
Fort Gross-Friedrichsburg
Ghana's only German-built fort, a hilltop fortification on Manfro Hill at Princes Town (Pokesu), Western Region, now a partially restored attraction and rest house.
Photo: Roberto Zaugg · Source
Attraction · Dixcove
Fort Metal Cross
Fort Metal Cross is a British colonial fort begun in 1692 on a promontory at Dixcove in Ghana's Western Region, now a UNESCO-listed protected monument.
Photo: Nicholas McGee · Source
Attraction · Shama
Fort San Sebastian
Fort San Sebastian at Shama, Western Region, is a Portuguese fort of 1520–1526, later expanded by the Dutch and now a National Monument in Ghana's UNESCO-listed forts and castles.
Photo: Esthee2010 · Source
Attraction · Axim
Fort Santo Antonio
Portuguese-built fort begun in 1515 at Axim, Western Region, now a UNESCO-listed state monument managed by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board and closed since 18 December 2025.
Photo: Jesuraj Alakassery · Source
Attraction · Takoradi
Takoradi Harbour
Takoradi Harbour is Ghana's oldest seaport, a secured working industrial port in Sekondi-Takoradi commissioned in 1928, with restricted public access.
Photo: Kees Torn · Source
Attraction
Attraction · Axim
Bobowasi Island
Uninhabited island in Axim Bay, Western Region, Ghana, known for its early-20th-century Axim Lighthouse and reached by boat from the Axim area.
Attraction
Attraction · Shama
Cross in the Sea (White Cross), Shama
The Cross in the Sea, or White Cross, is a historic cross monument standing in the sea off Shama in Ghana's Western Region, linked to Portuguese arrival in 1471.
Attraction
Attraction · Dixcove
Dixcove Harbour
Dixcove Harbour is the natural harbour and working artisanal fishing port of Dixcove in Ghana's Western Region, with a canoe basin and fish landing beach below Fort Metal Cross.
Attraction
Attraction · Akwidaa
Fort Dorothea, Akwidaa
Fort Dorothea is a ruined Brandenburg-era fort on a rocky hill at Akwidaa in Ghana's Western Region, reached on foot with permission from the local chief.
Attraction
Attraction · Beyin
Museum of Nzema Culture and History
An eco-museum inside the restored Fort Apollonia at Beyin, Jomoro District, presenting Nzema culture, history and the Amansuri wetland environment.
Attraction
Attraction · Nkroful
Nkrumah Museum at Nkroful
Museum and mausoleum at Nkroful, birthplace of Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah, retaining his original 1972 burial site and memorial.
Attraction
Attraction · Mangyea
Osagyefo Barge
The Osagyefo Barge is a decommissioned barge-mounted gas turbine power station at Effasu-Mangyea in Ghana's Jomoro District, listed by the municipal assembly as a heritage site.
Attraction
Attraction · Nkontompo
Sekondi-Takoradi museum
Bisa Aberwa Museum in Nkontompo, Sekondi-Takoradi, is a Pan African museum holding about 2,200 artefacts, sculptures and photographs on African struggle history.
Attraction
Attraction · Wassa Akropong
Wassa Amenfi Paramountcy Palace
The traditional palace and seat of the Paramount Chief of the Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area, at Wassa Akropong in Ghana's Western Region.
Wider area
More in Western Region
- Things to do in Western Region
- Beaches in Western Region
- Resorts in Western Region
- Boat trips in Western Region
- Monuments in Western Region
- Forts and castles in Western Region
- Museums in Western Region
- Rivers in Western Region
- Hiking trails in Western Region
- Viewpoints in Western Region
- Wildlife reserves in Western Region