Fort Prinzenstein, Keta-1784

Explore Ghana

Museums in Ghana

Fort Prinzenstein · Photo: Khobbyyyy · License: CC0 1.0 · Source

Ghana's museums are as varied as the country itself. Some sit inside centuries-old forts and castles on the coast, where the story of the slave trade is told at Elmina Castle, Ussher Fort in James Town and Fort Prinzenstein at Keta. Others celebrate kingship and craft, such as the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the Yaa Asantewaa Museum at Ejisu and the Bonwire Kente Museum in the historic weaving town. A few look further back still: the Hani Archaeological Site near Begho preserves a medieval trading town, while the Salaga slave wells in the Savannah Region mark one of West Africa's largest slave markets.

What they share is a deep sense of place. Almost every one is tied to a town, a people or an event, from the Asante shrine house at Ejisu Besease, one of the UNESCO-listed Asante Traditional Buildings, to the small Navrongo Basilica Museum in the Upper East Region. They differ in scale and mood. Accra's National Museum of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park are grand, national statements, while the Elmina Java Museum and the Bisa Aberwa Museum in Sekondi-Takoradi are intimate, privately run collections with a personal passion behind them. Regional museums in Bolgatanga and Koforidua, and Fort Apollonia's Museum of Nzema Culture and History at Beyin, keep local material culture alive.

Good to know

Before you go

Ghana's museums are spread across the country, so group them by region rather than trying to see them all in one trip. Accra alone holds the National Museum, Ussher Fort, Osu Castle and the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park; Kumasi has Manhyia Palace, the Kumasi Fort and Military Museum and the Centre for National Culture, with Bonwire and Ejisu close by. Coastal sites such as Elmina, Cape Coast's neighbours and Beyin work well together, while Bolgatanga, Navrongo and Salaga suit a northern route. Road travel between regions takes time, so allow a full day for each move. Opening hours, entry fees and guided-tour availability change, and some sites are partly ruined or occasionally closed for works, so check ahead with the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board or the site directly before you set out.

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Places to explore

Attraction · Bonwire

Bonwire Kente Museum

A museum and craft centre in Bonwire, the historic Kente-weaving town in the Ejisu Municipality of Ghana's Ashanti Region, about 18 km from Kumasi.

Photo: Stephen Acheampong · Source

Attraction · Koforidua

Centre for National Culture, Eastern Region

The Eastern Regional office of Ghana's National Commission on Culture in Koforidua, with a craftshop, traditional training school and a reported 1,500-seat theatre.

Photo: Jude Hammond · Source

Attraction · Kumasi

Centre for National Culture, Kumasi

A government-supported cultural centre in Kumasi, established in 1956, with Asante craft workshops, a gallery, a crafts shop and the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum.

Photo: Jude Hammond · Source

Attraction · Besease Ejisu

Ejisu Besease Shrine

Traditional Asante shrine house at Ejisu Besease, Ashanti Region, one of the ten UNESCO-listed Asante Traditional Buildings and the listing's main visitor site.

Photo: Sucram Yef · Source

Attraction · Elmina

Elmina Castle

St. George's Castle, commonly called Elmina Castle, is a 1482 Portuguese-founded castle and museum on a promontory at Elmina in Ghana's Central Region, listed by UNESCO.

Photo: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada · Source

Attraction · Elmina

Elmina Java Museum

A private museum in Elmina, Central Region, interpreting the history of the Belanda Hitam — African soldiers recruited on the Dutch Gold Coast for the Netherlands East Indies Army.

Photo: Fentener van Vlissingen · Source

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 · Keta

Fort Prinzenstein

Fort Prinzenstein is a partly ruined 1784 Danish fort at Keta in the Volta Region, part of Ghana's UNESCO-listed forts and castles.

Photo: Khobbyyyy · Source

Attraction · Kumasi

Kumasi Fort and Military Museum

A fort and military museum in Kumasi's Uaddara Barracks, tracing the Anglo-Asante wars and the Gold Coast Regiment's evolution into the Ghana Armed Forces.

Photo: Noahalorwu · Source

Attraction · Accra

Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park

Accra's memorial park and mausoleum honouring Ghana's first President, Kwame Nkrumah, and his wife Fathia, on the Old Polo Grounds.

Photo: Nardi Boobo · Source

Attraction · Kumasi

Manhyia Palace Museum

A historical museum in Kumasi's Manhyia Palace complex, housed in the old palace built in 1925 and opened as a museum in 1995.

Photo: Dan Sloan · Source

Attraction · Accra

National Museum of Ghana

Ghana's national museum on Barnes Road in Adabraka, Accra, opened in 1957 and run by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.

Photo: Yanajin33 · Source

Attraction · Navrongo

Navrongo Basilica Museum

A small museum attached to the Old Navrongo Catholic Cathedral, a mud-brick national monument in Ghana's Upper East Region.

Photo: Mwintirew · Source

Attraction · Accra

Osu Castle

Osu Castle (Christiansborg) is a 17th-century fort at Osu, Accra, run by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board and part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing.

Photo: Danieljatuat · Source

Attraction · Salaga

Salaga slave wells

A heritage site in Salaga, Savannah Region, marking the town's role as one of West Africa's largest slave markets, with slave wells, statues and a museum.

Photo: Cdilalo47 · Source

Attraction · Bolgatanga

Upper East Regional Museum

An ethnographic museum in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, preserving the material culture of the region since 1972 and housed at its current site since 1991.

Photo: Mac-Gbathy · Source

Attraction · Accra

Ussher Fort

Ussher Fort is a 17th-century Dutch-built fort in James Town, Accra, now home to the Ussher Fort Museum on the history of the slave trade in Ghana.

Photo: Twi inaccr · Source

Attraction · Ejisu

Yaa Asantewaa Museum

A museum in Ejisu, Ashanti Region, honouring Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu and leader of Ashanti resistance in the 1900–1901 War of the Golden Stool.

Photo: Noahalorwu · Source

Attraction

Attraction · Effia Nkwanta

Bisa Aberwa Museum

A not-for-profit Pan African museum at Nkontompo, Sekondi-Takoradi, holding over 2,000 exhibits on African and diaspora history.

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Attraction · Hani

Hani Archaeological Site

The Hani Archaeological Site near Hani in Ghana's Bono Region preserves the remains of Begho, a medieval trading town occupied from the 11th to the early 19th century.

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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.

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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.

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Attraction · Fantevikope

Nkyinkyim Museum

Nkyinkyim Museum is an outdoor museum and evolving sculpture installation in Nuhalenya-Ada, Greater Accra, created by artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo to honour enslaved African ancestors.

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Attraction · Kibi

Okyeman Old Palace Museum

The Okyeman Old Palace in Kibi, Abuakwa South Municipality, is preserved as a museum reflecting the royal heritage of the Akyem Abuakwa State.

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