Things to Do in Ghana: Markets, Mountains and Heritage

Cape Coast Castle courtyard and cannons overlooking the Atlantic — Cape Coast Castle · Photo: Rjruiziii · License: CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

Ghana rewards travellers who look beyond the obvious. The places gathered here range from the Akosombo Dam, which impounds Lake Volta, and the Adomi Bridge at Atimpoku, Ghana's first permanent Volta River crossing, to quiet forest and mountain country such as Bia National Park, Bunso Eco Park and the Afadjato-Tagbo Eco-Tourism Reception Centre at Liati Wote, where guided hikes to Mount Afadja and Tagbo Falls begin.

What they share is that most are working places as much as visitor sites: markets, craft centres, shrines, power stations and community-run trailheads. Where they differ is in mood and effort. Aburi Botanical Gardens, opened in 1890, and the nearby Aburi Craft Village suit an easy half day, while the Amedzofe Canopy Walkway asks for a steep guided climb of roughly 259 concrete steps. Some, like the Asante Traditional Buildings near Kumasi and the Besease shrine house, carry UNESCO World Heritage status; others, like Aflao Market or the Ankobra Estuary, are simply everyday Ghana going about its business.

Good to know

Before you go

Plan around distance rather than a fixed itinerary: many of these sites sit far apart, so group them by region. Kente country around Kumasi takes in Bonwire and Adanwomase; the Volta Region links the Afadjato-Tagbo reception centre, Aduadu Mountain and Amedzofe; the coast offers the Ankobra Estuary and the Anyanui to Ada Foah boat trip. Shared taxis, tro-tros and hired cars are the usual ways between towns, and some sites, including the Aboadze power station and Akosombo Dam, are working installations. Before setting out, check current access, guided-tour arrangements and whether a site is open to visitors, and confirm market days, such as Bolgatanga's three-day cycle.

Start here

Places to explore

Attraction · Aboadze

Aboadze Thermal Power Station (VRA) visitor site

Ghana's first fossil-fuel power station, operated by VRA at Aboadze near Sekondi-Takoradi, drawing students and tourists to study electricity supply.

Photo: Enock4seth · Source

Attraction · Aburi

Aburi Botanical Gardens

Aburi Botanical Gardens is a 64.8-hectare botanical garden in Aburi, Eastern Region, Ghana, opened in March 1890 and known for its plant collections and recreation areas.

Photo: Nkansahrexford · Source

Attraction · Aburi

Aburi Craft Village

Aburi Craft Village is an artisan market and craft centre near the Aburi Botanical Gardens in Ghana's Eastern Region, refurbished by GEPA in 2021.

Photo: Koby DDT · Source

Attraction · Adanwomase

Adanwomase Kente Village

Adanwomase is a kente-weaving town in Kwabre East District, Ashanti Region, about 27 km northeast of Kumasi, with a Visitor Centre, community workshop and mini kente museum.

Photo: shawnzam · Source

Attraction · Atimpoku

Adomi Bridge

The Adomi Bridge is Ghana's first permanent Volta River crossing and longest suspension bridge, a steel crescent arch at Atimpoku on National Route N2.

Photo: Celestinesucess · Source

Attraction · Liati Wote

Aduadu Mountain

Aduadu Mountain is a c. 746 m peak in the Agumatsa Range near Liati Wote, Volta Region, usually reached as an extension beyond the Mount Afadja summit trail.

Photo: Amuzujoe · Source

Attraction · Liati Wote

Afadjato-Tagbo Eco-Tourism Reception Centre

Community-run reception centre and trailhead in Liati-Wote, Volta Region, where visitors arrange guided hikes to Mount Afadja and Tagbo Falls.

Photo: Kradolferp · Source

Attraction · Aflao

Aflao Market

Aflao Market is a working marketplace in Aflao, a Ghana–Togo border town in the Ketu South Municipal District of the Volta Region, serving cross-border trade.

Photo: Komavo · Source

Attraction · Akosombo

Akosombo Dam

The Akosombo Dam is a rock-fill embankment dam on the Volta River in Ghana's Eastern Region, operated by the Volta River Authority and impounding Lake Volta.

Photo: Allison Stillwell at English Wikipedia · Source

Attraction · Amedzofe

Amedzofe Canopy Walkway

A suspended forest canopy walkway at Ote Waterfalls in Amedzofe, Volta Region, reached by a steep guided trail of roughly 259 concrete steps.

Photo: Efo Komla · Source

Attraction · Sanwoma

Ankobra Estuary

The Ankobra Estuary is where the Ankobra River meets the Atlantic at Sanwoma in the Ellembelle District, Western Region, near the remains of Fort Elize Carthago.

Photo: ZSM · Source

Attraction · Anyanui

Anyanui to Ada Foah Boat Trip

A roughly 7 km boat crossing between Anyanui in the Volta Region and Ada Foah, travelling the Volta River estuary past mangroves and sandy banks.

Photo: Philip Nalangan · Source

Attraction · Ejisu

Asante Traditional Buildings

A UNESCO World Heritage Site of ten surviving Asante shrine houses in villages near Kumasi, decorated with bas-relief and Adinkra-linked designs.

Photo: Sucram Yef · Source

Attraction · Ejisu

Besease Traditional Building

The Besease Traditional Building, or Yaw Tano Shrine, is one of the ten surviving Asante Traditional Buildings within Ghana's 1980 UNESCO World Heritage property.

Photo: Sucram Yef · Source

Attraction · Sefwi Wiawso

Bia National Park

Bia National Park is the 77.7 km2 northern half of the Bia Conservation Area in Western North, Ghana, a forest reserve known for primates, forest elephants and guided walks.

Photo: AmarAfshin · Source

Attraction · Bolgatanga

Bolgatanga Market

Bolgatanga Market is the large central market of Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, held every three days and known for crafts including baskets, leather goods and smocks.

Photo: Adam Jones, Ph.D. - Global Photo Archive · Source

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 · Bonwire

Bonwire Kente Weaving Centre

Bonwire Kente Weaving Centre is the visitor hub for kente weaving in Bonwire, Ashanti Region, where tours, weaving demonstrations and village craft shops are based.

Photo: Mwintirew · Source

Attraction · Odomi

Breast Mountain

The Breast Mountains are two adjacent hills inside Kyabobo National Park whose silhouette resembles a woman's breasts; the summit viewpoint on the left hill is known as 'Nipple ...

Photo: Kradolferp · Source

Attraction · Bunso

Bunso Eco Park

Bunso Eco Park, formerly the Bunso Arboretum, is a forested ecotourism park and botanical garden at Bunso in Ghana's Eastern Region.

Photo: Roland Darko · Source

Attraction · Butre

Busua–Butre Coastal Hike & Butre Hills Viewpoint

An informal coastal footpath linking Busua and Butre in Ghana's Western Region, climbing laterite headlands above the Atlantic to Fort Batenstein and the Butre river mouth.

Photo: aripeskoe2 · Source

Attraction · Cape Coast

Cape Coast Castle

A coastal castle and museum confronting the history of the transatlantic slave trade.

Photo: Rjruiziii · Source