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
Explore Ghana
Things to do in Ashanti Region
The Ashanti Region is the heartland of Asante culture, and much of what you can do here circles around craft, memory and landscape. In Kumasi you can spend a morning at Manhyia Palace Museum, housed in the old palace built in 1925 and opened as a museum in 1995, then walk the vast aisles of Kejetia Market, which trades Monday to Saturday. The Centre for National Culture, established in 1956, gathers craft workshops, a gallery and the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum in one place, while the Kumasi Fort and Military Museum traces the Anglo-Asante wars and the Gold Coast Regiment.
Beyond the city, the region's weaving and carving towns sit close together. Bonwire, about 18 km from Kumasi, has both a kente museum and a weaving centre; Adanwomase, roughly 27 km northeast, offers a visitor centre, community workshop and mini kente museum; Ntonso is known for hand-printed adinkra cloth; and Ahwiaa, about nine kilometres out, is the traditional home of Asante wood carving.
History and nature give the region its range. The UNESCO-listed Asante Traditional Buildings, including the Besease shrine at Ejisu, sit alongside the Yaa Asantewaa Museum and the Okomfo Anokye Sword Site. South-east of Kumasi, Lake Bosomtwe fills a meteorite crater, with boat trips, a crater rim trail and a community information centre at Abono.
Good to know
Before you go
Kumasi works well as a base, since many of these places lie within a short drive of the city, and the craft villages of Bonwire, Adanwomase, Ntonso and Ahwiaa can be grouped into a single day. Roads between towns are generally the practical way to travel, so allow time for traffic leaving and returning to Kumasi. Kejetia Market trades Monday to Saturday, so plan around that. Before setting out, check current opening arrangements and any entry requirements directly with each site, as these can change, and confirm boat trips and guided tours at Lake Bosomtwe and the craft villages in advance. Bring cash for craft purchases and comfortable shoes for market walking and the crater rim trail.
Start here
Places to explore
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
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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 · 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 · 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 · Kumasi
Kejetia Market
Kejetia Market, also known as Kumasi Central Market, is a vast multi-level market in central Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana, trading Monday to Saturday.
Photo: Adam Jones, Ph.D. - Global Photo Archive · 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 · Kumasi
Kumasi Zoo
Kumasi Zoo is a long-established city-centre zoological garden in central Kumasi, Ashanti Region, managed by Ghana's Wildlife Division.
Photo: Oheneba ghana · Source
Attraction · Abono
Lake Bosomtwe
Lake Bosomtwe is Ghana's only true inland natural lake, set in a million-year-old meteorite crater about 30 km south-east of Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region.
Photo: Noahalorwu · Source
Attraction · Abono
Lake Bosomtwe Boat Trips
Boat trips from the Abono shoreline on Lake Bosomtwe, Ghana's only true inland lake, using the traditional flat wooden padua rather than dugout canoes.
Photo: Alexandre Ultré · Source
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Attraction · Abono
Lake Bosomtwe Crater Rim Trail
A forested hiking route on the crater rim above Lake Bosomtwe, Ghana's only natural inland lake, starting near Abono about 30 km south-east of Kumasi.
Photo: Alexandre Ultré · Source
Attraction · Abono
Lake Bosomtwe Information Centre
Community information centre at Abono, the main shoreline settlement and entry point to Lake Bosomtwe, Ghana's only true inland lake, set in a meteorite impact crater.
Photo: Alexandre Ultré · 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
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Attraction · Ntonso
Ntonso Adinkra Craft Village
Ntonso Adinkra Craft Village in Kwabre East, Ashanti Region, is Ghana's best-known centre for hand-printed adinkra cloth, with guided tours of dyeing, stamping and embroidery.
Photo: ZSM · Source
Attraction · Ntonso
Ntonso Adinkra Village
A craft centre in Ntonso, Kwabre East District, Ashanti Region, about 15 km north of Kumasi, where guided tours cover adinkra dyeing, stamping and embroidery.
Photo: ZSM · Source
Attraction · Kumasi
Okomfo Anokye Sword Site
A sacred Asante landmark on the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital grounds in Kumasi, centred on a sword tradition holds was planted by Okomfo Anokye.
Photo: Caupolicaningles · 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
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Attraction
Attraction · Ahwiaa
Ahwiaa Wood Carving Village
Ahwiaa in Ghana's Kwabre East District is the traditional centre of Asante wood carving, about nine kilometres from Kumasi, where visitors can watch carvers and buy crafts.
Attraction
Attraction · Antoa
Antoa Nyamaa Shrine
Antoa Nyamaa is a river deity and shrine in Antoa, Kwabre East, Ashanti Region, about seven miles from Kumasi, reached by a farm path to the Asuo Nyamaa stream.
Attraction
Attraction · Kubease
Bobiri Forest Reserve and Butterfly Sanctuary
A 54.65 km² semi-deciduous rainforest reserve and butterfly sanctuary at Kubease in Ghana's Ashanti Region, about 35 km southeast of Kumasi, managed by CSIR-FORIG.
Attraction
Attraction · Bonwire
Bonwire Kente Weaving Village
Bonwire, about 18 km along the Kumasi–Mampong road in Ghana's Ashanti Region, is the historic home of kente weaving and a working centre of Asante textile tradition.
Attraction
Attraction · Bonwire
Bonwire Palace
The traditional palace of the Chief of Bonwire, Nana Bobie Ansah II, in the Ashanti Region's kente-weaving village, used for Akan naming ceremonies and community events.