Cape Coast Castle courtyard and cannons overlooking the Atlantic

Explore Ghana

Things to do in Ghana

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.

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Places to explore

Attraction · Komenda

Komenda Sea Cave

A small natural sandstone sea cave on the coast west of Komenda town, reached by stairs from the Komenda College premises.

Photo: Skiet3n469 · Source

Attraction · Kpando

Kpando-Torkor Fish Market and Fisheries Complex

A working fish market on the Lake Volta shore at Kpando-Torkor, a fishing community and ferry port in Ghana's Volta Region, set within a fisheries complex.

Photo: Miss. Crampah · 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 · 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 · Nkwanta

Kyabobo National Park

A mountainous national park in Ghana's Oti Region, on the Togo border, with forest-savanna habitats, waterfalls and hiking and mountain-biking trails.

Photo: Tahiru Rajab · 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

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 · Dambai

Lake Volta Boat Ride Experience

The Dambai lakefront and ferry point on the Oti River arm of Lake Volta, where a working river crossing doubles as a scenic boat and canoe experience.

Photo: INUSAH GANIYU · Source

Attraction · Larabanga

Larabanga Mosque

A Sudano-Sahelian adobe mosque in Larabanga, Savannah Region, described by Ghana's tourism authority as thought to be the oldest mosque in Ghana and West Africa.

Photo: Stig Nygaard · Source

Attraction · Larabanga

Larabanga Mystic Stone

A sacred rock formation on the outskirts of Larabanga, near the Larabanga Mosque, conserved and guided as a community tourist site in Ghana's Savannah Region.

Photo: Haruna Mohammed · Source

Attraction · Legon

Legon Botanical Gardens

A botanical garden and outdoor recreation park on the University of Ghana campus at Legon, with playgrounds, ropes courses, a canopy walkway and canoeing.

Photo: Sunkanmi12 · Source

Attraction · Bunso

Linda Dor Rest Stop

Linda Dor Rest Stop (Bunso Junction) is a long-established restaurant, hotel and 24-hour highway rest stop at Bunso junction on the Accra–Kumasi highway in the Eastern Region.

Photo: Harunaamadu95 · Source

Attraction · Sogakope

Lower Volta Bridge

The Lower Volta Bridge (Sogakope Bridge) is a 650-metre N1 highway crossing over the Volta River between Sogakope and Sokpoe, and the setting of the Easter Tortsogbeza festival.

Photo: Celestinesucess · Source

Attraction · Accra

Makola Market

Makola Market is Accra's largest and most famous open-air market, a 1924 trading district in the city's Central Business District on Kojo Thompson Road.

Photo: Benggriff · 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 · Takoradi

Market Circle, Takoradi

Takoradi Market Circle is a long-established market in Takoradi, Western Region, whose 2020 redevelopment has been stalled since early 2023.

Photo: Canny Kay · Source

Attraction · Larabanga

Mognori Eco Village

A community-run eco-village on the edge of Mole National Park near Larabanga, offering guided village tours, canoe safaris and cultural performances.

Photo: Shahadusadik · Source

Attraction · Larabanga

Mole Museum

A two-room museum inside Mole National Park's Information Centre, with a main exposition room and a multimedia room on the park's biodiversity and ecology.

Photo: Matti Blume · Source

Attraction · Larabanga

Mole National Park

Ghana's first and largest national park: about 4,577 km² of Guinea savannah in the Savannah Region, managed by the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission.

Photo: Alhassan Mohammed Awal · Source

Attraction · Liati Wote

Mount Afadja

Mount Afadja (Afadjato) is an 885 m peak in the Agumatsa Range near Liati Wote, Volta Region, climbed on a guided 3 km summit trail of about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Photo: Ace Shogun · Source

Attraction · Amedzofe

Mount Gemi

Mount Gemi is the peak above Amedzofe in Ghana's Volta Region, climbed for its summit cross and wide views over the surrounding hills.

Photo: Daniel Oladapo · Source

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