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 · Nakore

Nakore Mosque

Nakore Mosque is a small historic Sudano-Sahelian mud mosque in Nakore village, southwest of Wa in Ghana's Upper West Region, still active for Friday prayers.

Photo: Virtutepetens · 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 · Navrongo

Navrongo Minor Basilica

A mud-brick Roman Catholic cathedral and minor basilica in Navrongo, listed by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board as the last of its kind in Ghana.

Photo: Sucram Yef · Source

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 · Nzulezo

Nzulezo Stilt Village

Nzulezo is Ghana's only stilt village, reached by guided canoe through the Amanzule wetlands from Beyin in the Western Region.

Photo: Luke Bosman · 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 · 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 · Dambai

Oti River

The Oti River (also called the Pendjari) is a major international waterway through Ghana's Oti Region, crossed at Dambai by ferry and canoe services.

Photo: Mykojo · Source

Attraction · Navrongo

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, Navrongo

A stone shrine with an altar and a statue of the Madonna, built by Father Robert in 1933–34 at the White Fathers' Mission in Navrongo, Upper East Region.

Photo: Sucram Yef · Source

Attraction · Paga

Pikworo Slave Camp

Pikworo Slave Camp is a rock-cut heritage site at Paga Nania, about 3 km west of Paga in Ghana's Upper East Region, active as a slave-trade transit camp from 1704 to 1845.

Photo: Celestinesucess · Source

Attraction · Tamale

Red Clay Studio

Red Clay Studio is an open art studio, education campus and exhibition complex founded by Ibrahim Mahama near Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana.

Photo: Christian Yakubu · Source

Attraction · Salaga

Salaga Central Mosque

Salaga Central Mosque is the active Sunni central mosque of Salaga, in the historic Zongo quarter of East Gonja Municipal District, Savannah Region.

Photo: Édouard Riou (1833–1900) · Source

Attraction · Salaga

Salaga Slave Market site

An 18th-century slave market and heritage site in Salaga, Savannah Region, commissioned in July 2024, with an information office, slave wells and statues.

Photo: Gonzo Gooner · Source

Attraction · Salaga

Salaga Slave Tree

A replacement baobab at the site of the former Salaga slave market, where enslaved people were reportedly chained and displayed for sale.

Photo: Gonzo Gooner · 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 · Doryumu

Shai Hills Resource Reserve

Shai Hills Resource Reserve is a Forestry Commission–managed wildlife reserve of savannah and granite hills about 50 km from Accra, known for baboons, caves and hiking trails.

Photo: daSupremo · Source

Attraction · Shiare

Shiare Hanging Village

Shiare, the "Hanging Village", is a roughly 900-year-old Akyode settlement of rock-and-clay terraced houses in the Breast Mountains, Oti Region.

Photo: Dapsonishmeal · Source

Attraction · Sirigu

Sirigu Women's Organisation for Pottery and Art

SWOPA is a community-based women's craft organisation in Sirigu, Upper East Region, founded in 1997, with a visitor centre, gallery, workshop and guesthouse.

Photo: shawnzam · Source

Attraction · Tafi Abuife

Tafi Abuife Kente Weaving Village

Tafi Abuife is a small Ewe kente-weaving community in Afadzato South District, Volta Region, where visitors can watch weavers at work and buy cloth directly.

Photo: Warmglow · Source

Attraction · Tafi Atome

Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary

A community-run sacred grove in Tafi Atome, Volta Region, protecting mona and patas monkeys that villagers have long regarded as sacred messengers of the gods.

Photo: Selorm18 · Source

Attraction · Tafi Atome

Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary Tourist Information / Receptive Centre

Reception and information centre for the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary and Cultural Village in the Volta Region, where guides, souvenirs and a rustic guesthouse are arranged.

Photo: Mike Norton · Source

Attraction · Tafi Atome

Tafi Atome Monkey Shrine

The fetish shrine inside the sacred grove at Tafi Atome, Volta Region, where mona monkeys are protected by tradition and the shrine core is closed to all but the fetish priest.

Photo: Mike Norton · Source

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