Ghana country guide

Ghana Travel Guide

Ghana is the easiest way into West Africa: English is the official language, the people are famously welcoming and the big sights sit within a few hours of Accra. Come for the slave castles of Cape Coast and Elmina, the Ashanti capital Kumasi, rainforest canopy walks and surf beaches, and give it two weeks if you can.

Where to go What it costs

UNESCO World Heritage sites

€30–45

A typical backpacker day

6h30

Flight from London to Accra

Nov–Mar

Best months, dry season

What travelling Ghana is actually like

Ghana is often called the gentlest introduction to West Africa, and it earns the title. English is the official language, buses and trotros link every town, and strangers will walk you to the right bus station without expecting anything back. "Akwaaba", meaning welcome, is the first word most visitors learn, and you will hear it constantly.

The country is small enough to cover a lot in two weeks. Most trips start in Accra, the loud, sprawling capital, then head west along the coast to Cape Coast and Elmina, where the castles used in the transatlantic slave trade are now museums and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Inland is Kumasi, the old capital of the Asante kingdom, with its huge market and royal palace. Further north, the landscape dries into savannah and Mole National Park, where you can walk with rangers to see elephants.

Ghana is not a cheap country to sleep in. Hostel beds are scarce outside Accra, and guesthouses and beach lodges often cost more than you would expect from the price of food and transport, which are very cheap. Budget for accommodation first and everything else will feel easy.

Travel takes time. Roads between the main cities are mostly paved, but traffic around Accra and Kumasi is heavy, and journeys often run longer than the timetable. Plan fewer stops and longer stays, and travel by day.

Two practical things decide whether a trip runs smoothly: arrange your visa before you fly, because visa on arrival has been scrapped, and carry your yellow fever certificate, because you will not get into the country without it. Malaria is present all year, so talk to a travel clinic well before you go.

Ghana in short

Capital: Accra
Currency: Ghanaian cedi (GHS, GH₵), about GH₵13.1 to €1 (Oct 2026)
Languages: English is official; Twi and Fante (Akan), Ewe, Ga and Dagbani are widely spoken
Visa: Needed by UK, EU, US, Canadian and Australian passport holders. Apply online before you travel; visa on arrival has been scrapped
Passport: Valid at least 6 months after arrival, with a blank page per stamp
Yellow fever: Vaccination certificate required to enter
Time zone: GMT (UTC+0) all year
Plugs and voltage: Type G (UK three-pin), 230 V
Emergency numbers: 112, or police 191, ambulance 193, fire 192
Tap water: Not safe to drink; use bottled or sealed water
SIM and eSIM: MTN, Telecel and AT; bring your passport to register. Mobile money (MoMo) is widely used
Ride-hailing: Bolt, Uber and Yango in Accra and Kumasi
Best time to go: November to March

Where to go in Ghana

Most routes run from Accra west along the coast, then inland to Kumasi and, with more time, north to Mole. These are the places that deserve a stop, with live hostel counts and prices from Hostelworld where there are any.

Accra

8 hostels

The loud, likeable capital: Jamestown, the Nkrumah memorial, Osu nightlife and almost all of Ghana's hostels. Most trips start here.

The Accra guide

Cape Coast

Fishing town built around the castle at the heart of the slave trade, about three hours west of Accra. The base for Elmina and Kakum.

The Cape Coast guide

Pick your kind of Ghana trip

Ghana suits several very different trips. Pick one or two of these and build your route around them, rather than trying to cross the whole country in ten days.

History and the castles in Ghana

Walk the dungeons of Cape Coast and Elmina, the Nkrumah memorial in Accra and the royal sites of the Asante kingdom.

What to do

Castle tours
Door of No Return
Nkrumah Memorial Park
Manhyia Palace Museum
Kente weaving villages

Spots to visit

Cape Coast Castle
Elmina Castle
Fort Metal Cross
Manhyia Palace
Jamestown

Best cities for it

Things to do

Castles, canopy walks and a walk with elephants

Start with the coast west of Accra, because it holds the sites that bring most people to Ghana. Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle, about 15 minutes apart by road, were centres of the transatlantic slave trade, and the guided tours through the dungeons and the "Door of No Return" are some of the most powerful museum visits in Africa. Each costs GH₵80 for foreign adults, with the tour included, and both open roughly 9am to 4:30pm. Go early, and leave space in the day afterwards.

From Cape Coast, Kakum National Park is about 30 km inland. Its canopy walkway strings seven rope bridges through the rainforest, the highest more than 40 m above the ground, and is only open on guided walks. Expect to pay around GH₵130 for the walkway plus a small gate fee. Go first thing, when it is cooler and the forest is noisier.

In Accra, the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park tells the story of Ghana's independence leader and the 1957 handover from Britain (GH₵100 for non-Ghanaian adults). Walk Jamestown, the old fishing quarter, with its lighthouse and boxing gyms, and Makola Market if you can cope with the crowds.

Kumasi is the cultural heart of the Asante, with the Manhyia Palace Museum, the vast Kejetia Market and craft villages nearby where kente cloth is still woven by hand. In the north, Mole National Park is the best place in West Africa to see elephants on foot, on ranger-led walks from the park headquarters. In the east, the Volta Region has Wli Falls, forest monkey sanctuaries and hill walks that see very few foreign visitors.

If you want to slow down, the western coast around Busua has some of the best surf and quietest beaches in the country.

Food and drink

Jollof, waakye and a lot of pepper

Ghanaian food is built around starch and soup, and it is hot. Fufu, pounded cassava and plantain, comes in a bowl of light soup, palm nut soup or groundnut soup, and you eat it with your right hand, pinching off pieces and swallowing rather than chewing. Banku, a fermented corn and cassava dough, is the classic partner for grilled tilapia and a fierce pepper sauce. Kenkey, its sharper cousin, comes wrapped in corn husk with fried fish and shito, the black chilli and dried shrimp sauce that Ghanaians put on everything.

Jollof rice is the national obsession, and the rivalry with Nigeria over who makes it best is a running joke you will hear about. Waakye, rice and beans cooked with sorghum leaves, is the standard breakfast and lunch, served from roadside stalls with spaghetti, gari, egg and shito. Red red is a bean stew with fried plantain, and kelewele, spiced fried plantain, is the best street snack in the country, sold in the evenings.

The cheapest and most local way to eat is at a chop bar, a simple canteen serving one or two dishes from big pots. A plate at a chop bar or street stall usually costs well under €5, while a meal in a sit-down restaurant in Accra's Osu or Labone costs more like €8 to €15.

Drink-wise, Star and Club are the big local beers. Palm wine is sold fresh in villages, and akpeteshie, a strong local spirit, is best treated with caution. Drink bottled water, or factory-sealed water sachets from known brands if you need to.

Nightlife

Highlife, Afrobeats and beach parties

Ghana's nightlife is centred on Accra, and it is good. Osu, around Oxford Street, is the easy starting point, with bars, street food and live music most nights. Labadi Beach is busy at weekends with music and bars on the sand, and Jamestown and the inner suburbs host the art and music events that come and go.

Music is everywhere. Highlife, the guitar-led sound of 1950s and 1960s Ghana, is still played live in bars, and today's Afrobeats and Ghanaian hiplife fill the clubs. If you can, catch a live band rather than only a DJ.

December is the peak. "Detty December" brings the diaspora home and fills Accra with concerts, parties and festivals, finishing with the AfroFuture festival at the end of the month. Prices rise and beds sell out, so book early if you are coming then.

Outside Accra, evenings are quieter. Kumasi has bars and spots playing music late, Cape Coast has a few beach bars, and Busua's nightlife is mostly a bonfire and a bar on the sand. Take a registered taxi or a ride-hailing car home at night rather than walking.

Drink sealed, branded drinks. Australian travel advice warns about drink spiking and poisoned alcohol, and illegal drugs, including small amounts of cannabis, carry long prison sentences in Ghana.

Getting around

Buses, trotros and the coast road east

Long-distance buses are the most comfortable way to get around. VIP Jeoun and STC run the main routes from Accra, with assigned seats and air conditioning. VIP's fares from April 2026 are GH₵120 to GH₵150 to Kumasi, GH₵110 to Cape Coast, GH₵120 to Takoradi and GH₵290 to GH₵360 to Tamale. Book a day ahead for popular departures, and expect Accra to Kumasi to take five hours or more with traffic.

Trotros, shared minibuses, go everywhere else. They leave when full from lorry stations in every town, are very cheap and are how most Ghanaians travel. They are cramped and the driving can be hair-raising, but they are the only way to reach many villages. Shared taxis cover shorter hops on fixed routes.

In Accra and Kumasi, Bolt, Uber and Yango work well and are usually the safest option at night. Domestic flights with Africa World Airlines and PassionAir save a long day on the bus to Kumasi or Tamale.

The coast road east continues into Togo and Benin, and it is one of the easiest overland border crossings in West Africa. From Accra, STC buses and trotros run to Aflao, on the Togo border, in about three and a half to five hours. You walk across into Lomé, Togo's capital, which starts right at the frontier. From Lomé, shared taxis take 60 to 90 minutes to the Benin border at Hillacondji, and STM and other buses run Lomé to Cotonou in roughly two to three hours plus the border. On the way, stop at Grand-Popo for the beach and Ouidah for the Route des Esclaves and its own Door of No Return, and take a pirogue to the stilt village of Ganvié outside Cotonou.

Plan the paperwork before you go. Both Togo and Benin need visas for most Europeans, Americans and Australians, so apply online in advance (see Visas below). Togo and Benin use the West African CFA franc, which is fixed at 655.957 to the euro, so bring euros to change. Change money only with banks or trusted changers, count it in front of them, and ignore anyone offering to "help" with border forms for a fee.

Costs

What Ghana costs in 2026

Ghana uses the cedi (GHS, written GH₵). In October 2026, €1 buys about GH₵13.1, so GH₵100 is roughly €7.60. Prices have risen fast in recent years, so expect figures in older guides to be well out of date.

The big cost is somewhere to sleep. Hostelworld lists only a handful of hostels in Ghana, almost all in Accra, with the best-rated dorms around US$11 to US$15 a night. Outside Accra you will mostly stay in guesthouses, beach lodges and small hotels, which often start around €20 to €35 for a basic double.

Everything else is cheap. A street-food plate costs a few euros, a VIP bus from Accra to Kumasi is GH₵120 to GH₵150 (about €9 to €11.50), and trotros are cheaper still. Sights cost more: GH₵80 for each castle and around GH₵130 for the Kakum canopy walk, with foreign visitors paying several times the local price.

Cash is still king outside the cities, and mobile money (MoMo) is how most Ghanaians pay. ATMs are easy to find in towns and take Visa more reliably than Mastercard. Withdraw inside banks or malls where you can, and check machines for skimmers.

You must declare large sums of foreign currency on arrival, and the US government gives the limit as US$10,000 in and out. Keep cedis small: many sellers cannot change big notes.

Safety

Staying safe in Ghana

Ghana is one of the more stable and relaxed countries in West Africa, and most visits are trouble-free. The UK advises against all but essential travel only to the Bawku area in the far north-east, while the US asks visitors to exercise increased caution and to reconsider travel to the northern border regions. The tourist route along the coast, Kumasi and Mole is outside those areas, but check the latest advice if you plan to go far north.

Crime has risen in recent years, especially in Accra. The UK warns about robberies, sometimes armed, bag snatching and pickpocketing in crowded areas, and attacks on cars stopped in traffic. Keep car windows up, carry little cash, avoid walking at night and use Bolt, Uber or a registered taxi after dark. At Kotoka airport, only go with drivers you have booked and can identify.

The sea is the most common danger. Rip currents along the southern coast drown swimmers every year, so only swim where locals do, ideally where there are lifeguards, and never alone.

Ghana is conservative. Dress modestly away from the beach, ask before photographing people, and never photograph military sites or the airport. Same-sex sexual acts are illegal and LGBT+ travellers should be very discreet. Penalties for drugs, including small amounts of cannabis, are severe, and bail is usually refused.

Health matters as much as crime. You need a yellow fever certificate to enter, malaria is present everywhere all year, and tap water is not safe to drink.

Entry and documents

Visas, yellow fever and paperwork

Most Hostelworld readers need a visa for Ghana, including UK, US, EU, Canadian and Australian passport holders. Ghana launched an online e-visa portal in May 2026, evisa.immigration.gov.gh, and the UK government also points British citizens to the online form on the Ghana High Commission website. Apply well ahead: the UK advice gives 10 to 15 days for processing. The old visa-on-arrival system has been scrapped, so do not fly without one.

Your passport must be valid for at least six months after you arrive, and the US asks for a blank page for each stamp. You must show a yellow fever vaccination certificate to enter, and you will need it again for the visa application. Bring the paper certificate, not a photo of it.

Declare foreign cash on the arrival form. The UK warns that authorities can confiscate the whole amount if you carry the equivalent of US$10,000 or more without declaring it.

If you are continuing along the coast, sort out the next two visas too. Togo needs an e-visa from voyage.gouv.tg, issued for 15 days single entry (about 25,000 CFA, or €38), and the UK says it cannot be bought on arrival. Togo also asks every traveller to complete an online registration before arrival and departure. Benin's e-visa is issued at evisa.bj, from €50 for 30 days, and should be requested at least a week ahead. Both countries also check yellow fever certificates at the border.

Carry a photocopy of your passport photo page, which the UK says is acceptable ID in Ghana, and keep the original somewhere safe.

When to go to Ghana

November to March is the main season: dry, sunny and good for the coast and the north, with December the busiest month of all. The south has two rainy seasons, the heaviest from about April to June and a shorter one in September and October, while July and August are cooler and cloudier.

32°

Jan

Dry, hazy harmattan days

32°

Feb

Hot and dry; good for the north

32°

Mar

Independence Day on 6 March

32°

Apr

Rains begin in the south

31°

May

Wet; Aboakyir festival in Winneba

30°

Jun

Wettest month

28°

Jul

Cooler, cloudy; diaspora visitors

28°

Aug

Chale Wote, Homowo, Emancipation Day

29°

Sep

Short rains; Fetu Afahye in Cape Coast

30°

Oct

Short rains ease off

31°

Nov

Dry season starts

31°

Dec

Detty December; busiest and priciest

Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets: quiet busy peak

Temperatures are average daily highs in Accra (weather2travel climate data: 32°C from January to April and 28°C in July and August; the other months are rounded between those). Kumasi is a degree or two hotter in the dry season, and the north is much hotter and drier. Crowd levels are our own rough estimate.

How much a day in Ghana costs

Pick a travel style and the number of nights to see a rough total. Figures are per person per day in euros, based on hostel dorms or guesthouse rooms, local food, buses and trotros, and a mix of paid sights and tours.

Rough figures for 2026, converted at about €1 = GH₵13.1. Outside Accra there are very few dorms, so even a shoestring trip often means a cheap guesthouse room. Mole safaris and surf lessons add to these numbers.

Nights 7

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Beds—
Food and drink—
Getting around—
Doing things—

What's on

Festivals and events in Ghana

Traditional festivals, independence celebrations and Accra's December party season shape the Ghanaian calendar. Many traditional festivals follow local calendars, so confirm the date before you plan around one.

6 March

Independence Day

Accra and nationwide

Parades and celebrations for independence from Britain in 1957.

May

Aboakyir

Winneba

Effutu deer-hunting festival, with two companies racing to catch a live antelope.

1 August

Emancipation Day

Cape Coast and Assin Manso

Remembrance of the slave trade and the African diaspora, at the castles and the old slave river.

August

Chale Wote Street Art Festival

Accra

Street art, performance, music and parties across Jamestown and Osu. 2026 ran 10–17 August.

August to September

Homowo

Accra

Ga harvest festival "hooting at hunger", with processions and kpokpoi, a special corn dish.

First Saturday of September

Fetu Afahye

Cape Coast

Colourful procession of chiefs and asafo companies through the town.

November

Hogbetsotso

Anloga, Volta Region

Anlo Ewe festival of the migration from Notsie, with a grand durbar of chiefs.

Late December

AfroFuture

Accra

The big end-of-year music festival of Detty December, with Ghanaian and international acts.

All events in Ghana

Hostels

Top-rated hostels in Ghana

Ghana's hostels are few and almost all in Accra, mostly small, friendly places in residential areas with breakfast included. These are the best-rated right now, with live prices.

9.9 8,576

Ghana travel FAQs

Visa, price and timetable details were checked in October 2026. Rules change, so confirm with official sources before you travel.

Is Ghana safe for backpackers?

Yes, for most travellers it is one of the more relaxed countries in West Africa. Crime has risen in Accra, so take ride-hailing cars at night, carry little cash and watch your bag in crowds. The UK advises against all but essential travel only to the Bawku area in the far north-east. The bigger dangers are strong currents on the beaches and malaria.

Do I need a visa for Ghana?

Yes, if you hold a UK, EU, US, Canadian or Australian passport. Apply before you travel, either through the e-visa portal launched in May 2026 (evisa.immigration.gov.gh) or the Ghana embassy or High Commission in your country. Visa on arrival has been discontinued, and you also need a yellow fever certificate and a passport valid for six months.

How many days do I need in Ghana?

Ten days to two weeks covers Accra, Cape Coast and Elmina, Kakum and Kumasi at a reasonable pace. Three weeks lets you add the western beaches around Busua and either Mole National Park in the north or the Volta Region. With one week, stick to Accra and the coast.

What is the best time to visit Ghana?

November to March, the dry season, when it is sunny and the roads are at their best. December is the busiest and most expensive month because of Detty December. The heaviest rain falls from April to June, with a shorter rainy spell in September and October.

How much does a trip to Ghana cost per day?

Most backpackers spend around €30 to €45 a day. Food and transport are cheap, but beds are not: Accra dorms cost about US$11 to US$15 and there are few dorms elsewhere, so you will often pay for a guesthouse room. The castles (GH₵80 each) and Kakum (around GH₵130) add up.

Can I travel overland from Ghana to Togo and Benin?

Yes, and it is an easy, popular route. Take an STC bus or trotro from Accra to Aflao, walk across the border into Lomé, then take a bus or shared taxi through the Hillacondji border to Cotonou. Get Togo's e-visa (voyage.gouv.tg) and Benin's e-visa (evisa.bj) before you leave, and carry your yellow fever certificate.

How do I get from Accra to Cape Coast?

VIP and STC buses take about three hours, and VIP's standard coach costs GH₵110. Trotros and Ford vans run from Kaneshie station more often and for less. Leave early in the morning to beat Accra's traffic.

Is Ghana good for solo female travellers?

Many women travel solo in Ghana without problems, and English makes things easier. Expect some attention and marriage proposals, dress modestly away from the beach, and avoid walking alone at night. Use ride-hailing cars after dark and be wary of over-friendly strangers online and offline.

Can I use cards in Ghana?

In Accra, cards work in hotels, malls and many restaurants, but you need cash almost everywhere else. ATMs are easy to find in towns and Visa cards work more reliably than Mastercard. Locals pay by mobile money, which you can set up with a registered SIM.

Do I need malaria tablets for Ghana?

Malaria is present throughout Ghana all year, so most travellers are advised to take antimalarials as well as using repellent and a net. See a travel clinic at least eight weeks before you go, and get the yellow fever jab at the same time, because you cannot enter without the certificate.

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Ghana Travel Guide

What travelling Ghana is actually like

Where to go in Ghana

Accra

Cape Coast

Pick your kind of Ghana trip