3 Days in Accra: Nkrumah Park, Jamestown, Kente Markets and Aburi or Labadi

This three-day itinerary groups Accra into logical geographic zones so you visit open-air monuments in the cooler morning hours and spend warm afternoons in shaded museums, galleries or hillside gardens. Review our practical briefing for right-hand etiquette and ride-app tips before Day 1.

Day 1: Black Star Square, Kwame Nkrumah Park, Arts Centre & Jamestown

• Early morning: start at Black Star Square (Independence Square) to climb the Black Star Gate and photograph the Independence Arch beside the ocean surf.
• Mid-morning: ride five minutes west to the renovated Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park to walk the reflecting pools, sword-shaped marble mausoleum and presidential museum, then step next door into the Centre for National Culture (Arts Centre) to watch kente weavers at their looms.
• Lunchtime: pause for a traditional plate of red-red fried plantains or grilled tilapia and chilled sobolo hibiscus juice.
• Afternoon: take a guided walking tour through historic Jamestown (Ga Mashie), visiting Ussher Fort, Brazil House, courtyard boxing gyms and the red-and-white Jamestown Lighthouse overlooking the painted wooden canoes of the fishing harbour.

Day 2: Makola Market, National Museum, W.E.B. Du Bois Centre & Osu

• Morning: dive into the colourful textile and glass-bead lanes of Makola Market while the day is still fresh, then visit the refurbished National Museum of Ghana on Barnes Road to see royal Ashanti regalia and archaeological terracottas.
• Lunchtime: head to Labone or Osu to try smoky Ghanaian jollof rice or leaf-wrapped waakye with shito pepper sauce.
• Afternoon to evening: tour the shaded bungalow and tomb of the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre in Cantonments, visit a contemporary art space such as Gallery 1957 or Artists Alliance Gallery on the coast road, and spend the evening along Osu Oxford Street sampling spicy kelewele and live highlife music.

Day 3: Aburi Botanical Gardens & Labadi Beach (or Full-Day Cape Coast Trip)

• Option A (Relaxed Accra & Akuapem Hills): drive 35 km north up the cool Akuapem Ridge in the morning to walk the royal palm avenues and silk-cotton trees of Aburi Botanical Gardens (stopping at the Aburi woodcarvers' market), then return to the coast for a breezy afternoon at Labadi Beach and a visit to the fantasy coffin workshops of Teshie.
• Option B (Full-Day Gold Coast History): depart Accra at dawn for a guided day trip west to the rainforest canopy walkway of Kakum National Park and UNESCO-listed Cape Coast Castle.