Best Things to Do in Accra

Accra's highlights trace a path from the seventeenth-century coastal forts and fishing harbours of Old Accra to the mid-twentieth-century monuments of African independence and the contemporary galleries of Labone and Osu. Here are the ten experiences that define a visit.

1. Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum. Walk along bronze statues, fountains and reflecting pools to the towering marble monument shaped like unsheathed swords where Ghana's founding president Kwame Nkrumah and his wife Fathia rest, alongside a museum displaying his personal library and independence regalia.
2. Stand in Black Star Square (Independence Square). Inspect the soaring Black Star Gate topped by the five-pointed star of African freedom, the Independence Arch and the Eternal Flame of African Liberation overlooking the Gulf of Guinea.
3. Walking tour of historic Jamestown and Ussher Fort. Follow a local Ga guide past the red-and-white 1930s Jamestown Lighthouse, traditional boxing gyms, Brazil House and the lively fishing harbour below seventeenth-century James Fort and Ussher Fort.
4. Browse hand-woven kente at the Centre for National Culture (Arts Centre). Watch weavers work narrow wooden looms and compare genuine royal Ashanti and Ewe kente strips, carved Akuaba wooden fertility dolls, brass castings and drums right next to Kwame Nkrumah Park.
5. Dive into the lanes of Makola Market. Experience Accra's largest open-air commercial market, stacked high with wax-print textiles, glass trade beads from Krobo, raw shea butter, spices and kitchenware.
6. Visit the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture. Step inside the shady Cantonments bungalow where the African American scholar and civil rights pioneer lived his final years and is buried beneath a traditional courtyard memorial.
7. Explore the National Museum of Ghana and Nubuke Foundation or Gallery 1957. Pair archaeological terracottas, royal stools and ethnographic displays at the newly refurbished National Museum with contemporary West African painting and sculpture in Labone or East Legon.
8. Afternoon breeze and horseback riders at Labadi (La) Beach. Pull up a shaded table by the Atlantic surf for grilled tilapia, cold drinks and weekend reggae, drumming and acrobatic performances on the sand.
9. Taste smoky Ghanaian jollof rice, morning waakye and red-red. Compare classic home-style dishes in a traditional chop bar with modern West African tasting menus in Osu and Labone.
10. Day trip to Aburi Botanical Gardens or Cape Coast Castle. Escape 35 km north into the cool Akuapem hills to walk avenues of nineteenth-century royal palms and silk-cotton trees, or travel west to the UNESCO castles of the Central Region.