Ghana, Togo & Benin: Castles, Coastlines and Voodoo Discoveries — Self-Launched

Land at Kotoka International Airport and take a metered taxi or ride-hail (Yango/Bolt, ~£4-6) to a hostel or budget guesthouse in Osu or Kokomlemle. Day one is admin: get a Ghanaian SIM from MTN or Vodafone at the airport (~£3 for data), change some cedis, and confirm your e-Visa and yellow fever card are to hand. Evening stroll along Oxford Street for jollof, waakye or grilled tilapia at a local chop bar (~£4).

🚌Airport taxi ~£5

🛏Hostel or budget guesthouse in Osu (~£15-20)

• →Airport transfer to Osu
• →Buy MTN/Vodafone SIM and data
• →Evening food walk on Oxford Street

Take an STC (Intercity STC) coach or a shared 'trotro' from Accra's Kaneshie or Tudu station to Cape Coast (~3 hrs, £4-6). Drop bags, then join a guided tour of the UNESCO-listed Cape Coast Castle (~£8 entry with guide) — go early afternoon to miss the school groups. Afterwards, arrange a batik-making session directly with Global Mamas in Cape Coast (the same fair-trade women's collective the tour uses; email ahead, ~£12-18 for a half-day workshop). Continue ~20 mins by shared taxi to Elmina and check into a beachfront guesthouse.

🚌STC coach Accra–Cape Coast ~£5, shared taxi to Elmina ~£1.50

🛏Beachfront guesthouse in Elmina (~£18-25)

• →Cape Coast Castle guided tour
• →Batik workshop with Global Mamas
• →Beach evening in Elmina

Take a trotro or shared taxi to Kakum National Park early (~£2, 40 mins) and walk the famous 7-bridge canopy walkway with a park guide (~£10 entry + guide). Trail options range from 1-4 hrs; the short loop is enough if it's hot. On the way back, ask at the visitor centre about the nearby stingless bee project (~£3 donation) and stop for a vegetarian lunch at the Baobab Foundation-style community initiative near Cape Coast (~£4). Back in Elmina, book a private djembe lesson with a local drummer through your guesthouse or the Elmina arts centre (~£10-15 for 1-1.5 hrs). Finish with a wander through Cape Coast's old town.

🚌Shared taxi/trotro Kakum return ~£4

🛏Beachfront guesthouse in Elmina (~£18-25)

• →Kakum canopy walkway
• →Stingless bees project visit
• →Community lunch
• →Djembe drum lesson and performance

Bus or shared taxi from Elmina to Takoradi, then on to Beyin (~4-5 hrs total, £6-8). At Beyin's visitor centre, pay the community fee and take a dugout canoe through the Amasuri wetlands to Nzulezu Stilt Village (~£12-15 including canoe and guide, 45 mins each way). Note the local taboo on snails. Afterwards, arrange a 4x4 or motorbike transfer to Ankasa Reserve Lodge (~£12) for two nights in Ghana's best remaining rainforest. Optional guided night walk with a ranger after dinner (~£8).

🚌Shared taxi Elmina–Beyin ~£7, 4x4 to Ankasa ~£12

🛏Ankasa Reserve Lodge or nearby eco-guesthouse (~£20-28)

• →Dugout canoe to Nzulezu Stilt Village
• →Beyin coastal fort and Nzema museum
• →Optional rainforest night walk

Hire a mountain bike or negotiate a 4x4 with the lodge for the ~9 km run to the Bamboo Cathedral, where the stalks arch over the forest road (~£10-15). Walk or cycle with a local guide who can name the trees and birds. Return for lunch, then visit Ankasa Village on foot with a community guide (~£5) — meet subsistence farming families, learn about gari preparation and try pounding fufu. Dinner at the lodge. Optional second night walk if you didn't do it yesterday.

🚌Bike or 4x4 hire ~£12

🛏Ankasa Reserve Lodge (~£20-28)

• →Bamboo Cathedral bike/4x4 trip
• →Ankasa Village community visit
• →Fufu and gari tasting
• →Optional night walk

Transfer back to the coast to Brenu Akyinim (~3 hrs via Takoradi, £8-10), a quiet stretch of beach with a lagoon behind it. Check into a simple beach guesthouse and do very little: swim, walk the fishing village, eat grilled fish. Arrange tomorrow's sunrise kayak with a local fisherman or your guesthouse tonight (~£8-10).

🚌Shared taxi/bus via Takoradi ~£9

🛏Beach guesthouse, Brenu Akyinim (~£18-25)

• →Beach and lagoon afternoon
• →Fishing village walk
• →Sunset on the sand

Paddle the lagoon at sunrise in a wooden canoe with a local fisherman (~£8). Walk back along the beach through the village. Then head to Elmina to visit the Castle of St. George (1482), the oldest European building in sub-Saharan Africa (~£8 guide). Follow it with the working fishing harbour and the beach where boat builders still shape plank canoes by hand — free to watch, tip a few cedis. Lunch in Anomabo (~£4). Continue to Accra (~3 hrs, £5). Late afternoon: Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park (~£4), then a Jamestown walking loop and the Fantasy Coffin workshops. Dinner in Osu (~£8).

🚌Shared taxi + STC coach to Accra ~£8

🛏Hostel or budget guesthouse in Accra (~£15-20)

• →Sunrise lagoon canoe/kayak
• →Elmina Castle (St George's)
• →Boat builders and fishing market
• →Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
• →Jamestown walking tour and fantasy coffins

Morning: Makola Market, the Artists Alliance Gallery and Independence Square / Black Star Gate — all free or nominal entry, grab a local guide at Makola for a few cedis. After lunch, take a shared taxi or trotro to Aflao on the Togo border (~3 hrs, £4-5) and cross on foot — have your Togo e-Visa and yellow fever card ready. Shared taxi from Aflao to Lomé centre is ~£1. Settle into a guesthouse in the Bè or Tokoin area and eat at a maquis (local open-air restaurant) — fufu and goat stew ~£4.

🚌Shared taxi Accra–Aflao ~£5, Aflao–Lomé ~£1

🛏Budget guesthouse in Lomé (~£16-22)

• →Makola Market
• →Artists Alliance Gallery
• →Black Star Gate and Independence Square
• →Aflao border crossing on foot

Start at Lomé's Grand Marché and the German Cathedral nearby — one of West Africa's most full-on markets. Then take a shared taxi to Atitovou village (~45 mins, £2) where men weave kente on narrow strip looms; arrange a sit-down with a weaving family through the village chief or a local guide (~£6-10 donation/guide). Continue to Kpalimé (~2 hrs, £3). Afternoon hike on Mount Kloto through butterfly-rich forest with a local guide (~£8). Sleep in Kpalimé.

🚌Shared taxis Lomé–Atitovou–Kpalimé ~£5

🛏Guesthouse in Kpalimé (~£15-20)

• →Grand Marché and German Cathedral
• →Atitovou kente weaving visit
• →Mount Kloto hike

Long travel day north. Take a shared taxi or minibus from Kpalimé to Atakpamé and on to Sokodé (~6-7 hrs, £10-12), stopping at roadside markets along the way. Arrive early afternoon. Ask your guesthouse or the local tourism office to connect you with the community that performs the horse dance and the fire dance — these are community ceremonies, not ticketed shows, so expect to pay a donation and to need a local intermediary (~£15-20 total, plus a small gift). Dinner at a local maquis ~£4.

🚌Shared taxi/minibus Kpalimé–Sokodé ~£11

🛏Guesthouse in Sokodé (~£15-20)

• →Roadside market stops
• →Sokodé horse dance
• →Traditional fire dance

Take a shared taxi to Bafilo (~45 mins, £2) to see the traditional fugu strip-weavers at work — buy directly from them. Continue to Tsare to meet a family still smelting iron by hand (~£5-8 guide donation), then push north to Koutammakou (~2 hrs, £5). The Batammariba mud tata houses are a UNESCO site — hire a local guide at the entrance (~£8-10) and walk between houses learning how the architecture encodes Voodoo spiritual belief. Overnight in Kara (~£15-20).

🚌Shared taxis via Bafilo, Tsare and Koutammakou ~£10

🛏Guesthouse in Kara (~£15-20)

• →Bafilo fugu weavers
• →Tsare iron smelting
• →Koutammakou UNESCO tata houses

Shared taxi to the Hilacondji/Natitingou border area (~3 hrs, £6) — have your Benin e-Visa ready and expect the usual haggling over onward transport. Then head to Taneka Beri in the Atakora mountains; local guides at the village entrance (~£6) take you through the homesteads and introduce you to the spiritual leaders — dress respectfully, ask before photos. Continue to the Dankoli Shrine, the most powerful shrine in Benin, where pilgrims drive wooden pegs into the earth with vows; a caretaker will explain the custom (~£4). Overnight in Dassa-Zoumé (~2.5 hrs further south, £7).

🚌Shared taxis and border transfer ~£14

🛏Guesthouse in Dassa-Zoumé (~£15-20)

• →Border crossing into Benin
• →Taneka Beri mountain communities
• →Dankoli Shrine

Travel the short hop to Abomey (~1 hr, £3) and spend the morning at the Royal Palaces of Abomey museum — the UNESCO-heritage seat of the Dahomey kingdom, with the throne of King Béhanzin and the Amazone history (~£6). Continue to the Chameleon Temple and Place Goho, with the King Béhanzin statue — free to visit, guide tips welcome. In the late afternoon, arrange through a local guide or the Abomey cultural centre to see a Gelede masked dance performed by a community troupe (~£15-20 contribution). Overnight in Abomey or Bohicon.

🚌Shared taxi Dassa–Abomey ~£3

🛏Guesthouse in Abomey (~£15-20)

• →Royal Palaces of Abomey
• →Chameleon Temple and Place Goho
• →Gelede masked dance

Stop at the Agongointo-Zoungoudo underground dwellings near Bohicon (~£4), excavated rooms used as refuge from slave raids. Continue to Ouidah (~2.5 hrs, £6). Afternoon: the Route des Esclaves walk from the old Slave Market to the Door of No Return on the beach, the Temple of Pythons (~£3), and the Kpasse Sacred Forest with its Vodun statues (free/£2 guide). Overnight in Ouidah — if you're here around 10 January (8 January in 2027), you'll hit the annual Voodoo Festival; book beds well ahead.

🚌Shared taxi with stops ~£7

🛏Guesthouse in Ouidah (~£15-22)

• →Agongointo underground dwellings
• →Slave Route walk and Door of No Return
• →Temple of Pythons
• →Kpasse Sacred Forest

Morning at the Fondation Zinsou and Maison du Brésil in Ouidah (small donation each) for contemporary African art and the Afro-Brazilian history of the town; catch a Zangbeto masquerade if one is being performed locally (arrange through your guesthouse, ~£10 contribution). Then travel to the lake and take a motorised pirogue to Ganvie Stilt Village (~£12-15 return including community fee, 30-40 mins each way) — the largest lake village in Africa. Late afternoon, head into Cotonou and find a guesthouse near Haie Vive or the city centre.

🚌Shared taxi/taxi Ouidah–Cotonou ~£4

🛏Budget hotel/guesthouse in Cotonou (~£20-26)

• →Fondation Zinsou and Maison du Brésil
• →Zangbeto masquerade
• →Ganvie Stilt Village by pirogue

Morning walking loop through Dantokpa — one of West Africa's biggest markets, and the Fetish Market next door — plus the Amazone statue, Bio Guerre memorial and the graffiti wall in the city centre, and the art market for last-minute crafts. Everything is free to walk. Allow 45-60 mins for the airport by taxi (~£6-8) and remember the operator's own advice: don't book onward flights before 21:00.

🚌Taxi to Cotonou airport ~£7

🛏—

• →Dantokpa Market walking tour
• →Amazone statue and Bio Guerre memorial
• →Art market and graffiti wall