The Best Things to Do in Accra
How to spend one day, three days or a week in Ghana’s capital, beyond the guidebook list.
Accra · 24 February 2026
Accra does not announce itself the way some capitals do. It rewards time and a bit of guidance. Here is what we recommend, in the order we would do it.
Start with the independence story
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, then Independence Square and the Black Star Gate. Together they take about two hours and they give you the frame for everything else you will see in Ghana.
Walk Jamestown
The oldest part of the city. The lighthouse, the colonial forts, the murals left by the Chale Wote festival, the boxing gyms and the fishing harbour where the boats come in through the surf. Go with a local guide, because it opens doors and it is the respectful way to visit a neighbourhood where people live.
Spend an hour in Makola
Ghana’s best-known market, and an experience rather than a shopping trip. Fabric, food, hardware, everything. Keep your bag in front of you and enjoy it.
Eat properly
Waakye for breakfast from a street seller. Banku and tilapia in the evening at a chop bar. Somewhere on Oxford Street in Osu for a night out. And kelewele from a roadside stand after dark.
See the art
Accra’s contemporary art scene has become one of the most interesting on the continent. Visit the galleries in Osu and East Legon, then the fantasy coffin workshops at Teshie where carpenters build coffins shaped like fish, cameras and aeroplanes.
Get out of the city for a day
Aburi for the botanical gardens and cool hill air, 45 minutes away. Shai Hills for baboons and antelope, under an hour. Ada Foah for the beach and the estuary, about two hours east.
Finish at the coast
Labadi Beach on a Sunday afternoon for drumming, horses and crowds. Or somewhere quieter east of the city if you want the sea to yourself.
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Come as a visitor. Leave with fond memories of Ghana.
Tell us your dates and what you would love to see. We will reply within a few hours with a plan, a price and no pressure.