Best 10 Day Itinerary In Ghana (+ Maps & Tips) (2025)

Last Updated on May 27, 2024 by Nicole

My husband, adult son (22 years old) and I went in early February on a 10 day road trip in Ghana. We saw a big chunk of the country and experienced its unique, exciting and vibrant art and culture almost everyday that we were there. I have been on several African safaris in many different countries, but this is the first time that I have ever specifically visited and explored a SubSaharan African country for something other than its wildlife. To say that Ghana is extraordinary would be an understatement. It surprised me on many different levels and offered amazing experiences and adventures that I am thrilled to share.

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Background

We hired a local tour operator, Uprise Travel, who worked with me over several weeks to create a fantastic itinerary. They hired our driver/guide (Kwame), booked our vehicle (a large SUV) and our one domestic flight, selected restaurants, and set up all of our activities. We booked our own hotels, some of which they recommended and others, we chose on our own. It all worked out incredibly well and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them!

Kwame, our driver and guide, was truly exceptional. He was an amazing ambassador for his country and a lovely person to spend time with. He made every day fun and exciting.

The below map shows the whole scope of our trip. We traveled by car throughout our time in Ghana except at the very end, when we flew back from Tamale to Accra, the capital, so we could catch our international flight back home.

Expectations And Tips For A Visit To Ghana

There were many things that we saw and experienced in Ghana that would be helpful to know before arriving.

• For the life of me, I could not figure out how to fill out the online visa application form so we could get our visas to Ghana before we left. I told my tour operator (Uprise Travel) and they were able to set up “visas upon arrival” for us. The cost was significantly more than acquiring the visa before we left, but it saved me a lot of time, stress and frustration. For us, it was totally worth it.
• The more US dollars in cash (in large denominations – $50 and $100) that you bring for exchange into Ghanian money (Cedi), the better. Our guide connected us to an independent cash exchange person who came to our hotel and gave us the exact internationally recognized exchange rate without any commission.
• Credit cards are mostly accepted in hotels and restaurants, but you need cash for souvenir purchases, some activities (if you add any to the original itinerary while you are there), and some restaurants.
• If possible, you want to avoid bank machines in Ghana because of fraud, high bank fees, and bad exchange rates.
• I would like to tell you that Ghana is a gorgeous country filled with natural beauty. However, we drove for over 620 miles (1000 km) over the course of our 10 day Ghana trip, and it was not very pretty at all. There was reddish dirt, dust and garbage almost everywhere. Except for Mole National Park and Kakum National Park, there was hardly any trees or other vegetation. There seemed to be constant urban sprawl from Accra to Cape Coast and from the Cape Coast to Tamale in the form of run down corrugated half built buildings lining the highway. Don’t get me wrong. I loved our time in Ghana and it offered amazing sights and experiences. However, there was little to no natural beauty in the parts that we visited.
• The people are very kind and friendly. As a whole, they are also one of the most beautiful people that I have ever seen.
• Roads were generally good in Ghana. They were paved without pot holes.
• We were originally assigned a large van for our trip. However, the seats did not have any upper back, neck or head support; there were only lap belts; and there wasn’t much leg room between rows. We asked to exchange the vehicle for a regular SUV vehicle after driving several hours from Accra to Cape Coast. Uprise Travel obliged and by the time we left Cape Coast, we were in a much safer and more comfortable vehicle. The traditional SUV offered upper back and neck support, shoulder belts, and lots of leg room. In both cases, the vehicles were older and had seen lots of wear and tear.
• We were instructed to never engage with people trying to sell things to us (unless we were actually in a market). For example, if we were approached in a parking lot and asked what our name was, we shouldn’t be polite and tell them because by the time we got back to the car, they would have a personalized memento prepared for us and we would have to purchase it from them.
• All over Ghana, on the side of the road and at traffic lights, it is packed with individuals selling almost anything that you can think of, such as prepared food, meats, fruits, vegetables, household items, and clothing. For locals, it is a completely normal part of their day to do a lot of their shopping from their car or motorcycle. For us, it was amazing to see this part of Ghanian life. Most of the women carried their wares on their head and it was really interesting to see the local food and handmade items for sale.
• Our 10 day itinerary in Ghana offered lots of interesting and exciting activities, but on most days, we also had plenty of time to relax.
• Unfortunately, we didn’t go to any city or town in Ghana where, after doing our planned activities with Kwame, we felt encouraged by the surroundings to explore on our own. We never felt unsafe. More so, the places we went to or stayed at didn’t seem to offer spots for people to simple walk and enjoy the destination. This is not totally unexpected as Ghana is still developing. Nevertheless, there were lots of times that we had free time and wanted to wander about, but had nowhere to go.
• We did do a couple of safaris in Mole National Park. It was unique in that you can do a walking safari and get quite close to the elephants. Without any predators, the elephants are not aggressive around humans. However, apart from this experience, Ghana is not a traditional African safari destination and I would not recommend going exclusively to see wild life. There are far fewer types of animals to view than what Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa or Namibia has to offer. In particular, there aren’t any lions, cheetahs or leopards. However, Mole National Park is still a very cool destination to visit if you are already planning a trip to Ghana for other purposes.
• Our itinerary had us visiting Cape Coast first, then driving up to Mole National Park vis Kumasi, with a domestic flight back to Accra from Tamale at the very end. Uprise Travel normally designs the trip in reverse – you fly up to Mole National Park, then drive down through Kumasi, to Cape Coast and then, ultimately to Accra. We chose the opposite route because we flew from Uganda after finishing an African safari. We did not want to land in Ghana, and then, do another safari immediately, but wait until the end of our trip. However, the itinerary that Uprise Travel created better suited their original route. As you will below, there were days with too much down time. For the best timing, I would suggest that you follow their traditional route.

Day-To-Day Details Of Our 10 Day Ghana Adventure

The following is a detailed description of our 10 day Ghana vacation. I supply an overview of what we did and where we stayed, followed by a section on my overall impressions and recommendations to help you design your own Ghana itinerary.

Day 1 In Accra At Roots Hotel Apartment

We arrived in Accra in mid afternoon. Visa, immigration and bag collection went quickly at the modern International airport. We met Kwame, our guide and driver for our Ghana holiday, and drove to the Roots Hotel Apartment for our one night stay. We checked in, had cocktails on the rooftop bar, and dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Impressions and Recommendations

Accra is a busy major city with cars, motorcycles, and people everywhere. It is not a pretty city with remarkable architecture. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see.

Roots Apartment Hotel is a small hotel located off a major road in a neighbourhood with small buildings. You can walk a few minutes to different restaurants, bars and cafes. However, it is not a spot where you will want to take long walks and explore (we tried!).

The rooms are large, comfortable, and well stocked. The rooftop bar is fun with lots of fantastic cocktails. The restaurant offers a wide variety of delicious items.

Days 2 – 4 In Cape Coast At Lemon Beach Resort

Day 2

We headed to Cape Coast for our 3 night stay at the Lemon Beach Resort.

Like most of our drives in Ghana, it wasn’t very exciting. There weren’t any pretty views or interesting sights to see.

We did stop at Anomabu to see the wooden fishing boats in various stages of being carved out of enormous Wawa trees. It was Tuesday, the fishermen’s day off, so we didn’t see them actually carving the boats. However, it was still really interesting to see the boats in different stages of being carved and hearing about the local traditions that had been in place for hundreds of years.

We arrived at Lemon Beach Resort around 1:00 pm. It was located about 30 minutes by car from the center of Cape Coast. We checked into our lovely 2 bedroom beachfront hut, had lunch and then, headed back into town for our one hour tour of Cape Coast Castle.

This tour was both fascinating and horrifying. Cape Coast Castle began as a trading post for gold, wood and textiles but by the 18th Century, most of Cape Coast Castle’s trade was in African captives bound for the Americas. They were kept in dungeons under horrible conditions for weeks or months at a time before being shipped and sold into slavery. It was the last “point of no return” and none who left ever saw their homeland again.

After our tour, we returned to the hotel and enjoyed relaxing in the sun and swimming in the pool. We ended our day with a wonderful dinner on the patio with live music.

Day 3

This morning, we headed back into town to watch the fisherman return with their catch of the day, and explore the markets. This was very cool to see, especially the craziness of the harbor. In addition, we loved wandering around the stalls to see how the locals bought and sold their goods.

Afterwards, we headed to Elmina to tour Elmina Castle, another “slave castle” on the coast, but run by the Portuguese. It was built in 1482 and was as atrocious and unforgiving as Cape Coast Castle.

Next, we drove about an hour to Kakum National Park and spent around 90 minutes walking along forest paths and crossing 7 rope bridges over top of the forest canopy. This was a lot of fun, very beautiful and a relief to finally be surrounded by greenery and nature.

We returned to Cape Coast and had lunch in town at a local restaurant. Then, spent the remainder of the afternoon at the pool at the resort.

We had dinner again at the hotel but this night, we watched a local group of children and young adults drum, sing and dance. The talent was unbelievable and it was an unexpected and extraordinary experience.

Day 4

I built in a free day into our itinerary because we were concerned about delays in our international flights. Accordingly, before we arrived, I didn’t have anything planned for one of our days in Cape Coast.

What we ended up doing was a cooking class and it was AMAZING!! Kwame organized it and booked it through Global Mamas, a world wide organization that empowers African women and their families through the creation of businesses and self-employment.

So late morning, we took a cooking class from this very beautiful and accomplished woman who is the owner of her own restaurant. For around 90 minutes, she skillfully taught us how to make 2 traditional Ghanian dishes – Red Red with Plantain, and Palava. They were absolutely delicious and by the end, we felt ready to make these dishes back home!

For the balance of the day, we relaxed by the pool.

Impressions and Recommendations

I loved our time at the Lemon Beach Resort and in and around Cape Coast. It was both relaxing and fascinating.

However, to be clear, this area was not a traditional beach town, as one might expect by virtue of its location and the name of our resort.

The Lemon Beach Resort was set right next to the Atlantic Ocean, offered a lovely patio for meals, and the pool was great. However, there wasn’t a traditional beachfront as there was a large rock wall between the resort and the ocean to prevent the erosion of the shore.

In addition, the ocean was quite rough. I didn’t see any locals or tourists wading or swimming in the ocean at any point during our stay in Cape Coast.

It was lovely being by the ocean, but there weren’t spots for relaxing long walks or lounging on the beach. Within a few feet of the property line of the Lemon Beach Resort, you were very much reminded that the beach in Cape Coast was for fishing, not recreation.

It was fascinating exploring Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle, and learning about the history of slavery from the people whose ancestors were victimized. However, if you are short of time, it is not necessary to visit both castles. They share remarkable similarities in how they organized the slaves and the brutalities that they suffered.

Kakum National Park was lovely and walking over the rope bridges was a lot of fun. In addition, it was the only spot in our whole itinerary in Ghana that was green and lush.

However, we didn’t see any animals and barely any birds, so I would temper your expectations if you hope to see wild life while there.

An unexpected favorite activity was our cooking lesson and seeing how a traditional Ghanian woman cooks for her family with home made charcoal, an open flame, and limited cooking utensils. I would highly recommend making sure this activity ends up on your itinerary. I really dislike cooking, but really enjoyed our time here.

Overall, I would recommend two nights in the Cape Coast area rather than the 3 that we spent, unless you are looking for relaxation and pool time. However, in terms of activities, you would have more than enough time to do everything that we did with a two night stay.

Days 5 and 6 In Kamusi At Oak Plaza Suites Kumasi

Day 5

We left mid morning for our 4 hour drive to Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region.

Along the way, we stopped and toured Assin Manso on the banks of the Pra River for around 30 minutes. This river is the site where captive slaves traveling south to Cape Coast were made to take their last bath before entering the slave castles to await their transfers to the Americas.

We arrived at our hotel, the Oak Plaza Suites Kumasi, by early afternoon. We booked a 2 bedroom in this very modern upscale apartment style hotel.

In the late afternoon, Kwame took us out to dinner to Ike’s Cafe and Grill at the Kumasi Cultural Center. It offered a beautiful setting and the food was very good.

Day 6

This was one of my favorite days in Ghana.

In the morning, we visited the Palace Museum located at Manhyia Palace, the residence of the chief of the Ashantis. Our one hour tour taught us the rich history and traditions of the Ashanti people, in addition to the conflicts and trade that they had with the Europeans.

Afterwards, we headed around 30 minutes outside of Kumasi to learn more about Ashanti culture and art. We visited an ancient village known as Adanwomase that first introduced Kente spinning and weaving. Kente is a famous traditional cloth, normally used during important ceremonies, made from silk and cotton.

Traditionally, it is the men who do the weaving, and we toured large buildings with dozens and dozens of looms and several young men weaving. We even got to try it.

They had a huge store with strikingly colorful woven cloths made into clothes, bags, and scarves for sale.

Next, we sat in a cacoa tree orchard and got to taste the fruit from cacao trees. Chocolate is made from cacao beans, the dried out seeds of the fruit. Ghana was once the world’s leading producer of cocoa, first exporting it in the late 1800s. Today, the growing and exporting of cacoa beans are still a huge part of its economy. The fruit was surprisingly sweet, tart, and yummy, and tasted nothing like chocolate!

Lastly, we participated in a Sankofa (“going back to your roots”) naming ceremony which replicates how babies are still named in the Ashanti culture. This ceremony was attended by the local chief and elders of the nearby village, and notwithstanding we were foreignors and no longer babies (by many decades), this ceremony was treated very seriously by the chief and elders.

We were dressed from head to toe in Kente woven clothes and ultimately, given Ashanti names. The first name is based on whether you are a male or female, and the day of the week on which you were born. So, every girl born on Monday is named Adjoa or Adwoa, and every male is Kwadwo or Kojo. Your second name is derived from who they think you will be and this name can be drawn, like the West, from countless sources.

Impressions and Recommendations

Day 5 was mildly disappointing while Day 6 was unbelievable!

On Day 5, we really did very little other than drive for a few hours. It was very interesting learning about the history of Assin Manso and seeing the river, but this took very little time. Once in Kumasi, there was nothing even remotely attractive around our hotel and no sidewalks on which we could walk and explore.

On the otherhand, exploring the Museum about the Ashantis, visiting the Ashanti villages, seeing the Kente weaving, and participating in the Naming Ceremony were all extraordinary. It would be an absolute shame to not include this on a trip to Ghana.

Day 5 is an example of where doing the itinerary in reverse would have been better. The drive from Mole National Park to Kumasi takes almost 7 hours. Accordingly, if you were coming from Mole to Kumasi, you would arrive late in the day, exhausted, ready for dinner and bed. Then, the next day, you would explore the Ashanti history, culture and art. In the reverse direction, we only had a 4 hours drive from Cape Coast and arrived just after lunch with nothing to do.

If you are pressed for time, I would ask your tour operator whether you could travel from Cape Coast in the morning, and then, do all the Ashanti activities in the afternoon. The next day, you could then continue on to Mole National Park. This would mean 2 days with LOTS of driving, but it would allow you to do and see everything.

As for the Oak Plaza Suites Kumasi, I was not impressed. It is a nice modern hotel with large very comfortable rooms. But, the service was terrible. From our experience at the bar, to the breakfast, to the handling of luggage, there didn’t seem to be anything service related that didn’t have problems. For the price, it really wasn’t acceptable.

Days 7-8 In Mole National Park At Mole Hotel

We started our day early for the 7 hours drive from Kumasi to the Mole Hotel in Mole National Park.

About halfway, we stopped for around 45 minutes at Kintampo Waterfalls. With a local tour guide, we walked to various spots along the river to see different waterfalls. The final spot included descending 120 steps to reach the bottom of the tallest falls.

They were pretty and it was nice to stretch our legs.

We arrived at Mole Hotel in Mole National Park in midafternoon. Mole National Park is the first and largest protected area in Ghana, and the place to which most people come in Ghana to do a safari. There aren’t any predators, but there are lots of other animals, including elephants.

One of the more extraordinary things that you can do in Mole National Park is to go on a walking safari to spend time with the elephants. Since Mole doesn’t have any predators, the elephants are not aggressive and you can walk remarkably close to them. You still have a park ranger with you who carries a gun to scare an elephant in the event it does get aggressive but our ranger said he has never had to use it.

Over two days, we did one walking safari and one traditional jeep safari, both 2 hours long. In Mole National Park, you can also do a night safari, if you choose.

One afternoon, we drove around 40 minutes out of the National Park to Mognori, a tiny local village for a guided tour. We were invited into people’s homes, watched as they cooked or made shea butter (for sale), learned about how the village doctor uses local plants to help the people, and took a canoe trip along the Mole River. It was extraordinary.

At Mole Hotel, we had a triple room that was large but very basic. There was a pool and deck with views of the valley below. You could see some animals down below, including elephants. There were also warthogs and antelope, in and around the lodge. Food was very good.

Reviews and Recommendations

I much preferred northern Ghana to southern. The urban sprawl subsided, and instead of lots of garbage, half finished buildings, and dilapidated corrugated buildings by the side of the road, we saw untouched natural land. It still wasn’t very green or lush, but there were trees and it was garbage free.

Mole National Park and the safaris were both very nice. The walking safari with the elephants was unique and very cool. We had never been offered that experience before on any of our previous African safaris that we have done (and there have been many over the years). We also enjoyed the jeep safari and getting to see more of Mole National Park.

However, overall, it should still not be your first choice for an African safari. It is missing lots of traditional animals that you will see in East or Southern Africa.

I absolutely loved visiting Mongori Village. This tiny remote village had only a dozen or so mud huts, but they live a life that has barely changed in hundreds of years. There is some electricity and some other modern conveniences, but not many. The people were friendly, kind and generous with their time. I would strongly encourage you to include this in your itinerary.

I was not a fan of Mole Hotel. It offered extremely basic accommodation and facilities. The problem was the only other option in the Park was Zaina Lodge which was VERY expensive. I thought that our days would be very busy and that we would have very little time in our hotel so I didn’t want to spend a lot for our accommodation.

We were busy, but we also had lots of down time. I would have much preferred to splurge and stay at Zaina than have saved money and stayed at Mole Hotel.

We noticed that there were a few hotels/inns just outside the gates of Mole National Park. Staying there would mean that you would be just outside the Park, but it would be something that I would recommend exploring to see if there are any other nicer accommodation options that don’t cost a fortune!

Day 9 In Tamale And Accra At Roots Hotel Apartment

We left early for our 3 hour drive to Tamale where we would catch our evening flight back to Accra. However, before our flight, we had a busy and very fun day in Tamale.

We arrived and went to Wooden Restaurant for a fantastic lunch in a pretty outdoor setting. It was probably the best food that we had in Ghana.

Then, we headed to a cultural center for traditional drumming, singing and dancing. Over the course of an hour and with the help of a dance instructor and drummer, we were taught basic Ghanian dance steps, routines, and songs. We made absolute fools of ourselves, and were very grateful no one could really see us, but we also really loved this experience.

Our last stop, before the airport, was the Savannah Center For Contemporary Art. It was founded by world-renowned Ghanaian artist, Ibrahim Mahama, as a contribution towards transforming the contemporary art scene in Ghana.

It was located on a massive piece of land, with multiple enormous buildings for showcasing Mahama’s installation art. In addition, there were several abandoned planes and railroad cars scattered about, some of which were for effect and others housed other things, like a computer lab for kids.

We did not have much time to explore, but from what we were able to see with the help of the museum’s guide, it was absolutely fantastic. Mahama’s art is enormous and compelling, and speaks to inequality, racism and colonialism.

Our evening flight to Accra took one hour. In Accra, we were picked up by a new guide and returned to the Roots Hotel for our final night in Ghana.

Recommendations and Impressions

I really loved Tamale and regret not spending a night there. I especially regret not having more time to explore the Ibrahim Mahama’s art and the Savannah Center For Contemporary Art.

This would be an extremely cool and modern art gallery anywhere in the world, but it was literally mind blowing after all the traditional art and culture that we had seen in Ghana up to that point. There was literally nothing even close to this museum in Ghana, even in Accra, the capital.

We very much enjoyed the singing and dancing. However, I thought that we were going to watch a traditional cultural performance, not be the performance – ha ha! Nonetheless, we tried hard and laughed a lot!

We were told that had we stayed the night in Tamale, we could have also watched a singing, drumming and dancing performance. Something to think about when crafting. your itinerary.

I am so glad that on one of our nights at the Lemon Beach Resort in Cape Coast, we were surprised with a drumming, singing and dance performance by a local troupe. After the extraordinary sights that we saw during this show, it would have been a shame to leave Ghana without seeing such a remarkable part of Ghana’s culture. I highly recommend that you include watching this kind of performance at some point in your Ghana itinerary.

Day 10 In Accra With International Flight In Evening

We spent the day in Accra exploring it’s cultural highlights.

First, we toured Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park where we learned about the rise of Ghana’s independence and first president, Kwame Nkrumah.

Next, we headed to Ghana’s independence Square where thousands of Ghanians stood as the country declared independence. It continues to be the spot where thousands of Ghanians come each year to celebrate their independence on March 6.

Lastly, we went art shopping. We first went to the artist section of the Makola Market, Accra’s (and Ghana’s) biggest market. We spent quite a lot of time exploring the various stalls and bargaining for beautiful souvenirs from carved sculptures, to paintings, to various textiles and clothes. It was quite a lot of fun.

We also went to a private independent art gallery where we further explored more established Ghanian artists.

Impressions and Recommendations

Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park was very interesting. It was very cool to see photos of the first Ghanian president with many important historical leaders and learn about what he accomplished. I also liked seeing several of his personal belongs and hearing about the importance in his life.

Independence Square was interesting to explore. It is a stark, vast, empty expanse of concrete right next to the ocean. We climbed up the arch over the Eternal Flame of African Liberation. At the top, we were rewarded with clear views over a lot of Accra.

We particularly enjoyed our time at the market bargaining for souvenirs. We were told several times on our Ghana road trip that the best crafts for the best prices would be found here. That was correct in that we saw some beautiful items and thought the prices were amazing.

However, the market didn’t offer every craft that we saw on our Ghanian itinerary. We regret not purchasing a couple of things and waiting until Accra. Accordingly, I would encourage you to purchase any souvenir that you see on your travels, even if you eventually find it for less money in Accra, because there is an equally good chance it might not be in the market in Accra.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in each of the destinations on our cultural tour of Accra. However, you do not need a full day to see Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, Ghana’s indpendence Square, and Makola Market. You can comfortably visit them in around 4 hours (unless you want to spend more than one hour shopping at the market or go to the private art gallery).

Last Word

Our 10 day Ghana trip was fascinating, fun and totally unexpected. We loved seeing and learning about its culture and art, and seeing a different side to Africa other than wild life and safaris.

The pace of our trip was very relaxing. Unless you would like to spend time relaxing at the pool in Cape Coast, you could see and do everything that we did in less than 10 days with some easy adjustments to our itinerary.