1 destination · 11 things to do

Ghana

Accra is where modern Africa announced itself. On 6 March 1957 Kwame Nkrumah declared Ghana independent from a former polo field beside the Atlantic, and the city still holds the places that tell that story: the mausoleum and museum in Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, the vast parade ground of Independence Square with its Black Star Gate, and the home where W.E.B. Du Bois spent his last years. Down on the coast, the fishing community of Jamestown clusters around James Fort and a lighthouse that has watched the harbour since the 1930s, while Makola Market is the loud, generous heart of everyday Accra and Labadi Beach is where the city goes to relax at weekends. Art lovers can browse the three-storey Artists Alliance Gallery, and a short drive into the Akuapem hills brings the cool shade of the Aburi Botanical Gardens, open since 1890. Two to three hours west on the coast road, Cape Coast and Elmina castles and the Kakum canopy walk make the most powerful day trips in the country. This guide shows what to book ahead, how to get around, how many days to give it and where to stay, from a Ridge-district art hotel to a beachfront resort.