Getting around

Kotoka International (ACC) sits inside Accra rather than out of town, so the run to most places you would stay is short in distance and entirely dependent on traffic.

Three options, in the order most people should use them:

Bolt or Uber. Both operate properly in Accra and both are generally cheaper than a street taxi. The price is fixed in the app before you accept, so there is nothing to negotiate and nothing to argue about at the other end. Pickup is from a designated area outside the terminal. The app will direct you, and it is worth checking before you walk out. Expect roughly GH₵30-90 into Osu, Cantonments, Airport Residential or Circle.

The official taxi dispatch booth. Past the arrivals hall, with fares fixed by destination zone. Expect roughly GH₵70-120 into central Accra, 15-30 minutes depending on traffic. More expensive than the apps but entirely legitimate.

A pre-booked hotel transfer. The most expensive and the least stressful. Worth it on a first arrival, on a late-night landing, or if you are travelling with family.

What not to do: accept a ride from anyone approaching you inside or just outside the terminal who is not in the marked queue. Unidentified drivers working Kotoka arrivals are known to charge two to three times the going rate.

Fares checked August 2026.

Bolt and Uber are how most visitors get around, and they work well. The in-app price removes the negotiation, which matters more than the money. Haggling every journey is the fastest way to get worn down in your first two days.

Trotros, the shared minibuses, are how the city actually moves, and they cost a fraction of anything else. They are also route-knowledge dependent, unmarked in any way useful to a newcomer, and not a good first-week option unless someone local is taking you.

The thing to plan around is not cost, it is traffic. Accra congestion is serious and December makes it materially worse. A journey that takes twenty minutes in the morning can take an hour in the evening. Build that into the day rather than discovering it on the way to something with a start time.

This is the day trip most first-time visitors want, and the one most often wrecked by leaving too late.

By coach: STC and VIP both run the route. Reported one-way fares vary by operator and season, broadly in the GH₵55-105 range. Coaches are air-conditioned with assigned seating. VIP services on this route often wait to fill before departing, which can add a long unplanned wait at the station.

By private hire: roughly GH₵200-500 to charter a car for the run, usually including the driver and fuel. For two or more people this is often the better call. It is not much more than the coach each, and it buys you the return timing and stops along the way.

Leave early. The N1 heading west out of Accra clogs through the morning rush, and that alone can add well over an hour. Leaving before about 6:30am, or waiting until after 10am, is the difference between a comfortable day and a wasted one. Given that Cape Coast Castle, Elmina and Kakum are realistically a full day together, before 6:30am is the answer.

Fares and timings checked August 2026 and vary by operator, day and season.