The first-timer's seven days
Accra, the coast, and back, without spending the week in traffic
A week that covers the two things almost every first visit is actually about: the castles on the Central coast, and Accra itself. It leaves the evenings free, because in December the evenings are the point.
The hard rule in here is the early start on the coast day. Leaving Accra after seven in the morning turns a full day at Cape Coast into half of one.
Swap any day for an event when the calendar firms up. Nothing here is so tightly packed that losing a morning breaks it.
Day 1
1 stopLand and do nothing
Kotoka is inside the city, so the transfer is short. Resist planning anything for this evening. Eat near where you are staying and start properly tomorrow.
Day 2
3 stopsKwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
Start here. The rest of the week makes more sense with the political history behind you rather than ahead of you.
Black Star Square
Ten minutes away and twenty minutes long. Go before the midday sun; there is no shade at all.
Makola Market
Buy fabric here if you are buying fabric. Go with someone who knows it, and carry small notes.
Day 3
2 stopsJamestown
Book a local guide rather than wandering in with a camera. Half a day, and the lighthouse view is worth the climb.
W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre
Quiet, small, and closed on Sundays. Check the hours before you commit the afternoon to it.
Day 4
4 stopsLeave Accra before 6:30am
This is the one non-negotiable in the week. The N1 west clogs through the morning rush and it can cost you well over an hour. Arrange the car the night before.
Cape Coast Castle
Take a guide. Give it the time it needs and do not stack anything demanding on top of it.
Elmina Castle
Half an hour down the road. The fishing harbour below the castle is worth the extra twenty minutes.
Stay the night in Cape Coast
Driving back to Accra the same evening wastes the following morning too. Sleep on the coast and do Kakum at opening.
Day 5
2 stopsKakum National Park
Be there when it opens. The canopy walkway is single-file and it queues badly by mid-morning.
Drive back to Accra
Leave the coast by early afternoon. You want to be back before the evening traffic builds, not inside it.
Day 6
2 stopsAburi Botanical Gardens
Forty-five minutes uphill and about ten degrees cooler. The craft market at the top is one of the better places in the country to buy carving.
Evening in Osu
Oxford Street and the streets either side of it. This is the night to not have an early start the next day.
Day 7
2 stopsLabadi Beach
Sunday if you can time it. Loud, crowded and completely the point.
Keep the last evening open
Whatever the calendar throws up by December, this is the slot for it. Do not book it in advance.