Best Things to Do in Ghana: Cape Coast, Accra & the Door of No Return
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Ghana Series 2 of 4
Introduction: Discover Ghana Through History, Culture, and Connection
The coast road west from Accra to Cape Coast covers some of the most significant ground in West Africa. At one end is a capital where independence was declared in 1957 and where artists, traders, and fishing crews shape daily life. At the other is a shoreline lined with European-built forts and castles, among them two of the best-known sites associated with the transatlantic slave trade.
This guide covers the best things to do in Ghana along that route. Accra offers markets, museums, food, and a living sense of the country's political history. Cape Coast and nearby Elmina offer places of remembrance, including the doorway at Cape Coast Castle known as the Door of No Return.
The journey is not only about the past. Between the castles you'll find rainforest at Kakum National Park, busy fishing harbors, and markets full of everyday Ghanaian cooking.
Whether you are tracing family history, studying the period, or visiting for the first time, the trip can hold different meanings, and it is worth giving each part of it enough time.
1. Explore Accra: Ghana's Capital and Contemporary Cultural Hub
Accra is where Ghana does business, makes music, argues politics, and eats late. It became the capital of the Gold Coast colony in 1876, replacing Cape Coast, and it remains the natural starting point for most visitors. Spend at least a day here before heading west.
Visit the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
Kwame Nkrumah led the Gold Coast to independence in 1957 and became Ghana's first president. He was also one of the leading voices of Pan-Africanism, arguing for a politically united continent. The memorial park stands on the former colonial polo grounds where he declared independence.
The mausoleum holds the remains of Nkrumah and his wife, Fathia. A museum displays objects from his life. The site closed for renovation in May 2022 and reopened in July 2023 with additions including a presidential library and an audio-visual tunnel. It is a good first stop for understanding the independence era that followed the colonial history you'll encounter on the coast. Check current hours and ticketing before you go.
Discover Jamestown and Accra's Historic Coastal Districts
Jamestown and neighboring Usshertown are Accra's oldest districts. They grew up around two 17th-century forts: British-built James Fort and Dutch-built Ussher Fort. The red-and-white Jamestown Lighthouse, a 92-foot tower from the 1930s, overlooks the harbor, both forts, and the Bukom area, known for its boxing gyms.
This is a working fishing community, largely Ga, where canoes land the day's catch and families live and work close to the shore. Jamestown is also home to the annual Chale Wote Street Art Festival, which fills the streets with murals, performance, and installations.
Visit with a local guide who lives in or knows the area well. Ask before photographing anyone, and remember that the streets are people's homes and workplaces, not a backdrop.
Explore Accra's Markets and Creative Spaces
Makola Market, in central Accra, has been the city's main trading hub since 1924. Women dominate the trade, and you'll find almost everything: produce, fabric, beads, cookware, and school supplies. Come for the textiles and the energy rather than a quick souvenir run, and keep your belongings close in the crowds.
For crafts, Accra's arts and crafts markets sell kente, carvings, and beadwork. For contemporary art, look to the city's galleries and creative districts, many of which cluster in neighborhoods such as Osu. Visitor arrangements change often, so confirm opening details close to your trip.
Visit a Museum or Cultural Institution
The National Museum of Ghana opened on March 5, 1957, the day before independence. Run by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, it holds more than 10,000 objects across archaeology, ethnography, and fine art, much of it Akan in origin. It closed for restoration in 2015 and reopened in 2022.
A visit here gives context you'll draw on all trip: the kingdoms and trade networks that existed long before European forts appeared on the coast. That longer view helps you understand Cape Coast and Elmina as chapters in Ghana's history, not the whole of it.
2. Travel to Cape Coast: Ghana's Historic Coastal Region
Cape Coast, known locally as Oguaa, is the capital of Ghana's Central Region and was the seat of British colonial administration until 1876. For centuries before that, this stretch of shoreline was a hub of trade between local states and European companies, first in gold and later in enslaved people.
Today it is also a university town and a fishing center, with a busy market and strong traditional institutions. Cape Coast and Elmina, a short drive apart, make a practical base for the castles and Kakum National Park.
Plan your transport between Accra and Cape Coast before you arrive. Options typically include a private driver, a tour, or intercity buses. Journey times vary considerably with traffic leaving Accra, road works, and time of day, so build in a buffer and avoid scheduling a timed tour right after arrival.
3. Visit Cape Coast Castle and the Door of No Return
Understand the History of Cape Coast Castle
The site began as a Swedish timber lodge in 1653, built with the permission of the King of Fetu. It changed hands between Swedish, Danish, and Dutch interests before the English captured it in 1664 and renamed it Cape Coast Castle. Much of what stands today dates from a major rebuilding in the 1760s and 1770s.
Under the Royal African Company and its successors, the castle became one of the principal British slave-trading posts on the coast. Captives were held in dungeons cut into the rock beneath the courtyard, which could hold around a thousand people at a time, before being forced onto ships bound for the Americas. In 1979 the castle was inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions.
Guided tours typically lead through the courtyard, the male and female dungeons, the condemned cell, the governor's quarters, and the ramparts. Above the dungeons, the European officers' quarters look out over the sea. Guides often point out that contrast, and it is worth pausing on.
The Door of No Return: A Place of Remembrance
At the end of the tour, guides lead visitors to a narrow seaward doorway known as the Door of No Return. Captives held in the dungeons passed through this gateway to the shore, where boats carried them to waiting slave ships. For those who left, it was the last point of contact with the land.
It is important to be precise about what the doorway represents. Millions of Africans were taken across the Atlantic from many ports along the West and Central African coast. This doorway was one departure point among many. It has become a powerful symbol, especially for members of the African diaspora, because it gives a physical place to a history that often left no individual records.
On the ocean side, the doorway now carries a sign naming it the Door of Return, marking a symbolic homecoming for descendants who visit.
The tour can be emotionally demanding. Give yourself time afterward rather than rushing to the next stop. Listen to your guide, keep voices low in the dungeons, and follow any photography guidance. Some visitors choose not to take photos inside the dungeons at all.
Explore the Cape Coast Castle Museum
The castle houses a museum with artifacts, maps, and exhibits that place the site in a wider history of the region and the Atlantic trade. Visit it before or after your guided tour, and allow time to read the displays rather than walking through. Check with the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board for current exhibits, hours, and ticketing.
Note: Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle are separate sites with separate histories. Each has a doorway described by guides as a door of no return. This section refers only to Cape Coast Castle.
4. Visit Elmina Castle and Explore the Historic Town
Elmina Castle, also known as St. George's Castle (São Jorge da Mina), is a separate site about a 15-minute drive west of Cape Coast. Portuguese builders arrived in January 1482 and raised it that year, making it one of the oldest European-built structures in sub-Saharan Africa. It was first a base for the gold trade.
The Dutch captured the castle in 1637 and held it for more than two centuries. Under Dutch control it became a major depot for enslaved Africans, and the Dutch continued the trade there until 1814. Britain took over the castle in 1872. Like Cape Coast Castle, it is part of the UNESCO-listed group of forts and castles, and it is preserved as a national museum.
Guided tours cover the dungeons, the governor's quarters, the courtyards, and the castle's own door of no return. The interpretation here tells a different, older story than Cape Coast, so the two visits complement rather than repeat each other.
Elmina is more than its castle. The fishing harbor beside it, crowded with painted canoes, is one of the busiest on the coast. On the hill opposite stands Fort Coenraadsburg (also known as Fort St. Jago), built by the Dutch to protect the castle from inland attack; check access before planning to go inside. The old town between them has Dutch-era buildings and the distinctive shrines of the town's Asafo companies.
Allow at least half a day for Elmina so you can visit the castle without rushing and still walk the harbor and town.
5. Experience Cape Coast Beyond the Castles
Visit Kakum National Park
Kakum National Park protects about 145 square miles of tropical rainforest roughly 21 miles north of Cape Coast. It was gazetted as a national park in 1992 and is managed by Ghana's Wildlife Division.
The main draw is the canopy walkway: a chain of seven suspended bridges strung between trees about 130 feet above the forest floor. Guided forest walks explain the plants and their traditional uses. Wildlife lives here, including forest elephants and many bird species, but most animals are hard to see, so treat any sighting as a bonus.
Go early, when it is cooler and quieter. Wear closed shoes with grip, carry water, and expect humidity and possible rain. The walkway may not suit visitors with a fear of heights or limited mobility, so ask staff what to expect before you buy tickets. Confirm current walkway operations and opening times before you go.
Explore Local Markets and Coastal Life
Kotokuraba Market is Cape Coast's main market, a good place to see the region's produce, fish, fabric, and household goods. Along the shore in Cape Coast and Elmina, fishing crews launch and land canoes, and fish is smoked and sold nearby.
Buy directly from traders and local craftspeople when you can. Ask before you photograph people, their stalls, or their catch, and accept a no gracefully. Community-led walks and cultural performances are sometimes available through local guides; book through providers you have verified.
Consider Assin Manso Ancestral Slave River Site
About 25 miles inland on the Cape Coast–Kumasi road, Assin Manso was a slave market during the transatlantic trade. Captives were brought to the river here, known as Donkor Nsuo, before being marched to the coastal castles; site interpretation describes it as the place where they had their last bath.
The site gained a commemorative role in 1998, when the remains of two people of African descent, one from Jamaica and one from the United States, were reburied there during Emancipation Day observances. Visitors can walk to the river and visit the memorial wall and ancestral graves. It sits on the road toward Kumasi, so it fits best into a route heading inland or a dedicated half-day from Cape Coast.
6. Taste Ghana: Food to Try in Accra and Cape Coast
Food is one of the best things to do in Ghana, and one of the easiest ways to connect with everyday life. You'll find these dishes at chop bars (local eateries), roadside stalls, markets, and restaurants.
Jollof rice: Rice cooked in a spiced tomato and pepper base, often served with chicken or fish. It is a point of friendly national pride across West Africa.
Waakye: Rice and beans cooked together, usually with millet leaves that turn it a deep reddish brown. A popular breakfast, served with shito (a dark pepper sauce), spaghetti, egg, or fish.
Banku and tilapia: Fermented corn and cassava dough served with grilled tilapia, fresh pepper sauce, and onions. Especially good near the coast.
Fufu with soup: Pounded cassava and plantain eaten with light soup, groundnut (peanut) soup, or palm nut soup, traditionally with the right hand.
Kelewele: Ripe plantain cubes fried with ginger and chili. A favorite evening street snack in Accra.
Red red: Black-eyed bean stew cooked in palm oil, served with fried plantain. A good option for many vegetarians, though check whether fish has been added.
Kenkey: Fermented corn dough wrapped in husks or leaves. Ga kenkey is common in Accra, Fante kenkey on the Cape Coast side, often served with fried fish and pepper.
Eating well and safely:
Ask what is in a dish. Many soups and stews include fish, meat, or dried shrimp, even when they don't look like it.
Communicate dietary restrictions clearly, and carry a written note for serious allergies, such as to peanuts or shellfish.
Ask for the pepper on the side if you are unsure about heat.
Choose busy vendors where food is cooked fresh and served hot.
7. Best Time to Visit Accra and Cape Coast
Southern Ghana is warm all year. In Accra, average daily highs run from about 83°F to 91°F, with lows of about 73°F to 78°F. The coast has two rainy periods: a main one from roughly April to June, and a shorter one around September to November. December to February is usually the driest stretch, though the dusty Harmattan wind can bring haze.
Humidity affects how much you can comfortably do in a day. Castle tours involve stairs and time in enclosed spaces. Markets get hot by midday. Rain can make Kakum's forest trails slippery. Plan outdoor activities for mornings and check forecasts in the days before travel.
Festivals can add a lot to a visit:
Fetu Afahye (Cape Coast): Usually held on the first Saturday in September, with a procession of chiefs and a harvest thanksgiving.
Chale Wote Street Art Festival (Jamestown, Accra): An annual festival usually held in August.
PANAFEST and Emancipation Day: Pan-African commemorative events held in the Cape Coast area, typically around late July and early August.
Confirm this year's dates before you book, as schedules can change.
8. How to Plan an Accra and Cape Coast Itinerary
These frameworks are illustrative. Actual timing depends on transport, opening hours, your pace, and conditions on the day.
If You Have One Day
One day means choosing. Either stay in Accra for the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, Jamestown, and Makola Market, or make a dedicated day trip to Cape Coast Castle with an early start. Trying to fit Accra, both castles, and Kakum into a single day isn't realistic and leaves no room for reflection.
If You Have Two Days
Day 1: Accra's cultural and historical highlights: the memorial park, the National Museum or Jamestown, and an evening of street food.
Day 2: Travel to Cape Coast and visit Cape Coast Castle, allowing time for the full guided tour, the museum, and a quiet moment afterward.
If you can, stay overnight in Cape Coast or Elmina. Elmina Castle and Kakum each deserve their own time and are better saved for a third day than squeezed in.
If You Have Three Days or More
Day 1: Accra: memorial park, museum, Jamestown, markets.
Day 2: Travel to Cape Coast; Cape Coast Castle and museum; Kotokuraba Market.
Day 3: Kakum National Park in the morning; Elmina Castle, harbor, and old town in the afternoon.
Day 4 (optional): Assin Manso, if it suits your route, or a slower day on the coast before returning to Accra.
9. Practical Travel Tips for Visiting Ghana
Transportation: Arrange transport between Accra and Cape Coast in advance, plus local transport for Kakum, Elmina, and Assin Manso, which are spread out. A driver or guided tour saves time if you are covering several sites. Allow extra time for Accra traffic.
Entry requirements: Visa rules depend on your nationality and have been changing. Check the latest requirements with the Ghana Immigration Service or your nearest Ghanaian embassy well before you travel, and make sure your passport has enough validity.
Health and preparation: Ghana has entry-related health requirements, including for yellow fever vaccination, and malaria is present. Consult your government's official travel-health guidance and a qualified healthcare professional several weeks before departure.
Cultural respect:
Ask permission before photographing people.
Respect community spaces, shrines, and fishing areas.
Listen to guides at historical sites and follow site rules.
Dress modestly for churches, mosques, and traditional ceremonies.
Approach heritage sites as places of remembrance.
Safety and comfort: Drink plenty of water, use sun protection, and keep valuables secure in crowded markets. Buy travel insurance and read what it covers and excludes. Check your government's current travel advice for Ghana before you go.
10. Final Thoughts: A Journey Through History and Living Culture
The road from Accra to Cape Coast takes in Ghana's independence story, its markets and kitchens, its rainforest, and two of the most significant sites of the transatlantic slave trade. Each part gives context to the others.
Standing at the Door of No Return can be deeply meaningful, particularly for travelers exploring diaspora connections. What it means will be personal, and there is no right way to respond. Give the castles the time they ask for, then give the same attention to the Ghana that lives around them: the harbors, the music, the food, and the people building the country's future.
Plan Your Trip
Planning a journey to Ghana?
Book a travel-planning consultation to discuss your interests, heritage experiences, travel dates, and itinerary options for Accra and Cape Coast.
Want to discover more of Ghana? Explore our other Ghana travel guides for cultural experiences, heritage destinations, and practical trip-planning advice.
Happy Travels!
Raelyna
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