Fri 25th Jul 2008
- Accra Travel Guide & City Information
The capital of Ghana Accra is a pleasant city (pop. 1 100 000) on the southern coast. Start your sightseeing at the Perpetual Flame at the Cenotaph in Revolution Square then go on to the National Museum (one of the best collections in West Africaallow at least two hours). Next to the museum is a good craft market which sells paintings prints and postcards. The citys main sites are the Makola Market (the citys central market,) Liberation Square (memorial to three Ghanaians who were shot during colonial times,) the tropical gardens, the Art Centre (for shopping and cultural events,) the grave of Kwame Nkrumah (the first Ghanaian president) and that of W. E. B. Du Bois (the American-born civil rights leader who spent his last years in Accra).
Accra also has some beautiful beaches, some more touristy than others. Labadi and Kokrobite will ask for an entrance fee, but they are very well kept and are cleaned everyday, and going there you'll probably be entertained. If you like a more quiet beach, but yet a clean one (and not a garbage-beach like the one in Osu and near the Art Centre), you should check out Koko beach (in Teshie) and Misty (in between Teshie and Tema) The trip there will take a little longer but it's really worth it.
The most touristy area of Accra is Osu. It's located quite close to the Art Centre and Liberation Square. The main street (Cantoments Road) and those around the area have plenty of good hotels and restaurants of all kinds, even fast food like burgers & pizza, Chinese and Indian food, ice cream and, for those who like Ghanaian food better, a big (and really clean) chopbar nearby.