Cape Coast and Elmina are historic ports and known to be rather ‘touristy’ places in Ghana. However, we did not meet a huge tourist crowd but rather a more laid back area with very interesting sights to visit.

Two castles and nice markets

As we merely had one weekend to spend in the area we decided to only drive by the St George’s Castle of Elmina, which already looks stunning from the outside. This castle is the oldest extant colonial building in sub-Saharan Africa and I think definitely worth visiting if you have enough time at your hand. 

We then drove further to Cape Coast Castle. It is not as old as St. George’s but very impressive due to its history of slave capture. A more detailed report about the castle can be found here. In general I had the impression that Cape Coast is a bit more ‘sorted’ and less hectic than Elmina. The market was big and invites for a nice stroll.

Walking in the trees at Kakum National Park

From Cape Coast we drove further to the Kakum National Park which is famous for its canopy walkway. After a little hike through the woods (you could even call it jungle) you arrive at the bridges that link several trees to each other.

Kakum National park

Kakum National park

You can choose to take a shorter way and cross three bridges or the longer way with seven. We took the longer one and were not disappointed. Walking through nature like this is amazing. Even though the bridges are VERY shaky and you do not feel too encouraged with the slogan ‘oldest canopy walk in Africa’, the whole experience is very save and you are always accompanied by a nice guide.

I highly recommend trying and standing still here for a moment to listen to the sounds of the nature. All the birds and also the insects play a very special concert.

As we had to head back to Accra the same day our trip already ended here. If you merely have a weekend at hand to visit Cape Coast I can highly recommend the tour I just described. If you have more time I think it is definitely worth visiting both castles and using one or two days to kick back at the beach and just relax for a bit!