5-Day Itinerary for Accra, Ghana

Cedi inflation has quietly rewritten every price you’ll read in an older Accra guide, so before anything else: budget in dollars, not the number printed on a sign, because the Ghana cedi has moved enough in the last two years that a “5 GHS entrance fee” from 2023 might be 50 GHS today.

Day 1: Arrival and Orientation

Start at Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum, the resting place of Ghana’s founding president and the single best primer on the country’s independence story, told through photographs and personal artifacts rather than dry text panels. Expect to pay roughly 100 GHS as a foreign visitor now, a steep jump from what older guides quote, so don’t be alarmed at the gate. In the afternoon, head to Labadi Beach (La Pleasure Beach), which charges a modest entrance fee, generally under 20 GHS, and gets loud and crowded on weekends with music, food stalls, and horseback rides along the sand; go on a weekday if you want the calmer version.

For dinner, skip the generic hotel restaurant and find a proper chop bar for jollof rice, banku, and kenkey with fiery shito pepper sauce, or try Le Petit Oiseau for a more polished West African menu that folds French technique into Ghanaian stews. For accommodation, Labadi Beach Hotel remains the reliable upscale choice with pool and beach access, while budget travelers do better in a guesthouse around Osu than a generic hostel, since Osu puts you walking distance from restaurants and nightlife.

Quick basics: currency is the Ghana Cedi, English is the working language though Twi and Ga are common on the street, and power sockets are the UK-style three-pin (Type G) at 220 to 240V, so bring the right adapter rather than assuming a European plug will fit.

Day 2: History and Culture in the Old Town

The National Museum of Ghana gives useful context before you head into Jamestown, Accra’s oldest neighborhood and genuinely the highlight of the trip: sun-bleached colonial buildings, a working fishing harbor where you can watch the morning catch come in, and a lighthouse you can climb for about 10 to 20 GHS with a rooftop view over the whole colorful sprawl of the district. Note that Osu Castle, the old colonial administrative seat, is not generally open to public tours since it remains connected to government use, so don’t build your day around getting inside it; admire the exterior and move on.

Ussher Fort, a 17th-century Dutch-built structure a short walk from Jamestown, doubles as a small museum on Ghana’s fort era and the slave trade that ran through this stretch of coast; entrance runs around 10 GHS for Ghanaians and roughly 50 GHS for foreign visitors, open Monday to Saturday 9am to 4:30pm. This is a heavier, more honest stop than a typical beach-and-market day, and worth the hour it takes.

For food, Zaaf Restaurant does Ghanaian fusion in a relaxed setting worth the slightly higher price, and a genuine chop bar nearby will do you banku and grilled tilapia for a fraction of the cost if you want the unfiltered version.

Day 3: Markets and Craft

Spend the morning at the Arts Centre, Accra’s main crafts market, for textiles, batik, and woodcarving, and go in ready to bargain hard: quoted opening prices for tourists routinely run two or three times the real value, and a polite, unhurried haggle is expected rather than rude. The Madame Yaa Asantewaa Cultural Centre gives useful background on the textile and craft traditions you’re seeing in the stalls, worth a stop before you buy rather than after. In the afternoon, Makola Market is the real deal if you want to see Accra’s commercial pulse rather than a curated tourist stall setup, loud, chaotic, and genuinely local.

Try a proper local chop bar for goat light soup and waakye at lunch rather than a tourist-facing restaurant, since the market district has some of the best cheap food in the city if you know to look past the main strip.

Day 4: Slave Trade History and the Coast

This day deserves to be treated seriously rather than squeezed between shopping stops. Building on what you saw at Ussher Fort, spend real time at any accompanying exhibits on Ghana’s role in the transatlantic slave trade rather than rushing through; several operators run half-day Jamestown walking tours that connect the fort, the fishing harbor, and this history into a coherent narrative rather than a checklist. If time allows, a coastal excursion further out toward Cape Coast or Elmina (a longer drive, best as an overnight add-on rather than a rushed day trip from Accra) puts the larger and better-preserved slave castles within reach, though that’s a trip extension rather than a same-day option from the capital.

Back in the city for the evening, Jamestown’s fishing-harbor stalls serve fresh grilled fish and kenkey right where the boats come in, about as unfiltered a meal as you’ll find in Accra.

Day 5: Relax and Depart

Use the morning for last-minute shopping at Accra Mall if you want air conditioning and fixed prices after days of market bargaining, then treat yourself to a spa session at La Palm Beach Hotel before heading to Kotoka International Airport. Budget real money and time for the airport transfer: a Bolt or Uber from central Accra typically runs somewhere in the range of 40 to 90 GHS depending on distance and traffic, cheaper and more transparent than a street taxi where “foreigner pricing” is common unless you agree the fare before getting in.

A few closing practicalities. Buy a local SIM (MTN or Telecel) on day one rather than relying on hotel wifi, since data is cheap and reliable and makes ride-hailing apps far easier to use. Watch for mobile money phishing calls posing as MTN or bank security, a genuinely common scam that tries to walk you through a SIM swap or PIN reset over the phone; hang up and call your provider back directly if anything like that happens. And keep a small stash of cash on hand everywhere, since plenty of market vendors and even some restaurants still don’t take cards reliably.