Day Trips from Accra: Coast, Hills and Lakes
Most day trips from Accra involve long road time, so the first rule is to leave early. Traffic is heaviest from about 6:30 to 10:00 and 16:30 to 20:30, and the Kasoa junction on the road west is a known bottleneck. Prices are in cedis (GH₵), at about 11.7 to the US dollar. The US rates Ghana Level 2 and the UK advises against all but essential travel only to the Bawku Municipality in the north, and neither names Accra or the southern trips below.
Cape Coast, Elmina and Kakum
Cape Coast is about 145 km west of Accra, and the drive takes about three hours each way. That can fall to 2 hours 15 minutes in light traffic or stretch to four hours. A castle day with Kakum runs about 8 to 10 hours, so an overnight in Cape Coast is the better plan.
Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle are UNESCO World Heritage sites and memorials to the transatlantic slave trade. Visit quietly and respectfully. Each charges about GH₵80 (roughly US$7) for a non-Ghanaian adult, and the fee should be confirmed at the gate. The Cape Coast Castle page lists opening from 9:00 to 16:30. Leave Accra by about 6:00.
Kakum National Park is about 30 km north of Cape Coast. Its canopy walkway is 333 m long and up to 27 m above the forest floor, with seven bridges, and visits are in guided groups. Check the fee at the gate, because sources disagree on the total.
Aburi Botanical Gardens
Aburi is on the Akuapem Ridge, about 35 km and an hour from the city. The gardens open daily from about 8:30 to 17:00 and date from 1890. At about 450 m the air is cooler than on the coast, and there are royal palm avenues, silk cotton trees, bamboo groves and medicinal plants. Fees were not confirmed, so ask at the gate.
Shai Hills Resource Reserve
Shai Hills is about 50 km and an hour away, and open from about 6:00 to 17:00. It covers about 51 square kilometres of savanna and rocky hills, with baboons, kob and other antelope, bushbuck, zebra and ostriches on an animal farm. There are three caves, called Adwuku, Sayu and Hieowayo. Visits are with trained armed guides, and fees are charged per hour. Operators often sell it together with a Volta cruise on days of 7 to 13 hours, and you can compare Accra day trips before you choose.
Akosombo and the Volta
Akosombo tours run about 8 to 13 hours and include a lake cruise. One listing shows a cruise on the MV Dodi Princess with Hausa Tours at US$180, and that figure comes from a secondary source.
Ada Foah is about 110 km and two hours east, where the Volta River meets the Atlantic. Boats run to Crocodile Island and through mangrove channels. The ocean beaches there are part of the southern coast, where the UK Foreign Office says swimming is dangerous because of rip tides and undertows. A 2024 blog listed Aqua Safari Resort day passes at GH₵400 for adults and 200 for children, and its 2026 status is unconfirmed.
Boti Falls
Boti Falls is in the Eastern Region about 17 km north-east of Koforidua, and a drive of 90 minutes or more from Accra. The twin falls are reached by a long staircase, and sources give 70 or 250 steps. Umbrella Rock is about 30 minutes on foot, and the site has a three-headed palm.
Places that are not day trips
Lake Bosomtwe is about 250 km away, and Tafi Atome is in the Volta Region. Plan both as overnight trips rather than add-ons to another day.
Read more: multi-day trips from Accra and the 3-day Accra itinerary .