Cape Coast Castle
★ 4.5🇬🇭 Cape CoastSuggested visit 2-3 hoursBest season November to March, the dry season, with less rain and calmer seas
World HeritageHistoric siteMuseum
A 17th-century whitewashed fort on the Atlantic shore, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an important historic site in West Africa.
Overview
First built by the Swedes in 1653 and later enlarged by the British, the castle became a key trading post on the West African coast. Thick white walls, bastions and gun batteries face the sea, while warehouses, dungeons and the governor's corridors survive inside. Since the 1990s it has housed a museum that uses objects and archives to tell the complex history of the Atlantic trade.
History
Begun in 1653, seized by the British in 1664 and repeatedly enlarged, it was returned to Ghana after independence and inscribed with Elmina Castle on the World Heritage List in 1979.
Highlights
- •The white bastions facing the Atlantic
- •The castle museum and its archives
- •The original dungeons and trading warehouses
- •Historic gun batteries on the ramparts
Practical tips
- •Join a guided tour for the full historical context
- •Keep a respectful, quiet tone while inside
Practical information
- Best time
- November-March
- Tickets
- About GHS 40 for adults
- Opening hours
- 9:00-17:00
- Local food
- Ghanaian groundnut soup, fried plantain, jollof rice
- Getting around
- About three hours by bus or hired car from Accra; the castle sits by the sea in the old town.
- Visa
- A visa is required; apply about one month in advance.
Traveller reviews
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