Abidjan is the largest city in Ivory Coast and the commercial capital of French-speaking West Africa, a metropolis of roughly 6.3 million people built across and around the Ebrie Lagoon on the Gulf of Guinea. Its thirteen communes range from the high-rise banking district of Plateau and the villa quarters of Cocody to the vast working neighbourhoods of Abobo, Adjame and Yopougon, linked by bridges, shared taxis and lagoon boats.
Top day trips
Handpicked excursions within easy reach.
Grand-Bassam
The first French colonial capital of Côte d'Ivoire, about 40 km east of Abidjan on the sand spit between the Ébrié Lagoon and the Atlantic. Its Quartier France, a grid of shuttered colonial trading houses, the former governor's palace and the 1920s customs buildings, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012 as the Historic Town of Grand-Bassam. The Musée National du Costume occupies the old governor's residence, an artisans' market runs along the beach road, and the N'Zima quarter across the lagoon bridge is the working half of the town.
Highlights: Quartier France colonial quarter with UNESCO World Heritage status · Musée National du Costume in the former governor's residence · N'Zima fishing quarter across the lagoon bridge · Beachfront artisans' market for wood carving and batik · Atlantic beach along the coast road
Assinie-Mafia
A resort village on the narrow sand spit where the Aby Lagoon meets the Atlantic, about 80 km east of Abidjan in the Sud-Comoé Region. Beach hotels, villas and maquis restaurants line the ocean side, while the lagoon side is used for pirogue trips, jet-skiing and crossings to the fishing settlements and the Îles Ehotilé. It is the weekend coast for Abidjan, busiest on Saturday and Sunday and nearly empty midweek.
Highlights: Atlantic beach hotels and villas along the sand spit · Aby Lagoon pirogue trips and jet-skiing · Beachfront maquis restaurants serving grilled fish and attiéké · Lagoon crossings toward the fishing settlements and Îles Ehotilé · Weekday quiet contrasted with the busy Abidjan weekend crowd
Bingerville Botanical Garden
A 57-hectare garden laid out in 1903 in Bingerville, the colonial capital of Côte d'Ivoire before the administration moved to Abidjan in 1934. It still works as a research collection as well as a public park, with avenues of mature tropical trees, a bamboo walk, palm and fruit-tree plantings and a buvette selling cold drinks. The former governor's palace and the Bingerville orphanage stand nearby, and the whole trip sits inside the Abidjan Autonomous District, about 15 km east of Plateau.
Highlights: 57-hectare botanical garden laid out in 1903 · Bamboo walk and mature tropical tree avenues · Palm and fruit-tree research plantings · Nearby former governor's palace and Bingerville orphanage · Early-morning birdwatching among the older plantings
Banco National Park
A 3,438-hectare block of primary and secondary rainforest inside Abidjan itself, bounded by the communes of Attécoubé, Adjamé, Yopougon and Abobo, and one of the largest urban forest parks anywhere. Around 80 km of tracks and marked trails run through it, along with the Banco river, an arboretum and a forestry school dating from the colonial period. Mona and lesser spot-nosed monkeys, squirrels, hornbills and a large butterfly population are the usual sightings; the famous open-air laundry, the fanico, works in the river at the park's edge.
Highlights: 3,438-hectare primary rainforest inside Abidjan's city limits · Mona and lesser spot-nosed monkeys, hornbills and butterflies · The fanico open-air laundry on the Banco river · Colonial-era arboretum and forestry school · Around 80 km of marked forest trails
Jacqueville
A coastal town on the spit west of Abidjan, on the strip of land between the Ébrié Lagoon and the Atlantic. Until 2015 it was reached only by ferry; the Jacqueville bridge now carries a road across the lagoon, which put the town within a comfortable half-day of the city. The draw is a long, largely undeveloped Atlantic beach with coconut groves, a handful of small beach hotels and maquis grills, and the remains of nineteenth-century trading posts in the old quarter.
Highlights: Long, largely undeveloped Atlantic beach with coconut groves · Jacqueville bridge crossing the Ébrié Lagoon · Remains of nineteenth-century trading posts in the old quarter · Small beach hotels and maquis grills along the shore · Quieter lagoon-side views across to fishing settlements
Dabou and the Tiagba Stilt Village
Dabou is the lagoon town about 50 km west of Abidjan on the Autoroute du Nord, the market and transport hub of the Grands-Ponts Region and the junction for Jacqueville. Its main interest for visitors is the water: from the lagoon bank, pirogues cross to Tiagba, an Adioukrou and Avikam village built on wooden piles over the Ébrié Lagoon, where houses, walkways and a small church stand above the water and fishing is done from the doorstep.
Highlights: Tiagba stilt village built on wooden piles over the Ébrié Lagoon · Adioukrou and Avikam community life on the water · Dabou market, the transport hub of the Grands-Ponts Region · Small lagoon-side church standing above the water in Tiagba · Pirogue crossing through the lagoon fishing grounds
Yamoussoukro
The political capital of Côte d'Ivoire since 1983 and the birthplace of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, about 235 km north of Abidjan on the A3 motorway. Its landmark is the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1990 and one of the largest churches in the world, set on an esplanade at the edge of town. The Houphouët-Boigny Foundation, the presidential palace with its lake of sacred crocodiles, the Saint Augustin Cathedral and the Kossou road make up the rest of a very spread-out city best covered by car.
Highlights: Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, one of the largest churches in the world · Presidential palace and its lake of sacred crocodiles · Houphouët-Boigny Foundation · Saint Augustin Cathedral · Wide boulevards of Côte d'Ivoire's political capital
Îles Ehotilé National Park
A group of six islands in the Aby Lagoon near Adiaké, about 100 km east of Abidjan, protected as a national park since 1974. The islands hold sacred groves of the Ehotilé people, mangrove fringes, shell middens from early lagoon settlements and a bird population that includes herons, kingfishers and waders. Access is by motorised pirogue from the Adiaké or Étuéboué landings, and the visit is usually combined with a stay at Assinie on the same lagoon system.
Highlights: Six islands in the Aby Lagoon protected since 1974 · Sacred groves maintained by the Ehotilé people · Mangrove fringes and shell middens from early lagoon settlements · Herons, kingfishers and waders along the shorelines · Motorised pirogue circuit from the Adiaké or Étuéboué landings
Île Boulay
An island in the Ébrié Lagoon a short crossing west of Abidjan, reached by wooden pinasse from the Abobo-Doumé landing in Yopougon. It is a low, coconut-covered island with fishing hamlets, a scatter of weekend maquis restaurants grilling fish and chicken, and quiet lagoon shores used for swimming and picnics. It is the closest thing Abidjan has to an island escape, and is busiest on Sunday afternoons when families cross from the mainland.
Highlights: Coconut-covered island a short pinasse crossing from Abidjan · Weekend maquis restaurants grilling fresh fish and chicken · Quiet lagoon shores for swimming and picnics · Small fishing hamlets scattered across the island · Short 30-minute lagoon crossing from Abobo-Doumé
Grand-Lahou and Azagny National Park
Grand-Lahou lies about 150 km west of Abidjan where the Bandama river meets the Atlantic. The original colonial town on the spit, Lahou-Kpanda, is being swallowed by coastal erosion and its abandoned church and cemetery stand at the water's edge, reached by pirogue from the modern town. Immediately north, Azagny National Park protects around 19,000 hectares of mangrove, marsh and forest between the Bandama and the lagoon, with forest elephants, manatees, buffalo and a rich waterbird population.
Highlights: Abandoned colonial church and cemetery at Lahou-Kpanda, being lost to coastal erosion · Azagny National Park's forest elephants, manatees and buffalo · Pirogue crossing at the mouth of the Bandama river · Mangrove, marsh and forest habitat between the river and the lagoon · Riverside restaurants serving fresh Bandama river fish
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Multi-day tours from Abidjan
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