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Cape Coast

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A castle on the shore where the Royal African Company kept its headquarters, a town of old schools behind it, and the Kakum forest 33 km inland.

Fly to Cape Coast All of Ghana
Arrival
Accra International · ACC
To the town
About 130 km west of Accra
Private jets
Accra; Takoradi by prior permission
Best time
July to March

The city

The castle and the Fante coast.

Around 1650 a trader working for the Swedes bought land here from the King of Fetu, and a fort went up in 1655. The English took it in 1664, and from 1678 it was the headquarters of the Royal African Company. The castle, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, still faces the sea, with the town climbing the low hills behind: Kotokuraba Market, the cathedral, and some of Ghana's best-known schools.

The University of Cape Coast, founded in 1962, keeps the town young. Come in early September for Fetu Afahye, the town's festival, held on the first Saturday of the month.

  • Cape Coast Castle Headquarters of the Royal African Company from 1678, grown from a Swedish fort of 1655.
  • St Francis Cathedral Dedicated in 1928, the first Catholic cathedral built in Ghana.
  • Kakum National Park Rainforest and a canopy walkway about 33 km north of town.

Arriving

By road from Accra, or a short hop to Takoradi.

There is no airport at Cape Coast. International flights arrive at Accra, about 130 km to the east, and the nearest runway is the air force base at Takoradi, some 60 km west along the coast.

Business & First Class Scheduled flights Accra has direct flights from London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Istanbul, Dubai, Doha, New York and Washington. Africa World Airlines and Passion Air fly between Accra and Takoradi. Business & First fares Private Jet Private jets Jets from abroad clear customs in Accra, where the runway is open around the clock. Takoradi is a military field shared with civil traffic: 1,751 metres of runway, open 06:00 to 18:00, prior permission for every flight and no fuel on sale, so plan the tanks from Accra. Charter a jet
Approximate flying time by midsize jet
  • Abidjan 45 min
  • Lagos 1 h 05
  • Nice 6 h 00
  • Cairo 6 h 00
  • Toronto 11 h 30 long-range jet

When to go

July to March.

Afternoons sit between 26 and 31 °C all year. May and June bring the heavy rain, over 200 mm in June; from July the coast dries out and cools a little, and the sea drops to about 23 °C in August before warming again towards Christmas.

  1. 30° J 26 27°
  2. 31° F 34 28°
  3. 31° M 51 28°
  4. 30° A 86 28°
  5. 29° M 180 29°
  6. 27° J 220 27°
  7. 27° J 81 25°
  8. 26° A 41 23°
  9. 27° S 66 24°
  10. 28° O 85 27°
  11. 29° N 67 28°
  12. 30° D 42 28°
Best months Climate-Data.org, averages 1991–2021

Elsewhere in Ghana

More reasons to come.

All of Ghana

Flying to Cape Coast?

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