Bénin travel guide: when to go, budget and itinerary

Cotonou is home to the international airport, the port and Dantokpa market, one of the largest in West Africa, where fabrics, spices and voodoo objects fill several hectares. Plan a full day here before heading to the Ganvié stilt village, about an hour away by pirogue, where more than 20,000 people have lived on stilts above Lake Nokoué since the 18th century.

Ouidah, 45 minutes from Cotonou by road, is walked along the 4km Slave Route to the Door of No Return on the beach, past statues and memorials placed roughly every few hundred metres. The Python Temple and the Kpassè Sacred Forest reflect a voodoo tradition that is still very much alive: the town hosts the International Voodoo Festival every 10 January, the liveliest date on the calendar.

Porto-Novo, the official capital just 30km from Cotonou, keeps an Afro-Brazilian colonial architecture inherited from freed slaves who returned from Brazil: the Da Silva museum and the Honmè royal palace can both be covered in half a day. Two hours further north, the UNESCO-listed royal palaces of Abomey trace three centuries of the Danxomè kingdom through their bas-reliefs and the Historical Museum, with a guided tour lasting around two hours.

Three hours' drive north of Porto-Novo, the granite hills of Dassa-Zoumè hide sacred caves and the statue of Our Lady of Arigbo, a major pilgrimage site every 15 August, best visited outside the procession for a quieter walk. Nearby, an hour's drive away, Savalou and its fetish market offer a direct look at local religious practices at the foot of the sacred Yakoukpa hill, away from organised tours.

Northern Bénin is home to Pendjari National Park, known for its elephants and lions, and the Tata Somba villages of the Atacora with their fortified two-storey mud houses. These are also the country's most security-sensitive areas, close to the Burkina Faso and Niger borders: always check the zone currently flagged by your home country's travel advisory before planning a trip north.

On a similar budget or timeframe, Bénin is often combined with Côte d'Ivoire or Ghana, two better-known but far busier regional neighbours. Bénin remains, for now, one of the least touristed destinations in the sub-region, which is noticeable both in Ouidah and in Ganvié. Allow at least 10 days to link the coast with the kingdoms of central Bénin without stacking up long drives.