Ivory Coast travel guide: when to go, budget and itineraries

Built around the Ébrié lagoon, Abidjan alone holds over six million residents and most of the country's economic life. The Plateau's towers contrast with the working-class districts of Treichville and Adjamé, where the market stretches across several streets. Allow two to three nights for a boat ride on the lagoon, an evening at a maquis for attiéké with fish, and a visit to the boldly designed Saint-Paul cathedral. Félix-Houphouët-Boigny airport remains the country's near-mandatory gateway.

A 45-minute drive from Abidjan, the former colonial capital keeps its France quarter in Afro-Brazilian architecture, World Heritage-listed since 2012. Old trading houses now hold artists' workshops and a costume museum tracing the town's trading past. A single day covers the historic quarter, but staying overnight lets you enjoy the palm-lined seafront, where swimming calls for caution due to strong currents and an undertow.

About 3 hours from Abidjan on a recent motorway, Yamoussoukro remains a city of wide, often empty avenues. Its Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, completed in 1989 on the model of St Peter's in Rome, is the world's largest church by floor area. The sacred crocodile lake near the presidential palace should be viewed from a safe distance: never approach the water's edge.

In the north, roughly 5 hours from Yamoussoukro, Korhogo remains the capital of Senoufo country and its textile crafts. The village of Waraniéné is worth a visit for its cloth weavers, and Fakaha for its painters, who reproduce traditional scenes with mud-tinted dye on cotton cloth. Two nights allow time for the lively local market and a couple of village visits, at a deliberately unhurried pace suited to the north's slower rhythm.

In the mountainous west, Man is known for its waterfalls and granite peaks, including the Dent de Man. Liana suspension bridges near Biankouma, rebuilt yearly by villages following an old tradition, cross wooded valleys several metres above ground and sway gently underfoot. A hired driver is recommended on the long roads leading to this region, over 5 hours from Korhogo or Yamoussoukro, especially in the rainy season.

East of Abidjan, Assinie and its Aby lagoon draw visitors for kitesurfing and waterskiing, less than an hour from Grand-Bassam. To the west, San-Pédro remains the major export port for Ivorian cocoa and gives access to the wilder beaches of Monogaga and Grand-Béréby. The border area with Liberia, beyond San-Pédro, is advised against except for essential travel by French authorities.