Mary Edoro’s Style Guide to Accra – Where to Sleep, Eat and Visit

Going to Accra a few weeks ago for a summer vacation was not my first choice but as soon as we touched down Kotoka airport, I got excited – to explore and try out new things. As usual, I want to share my experiences with you. This bustling city can be a relaxing destination full of hot spots to go to.

Check out my top recommendations of where to sleep, eat, and visit in Accra, Ghana!

WHERE TO STAY

It was a girls’ trip with two of my sisters and we needed a place with enough space to play games and even cook our own meals. So we used Airbnb to secure a place in the city centre and found The Gallery which has a number of apartments with a super cool cityscape view and a rooftop pool! No regrets at all!

WHERE TO VISIT

We wanted our visit to be relaxing as well as informative – but not fully a culture trip. Although we didn’t visit all the tourist spots, we touched some places that everyone visiting Accra for the first time definitely has to visit.

The Lighthouse building in Jamestown – The whole area of Jamestown is a culturally rich settlement and where the Chalewote festival holds annually but with that a few weeks after our visit, we enjoyed learning the history of one of the major attractions of the place; the old Lighthouse that overlooks the harbor or the James Fort.

The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Museum, as well as the Independence Square, were also good places to also learn more about the political history of Ghana – with some nice picture spots *wink*

Wearing: Playsuit from H&M
Sandals: Calvin Klein Sandals

We ended our day buying keepsakes from The Shop Accra By Eyetsa – a conceptual store for almost anything and everything pretty.

For another day of relaxation, we went to the Labadi Beach Hotel – which came highly recommended. At the end of the day, we had no regrets, it’s a luxury resort style hotel that opens up to a beach, the popular Labadi Beach.

If you aren’t lodged at the beach hotel, it costs about 50 cedis to swim. Once you’ve paid for that or bought anything at the restaurant or bar, you get access to their reserved (cleaner) part of Labadi beach.

It’s a perfect place for time off for couples or a family getaway.

Sunnies: @theaccessoryavenue
Bra top: #Asos
Skirt: @stylestationng
Sandals: @anyshoe5k

WHERE TO EAT

For the most part of the trip, we were making our food and eating at the apartment. However, for an Accra dining experience, we stopped by 805 restaurant for their Friday buffet which refreshingly had a tasty range of Nigerian food including Palm Wine!

After that, we hit Sky bar for a few drinks. Accra has a good number of restaurants and bars close to the city centre, so finding one that suits your taste shouldn’t be hard.

For a more local touch, we went to Bush Kanteen which is also in East Legon for a proper tradition dish.

I was so eager to try Banku – I mean almost all Nigerian Musicians have used the name of the dish, which is a mixture of fermented corn and cassava dough in hot water, in at least a song. So I had it with groundnut soup.

I won’t deny, it tasted a bit weird initially. If you watch my instastories, you would know. But I swapped the groundnut soup for Okro which my tastebuds are more familiar with and…

Honestly, I love how peaceful Accra is and the people were always so friendly and eager to help.

One of my favourite things was coconut water hawked on almost every sidewalk for 2 cedis 5 pesewas (150 Naira and less than a dollar!). There is also an arts and crafts market just beside Accra Mall with a variety of well-tailored Ankara pieces – I might have overindulged and blown my budget there lol.