Benin

Porto-Novo is Benin's official capital, a quieter, greener and more interesting city than Cotonou, and its great mosque is its most striking building. Built in the early twentieth century by Muslims who had returned from Brazil, it borrows the look of a Brazilian baroque church: a pastel façade in yellow, pink and green, with curving gables and towers. It is a vivid reminder that the slave trade ran both ways, and that freed Afro-Brazilians brought back architecture, food and family names that still mark the coast.

TipThe mosque is a place of worship; look from outside or ask permission before entering, and avoid Friday prayers.

Set in a handsome Afro-Brazilian house, this privately run museum tells the story of the "Agudas", the returnees from Brazil and their descendants, through furniture, photographs, vintage cars and everyday objects. It is an engaging, slightly eccentric place, and a good introduction to the hybrid culture you see all along the coast between Lagos and Lomé.

The former palace of the kings of Porto-Novo, among them King Toffa, who signed a protectorate treaty with France in the 1860s, is now a museum. Guides lead visitors through low earthen courtyards, royal rooms and shrines, explaining the rituals of a monarchy that survived alongside colonial rule. Nearby, the Alexandre Sènou Adandé Ethnographic Museum has a strong collection of masks and Yoruba carvings.

Cotonou, the economic capital, is a busy, motorbike-filled port city, and Dantokpa is its beating heart: one of the largest open-air markets in West Africa, spread along the lagoon by the Ancien Pont bridge. Fabric, plastic goods, spices, smoked fish and second-hand clothes fill the lanes, and there is a section devoted to Vodun fetish materials, from herbs and carved figures to animal parts.

TipGo in the morning with small notes, keep valuables out of sight, and ask before photographing traders.

Founded in 2005, the Fondation Zinsou has done more than any other institution to bring contemporary African art to a local audience, through exhibitions, school programmes and outreach. Its shows rotate, so check what is on. Elsewhere in the city, the giant bronze statue of an Amazon warrior, unveiled in 2022, honours the women soldiers of the Dahomey army and has quickly become a city landmark.

On Lake Nokoué, just north of Cotonou, Ganvié is a whole town built on stilts, home to tens of thousands of Tofinu people. Their ancestors are said to have moved onto the water in the seventeenth or eighteenth century to escape slave raiders, who were forbidden by belief from entering the lake. Today the village has schools, mosques, churches and a floating market, all reached by pirogue, and families fish using brush enclosures called acadjas.

TipBoats leave from the official jetty at Abomey-Calavi; agree the price and duration first. Ask before photographing people, who understandably tire of cameras.

Ouidah, an hour west of Cotonou, is the spiritual heart of Vodun, and its python temple faces the cathedral basilica across a small square, a pairing that sums up the country's religious ease. Inside, royal pythons, sacred to the deity Dangbé, coil in a small round shrine; they are harmless and are said to wander through town at night. Visitors may hold one if they wish.

According to tradition, King Kpassè, who founded Ouidah, escaped his enemies by turning into an iroko tree that still stands in this patch of forest. Paths wind between metal and clay sculptures of Vodun deities, made for the 1990s festival of Vodun arts, and between shrines still in use.

The museum occupies the Portuguese fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá, built in 1721 when Ouidah was one of the busiest slaving ports in Africa. Its displays cover the trade, the kingdom of Dahomey and the Afro-Brazilian connection. Ouidah's memorial sites have been undergoing a major redevelopment, so some exhibits may be closed or moved; ask locally.

The Route des Esclaves runs about 4km from the old auction square in town down to the beach, marked by memorials along the way: the Tree of Forgetting, which captives were made to circle to forget their homeland; the site of the huts where they were held; and a memorial to the many who died before boarding. At the shore stands the Door of No Return, a monumental arch unveiled in 1995 as part of UNESCO's Slave Route project. It is a place for quiet reflection rather than sightseeing, and many visitors, especially those of African descent, find it deeply moving.

TipWalk the route or take a guide who can explain each stop. Dress modestly and keep your voice low at the memorials.

West of Ouidah, the Mono river meets the Atlantic at the Bouche du Roy, a protected area of mangroves, sandbars and fishing villages. Pirogue trips from Grand-Popo explore the channels, salt-making sites and birdlife, and sea turtles nest on parts of this coast.

A relaxed beach town near the Togolese border, Grand-Popo has a long sweep of sand, coconut palms and a handful of guesthouses. It is a good place to slow down for a couple of days, but the Atlantic here has powerful waves and rip currents.

TipSwim only where locals say it is safe, and never alone.

Possotomé, on the shore of Lake Ahémé, is famous for its hot springs and bottled mineral water. Community tourism projects offer pirogue trips with fishermen, village walks, herbal medicine visits and simple lakeside lodges, making it a gentle break between the coast and Abomey.

From the seventeenth century until the French conquest of 1894, twelve kings of Dahomey ruled from Abomey, each adding his own palace to a walled royal city. UNESCO lists what survives, chiefly the palaces of Ghezo and Glele, whose earthen walls carry painted bas-reliefs telling the history of the kingdom and its battles. The site has been the focus of a long-running restoration and museum project, and parts may be closed during works; check before you go. Many royal treasures looted in 1892 were returned by France in 2021.

In the Atakora hills around Boukoumbé, the Batammariba build fortress-like earthen tower houses called tata somba, with granaries on the roof and living space inside. The tradition continues across the border in Togo's Koutammakou, which UNESCO lists. The FCDO currently advises against all but essential travel to the whole of Atacora department, so treat this as heritage to read about until advice changes.

Pendjari, part of the UNESCO-listed W-Arly-Pendjari complex, was long the best wildlife park in West Africa, with elephants, lions, buffalo and antelope. Since attacks and kidnappings in the area, the FCDO advises against all travel there and the US says do not travel to areas bordering Burkina Faso. It is included here for its importance, not as a recommendation to visit.