8-Day Ghana, Benin and Togo Heritage Tour with Slave Coast History

Land at Cadjehoun Airport in Cotonou, Benin's economic capital, and transfer west along the coast to Ouidah, a low, sandy town of old Afro-Brazilian merchant houses and roadside shrines. It is your base for the first three nights, which means one unpacking and a quiet first evening before two full days out.

An early start and a long day in the vehicle. Ganvié sits on Lake Nokoué, and about 35,000 people live there in houses, markets and schools built on stilts. Its founders took to the lake to escape slave raids from Dahomey; you cross it by pirogue, passing fishermen tending their pens.

Then continue inland to Abomey and the Royal Palace Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the seat of the Dahomey kings, whose wealth came largely from that same trade. Before the drive back to Ouidah for the night, visit the underground village of Bohicon and the Chameleon Temple.

Spend the day in Ouidah itself, the spiritual centre of Vodun, a faith practised by millions. At the Temple of the Sacred Pythons, dozens of pythons are kept and revered, directly across from the town's Cathedral. The Sacred Forest, where devotees gather for the annual Vodun festivals, is a short walk away.

Later, follow the Route des Esclaves, the road captives were forced to march to the sea, to the Door of No Return: the memorial on the beach where more than a million enslaved Africans, about one in twelve of all those carried across the Atlantic, left these shores over two centuries.

Set out early for Togo: about ninety minutes to the border, then immigration. On the way in, stop at the preserved slave house in Agbodrafo.

Lomé is an unhurried capital, and the morning covers Independence Square, the Artisans Village and the National Museum. After lunch comes the Fetish Market, the largest traditional medicine market in West Africa, where healers and Vodun practitioners buy dried herbs, animal parts and carved figures; ask before you photograph. Then continue to the fishing harbour, Art Street and the Grand Marché, where much of the cloth trade is run by women. Overnight in Lomé.

The Ghana border at Aflao is ten minutes from the hotel, so the day starts with passports rather than a drive. After immigration, it is about five hours on the coastal road to Accra, crossing the Volta on the way. You arrive in the afternoon with the evening free; the next two days are full.

Spend the day in Ghana's capital, beginning with independence. The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park honours the man who led the country to it in 1957, and Independence Square, also called Black Star Square, is where the nation holds its parades.

After the National Museum, drive past Osu Castle, the former seat of the presidency and, before that, a Danish fort, then walk through Jamestown, Accra's oldest neighbourhood, where Ga fishermen still launch canoes from the beach below the lighthouse. In the afternoon, drive west to Cape Coast for the night.

A day for the castles, and for going slowly. Cape Coast Castle, the largest of the slave forts on the Gold Coast, held captives in underground dungeons for weeks before they were shipped across the Atlantic.

A short drive west, Elmina Castle is older: the Portuguese built it in 1482, and it is the oldest European building in sub-Saharan Africa. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Local guides take you through the dungeons and the officers' rooms built above them. Take whatever time you need. Return to Accra in the evening.

Enjoy a last morning in Accra, with time for a walk or a coffee depending on your flight, then transfer to Kotoka International Airport.