Getting around
Getting Around Guinea: A Country Travelled by Road
Guinea is travelled by road. Most visitors fly into Conakry, the capital on its Atlantic peninsula, and head inland from there, either in the shared taxis and minibuses that link the towns or in a car hired with a driver. Distances take longer than the map suggests, so a journey is planned by the day rather than by the hour. The dry season, roughly November to April, is when the roads are at their best and travel is easiest.
Updated 2026-10-05
Arriving at Conakry
Conakry's international airport lies at Gbessia, inside the city, well up the peninsula from Kaloum, the centre on its tip. The capital stretches along a long, narrow peninsula with few through roads, and traffic on them is heavy for much of the day, so a drive across the city takes far longer than its distance suggests; for a departing flight, the trip to the airport is started early. Travellers who come overland reach Guinea by road from its neighbours, and land borders can close at short notice, so a crossing is checked shortly before setting out.
Shared taxis and minibuses
Between towns, most Guineans travel by bush taxi — a shared car, often an elderly estate — or by minibus. Both leave from each town's taxi park, the gare routière, once every seat is taken, so the surest departures are early in the morning, when vehicles fill fastest. Seats are packed tight, luggage rides on the roof, and the vehicles are crowded and often poorly maintained; the fare is agreed before setting off. A traveller who wants more room buys a second seat or takes the whole car with its driver. In the Fouta Djallon, shared taxis are how local people move between Mamou, Dalaba, Pita and Labé, and in every town motorcycle taxis wait at the junctions for short rides.
A car with a driver
For a visitor, a car hired with its driver is the practical way to travel on a route and at a pace of one's own. Hotels and travel agencies in Conakry arrange one for a day or for a whole journey, and for the side roads of the Fouta Djallon, the forest region or any trip in the rains the vehicle is a four-wheel drive. Fuel is not always available at filling stations, so a reserve travels in the vehicle on long journeys, and the driver knows the roads, the checkpoints and the stops along the way.
The roads and the rains
The main paved road leaves Conakry through Kindia and climbs to Mamou, where it divides: north to Dalaba, Pita and Labé in the Fouta Djallon, east towards Kankan, and south-east towards the forest region and N'Zérékoré, about two days from the capital by road. Away from the main roads, many roads are unsurfaced and deeply potholed, and the paved ones have broken stretches of their own.
The rains run from May to October. Roads flood and become impassable, in Conakry and the other towns as well as between them, and journey times stretch with every downpour. Whatever the season, journeys between towns are made by daylight, with no driving outside the capital at night.
Checkpoints and papers
Police and other checkpoints stand on the roads across the country, and a long journey passes several. At each one the passport and the vehicle's papers may be asked for, so they travel at hand rather than in a bag on the roof; photo identification is carried at all times. In a hired car the driver does the talking, and in a shared taxi the passengers show their papers when asked. A greeting in French before anything else keeps the stop short, and checkpoints, like bridges, are never photographed.
Boats to the Loos Islands
The Loos Islands lie off the tip of the Conakry peninsula, and motorised pirogues cross to them from the jetties of Kaloum, the fishing port of Boulbinet among them. The crossing to the nearer islands takes well under an hour and is calmest in the dry season. The fare and the time of the return pickup are agreed with the boatman before boarding, and water and cash go along for the day.