Benin

Ouidah, on the Atlantic coast forty kilometres west of Cotonou, is the spiritual capital of Beninese Vodun. The Temple of Pythons opposite the basilica houses live royal pythons venerated as living deities; the Sacred Forest of Kpassè preserves ancient ritual sites; and the annual Vodun Festival on 10 January draws practitioners and visitors from across West Africa and the diaspora for processions, ceremonies and dance. Ouidah also holds the Maison du Brésil (with Afro-Brazilian heritage from returned descendants in the nineteenth century), the Door of No Return memorial on the beach (a memorial to the trans-Atlantic deportation, with a 4-km commemorative route running through the town), and the Portuguese Fort housing the Ouidah Museum of History.

The Royal Palaces of Abomey (UNESCO World Heritage), 140 km north of Cotonou, are the architectural legacy of the twelve kings of the Kingdom of Dahomey (1625–1900). The palace complex preserves earthen royal compounds, the famous painted bas-reliefs (cement-and-pigment panels narrating the kingdom's history), royal regalia, thrones and ritual objects, all displayed in the Historical Museum of Abomey set within the original palace walls. The site is one of the most important records of pre-colonial West African statecraft.

Ganvié is a town of about 20,000 people built entirely on stilts in Lake Nokoué, twenty kilometres north of Cotonou. Founded in the seventeenth century by the Tofinu people who took refuge on the lake, it remains a fully functional water-based settlement: floating market, school, church, post office, all reached by pirogue. A half-day pirogue trip from the village of Abomey-Calavi is the standard visit, ideally early morning when the floating market is in full swing.

Pendjari National Park in the far north-west, part of the trans-boundary W-Arly-Pendjari complex (UNESCO World Heritage), is one of West Africa's last intact savanna ecosystems. Since 2017 it has been managed by the conservation NGO African Parks, with significant gains in wildlife populations. Elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hippos, buffaloes and over 460 bird species inhabit the park's grasslands, gallery forests and the Pendjari River escarpment. The park lodge at Tanguiéta is the standard base; a 4WD with a guide is essential.

Cotonou, the de facto capital and economic heart of Benin, is best known for the vast Dantokpa Market — twenty hectares of stalls selling everything from textiles and food to sacred Vodun fetishes (the famous Marché aux Fétiches). The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Miséricorde with its red-and-white-striped façade, the Fondation Zinsou contemporary art museum, the Place de l'Étoile Rouge and the lively Akpakpa neighbourhood show the city beyond the markets. Zémidjan moto-taxis (recognisable by yellow shirts) are the universal way to move through the traffic.

The Atakora highlands in the north-west, around Natitingou and Boukoumbé, are home to the Tata-Somba — striking fortified two-storey clay dwellings of the Somba (Otammari) people, recognised on the UNESCO tentative list. The villages of Koussoukouingou and Kuitobo show this architecture in its living form. The landscape — sandstone cliffs, baobabs, terraced fields — provides one of Benin's most distinctive scenic regions, ideal for trekking and visits to traditional Tammari villages.

Porto-Novo, the official political capital, is a quieter counterpoint to Cotonou. Its Afro-Brazilian heritage — visible in the Grande Mosquée de Porto-Novo (an extraordinary church-style building converted into a mosque), the Songhaï Center for sustainable agriculture, the Honmé Palace Museum of King Toffa, and the Ethnographic Museum — reflects the return of formerly displaced descendants from Brazil in the nineteenth century. The Adjarra market, twenty kilometres outside the city, is famous for its traditional drums.