Côte d'Ivoire: Eight Attractions and Natural Wonders

The economic engine of West Africa

Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest cocoa producer and, for decades, one of the more prosperous and stable countries in West Africa — until a 2002–11 political crisis and civil war. It has recovered strongly since, and Abidjan is again a booming regional hub. Some caution still applies: the northern border areas have seen spillover from the Sahel insurgency, and it is worth checking current advice before travelling there.

The eight below run from the coast and Abidjan to the western mountains and the northern savannah. The dry seasons (roughly November–March and July–August) are the most comfortable.

1. The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Yamoussoukro

The country's founding president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, moved the capital to his home village of Yamoussoukro and built, at his own reported expense, a basilica modelled on St Peter's — but with a taller dome, 7,000 seats, and space for another 200,000 people on the surrounding esplanade. It is often called the largest church in the world.

It sits in a town that never grew into the capital it was meant to be, alongside Houphouët-Boigny's other monuments and a lake with resident crocodiles.

2. Grand-Bassam

Grand-Bassam, east of Abidjan on a sandy spit between the ocean and a lagoon, was the French colonial capital from 1893 until a yellow-fever epidemic forced a move inland. Its "France Quarter" — a grid of administrative buildings, trading houses, and villas, many now beautifully decayed — is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a good costume and craft museum in the former governor's palace.

The beach here is a popular weekend escape from Abidjan (with a strong current); it was the site of a 2016 terrorist attack, after which security was increased.

3. Abidjan

Abidjan is the largest French-speaking city in West Africa, spread across peninsulas and islands in a lagoon and crossed by long bridges. The Plateau is the high-rise centre; Cocody has the presidential palace and embassies; Treichville and Adjamé have the markets and the music. It is the economic and cultural motor of the region, with a serious live-music and nightlife scene.

Sights include the pyramid-topped St Paul's Cathedral, the Musée des Civilisations de Côte d'Ivoire, and the Banco National Park — a patch of primary rainforest inside the city limits.

4. St Paul's Cathedral, Abidjan

Abidjan's Catholic cathedral, consecrated in 1985 and also blessed by John Paul II, is a striking piece of modern architecture: the white concrete form is meant to represent Saint Paul striding forward, robes billowing, dragging the roof of the nave behind him on steel cables from a 100-metre pylon.

It stands on the edge of the Plateau above the lagoon, with big abstract stained glass inside, and is one of the city's few genuine architectural landmarks.

5. Comoé National Park

Comoé, in the northeast, covers over 11,000 square kilometres of savannah and gallery forest along the Comoé river — a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was on the danger list for years due to war and poaching, and was removed in 2017 as conditions improved. It has elephant, buffalo, hippo, several antelope species, chimpanzees, and a huge bird list.

Infrastructure is basic and access depends on the security situation in the north; it is visited mostly by researchers and a trickle of adventurous travellers.

6. Man and the western mountains

The west of the country is green and hilly — the "18 Mountains" region around the town of Man, close to the Guinean and Liberian borders. Man is a base for hiking the Dent de Man, visiting the local waterfalls, crossing the "liana bridges" woven from forest vines, and — in nearby villages — seeing the acrobatic mask dances, including the famous stilt dancers and the spinning "juggler girl" of the Yacouba (Dan) people.

Mount Nimba, on the tripoint of three countries, is a UNESCO site of unique montane grassland, though the Ivorian side is mostly closed for mining and conservation.

7. The forests and parks of the southwest

The southwest holds the country's rainforest. Taï National Park, near the Liberian border, is the largest remaining block of primary lowland forest in West Africa — a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to pygmy hippo, forest elephant, and chimpanzees famous among primatologists for using stone tools to crack nuts. Access requires permits and planning.

Closer to the coast, the beaches around Sassandra and San Pédro, and the little port of Sassandra with its old French quarter, make an easier addition.

8. Assinie and the coast

Assinie-Mafia, on a narrow spit between the Aby Lagoon and the Atlantic near the Ghanaian border, is where well-off Abidjanais keep weekend houses and where the resorts and beach clubs are. It has water sports on the calm lagoon side and surf on the ocean side, and it is the setting of a famous 1970s French comedy film, Les Bronzés.

The wider coast — palm-lined, humid, with a heavy Atlantic swell and rip currents — is more for lounging than swimming.

Côte d'Ivoire is a straightforward trip in the south — Abidjan, Grand-Bassam, Yamoussoukro, Assinie all link on good roads in a few days — with the western mountains and the national parks for travellers with more time and an eye on the security situation.