What can you do in Ashanti Region’s capital city Kumasi and Lake Bosumtwi? Let us give you some suggestions, and if it sounds like a lot to organize we have good news for you. You can join our Weekend Trip!
Kumasi: second largest city of Ghana
Yes, Kumasi is after Accra the second largest city of the country. The population is now (2023) estimated at 3.4 million, and it’s the cultural capital city of the Ashanti Empire. It’s also called “the Garden City”. Why? Because of its many species and flowers in the past.
How to get to Kumasi
If you have your own car driving to Kumasi should take you about five hours. It’s advisable to do this during the day time. You will see the environment changing from Accra, to the mountains, to villages and eventually into “city life” again. We can recommend you a driver if you need.
You can also fly from Accra to Kumasi with several airlines. The flight should take 40 minutes.
To get that real Ghanaian experience (and it’s cheap!) try the public transportation. You can get a big air conditioned coach from Accra to Kumasi at any time of the day (again, advisable to travel in the day time). The drive will be a bit longer than when you have your own car. You can easily get the busses of VIP and STC (amongst others) at Circle Bus Station. Taking a trotro or Ford Bus for this long distance is not recommended.
Of course, the best and easiest way is to join our mini van from Accra. We work with experienced and reliable drivers. The van will stop whenever you want (for a rest room break for example), it’s the moment to get to know your travel buddies, it’s relatively cheap compared to private transportation and we know the road very very well.
Where to sleep
An important question to ask “where in Kumasi should I sleep”? During our trip we stay at TUMI Hostel, which is a nice, clean and affordable hostel near the stadium. From there we can easily find our way to the tourist sites we are going to visit.
What to do
There’s several things to in Kumasi, and we will focus on visiting the biggest market (with a guide, very important!), a palace and another mysterious attraction.
Kejetia Market has over 10.000 stands and stalls, so it’s a very busy place to be at. Therefor, you have to make sure to bring a guide before you start exploring on your own. We will have a look, maybe buy something and hopefully be able to practice some Twi Language. Advice: join us before your trip at the Twi Cafe in Osu! You can request for phrases that are convenient for going to the market.
We will also get a tour at the Manyhia Palace Museum to learn about the long history of the rulers of the Ashanti Kingdom.
For lunch we move to the Cultural Center and walk around a bit before we move to our last destination: the immovable Sword. The sword was pushed in the ground 300 years ago, and since then it has been impossible to remove it. Let’s find more about that!
Of course there’s more to do in Kumasi, but we like our trips relaxed, informative but not tooooo exhausting. This is perfect for just one day.
Lake Bosumtwi: Ghana’s only man made lake
To combine city life and culture with nature and chilling it’s highly recommended to also visit Lake Bosumtwi. It’s about 1.5 hours drive from Kumasi.
The lake is caused by a meteor impact millions years ago, and that makes it the only man made lake in Ghana. There are about 23.000 people living in the 27 communities around the lake.
How to get to Lake Bosumtwi
From Accra you can take the VIP bus to Kumasi and alight at Ejisu. You will get a taxi to the lake here (let the driver know which village you are really going to, this of course depends on your accommodation).
From Kumasi take a trotro to Kuntanase, and from there take a taxi to the village.
We can recommend you a driver with private car who knows the road and directions. Or, of course, join us on our Kumasi and Lake Bosumtwi Weekend Trip.
Where to sleep
There are several hotels around the lake (with lake view!). We will go to the Green Ranch for lunch and relaxation (and horse back riding if you wish so).
Other accommodations are Cocoa Village Guesthouse, Lake Point Guesthouse and more.
What to do
As written above, you can choose to join us during the weekend with horse back riding (it’s optional) or just relax on the veranda or swim in the water.
Other activities around the lake are supping, hiking and taking a boat trip.
Do you want to travel to Kumasi and Lake Bosumtwi?
We made it very easy for you. Everything is arranged for you, you just have to hop in he mini van in Accra. Join our fully organized weekend to Ashanti Region.
