Ghana · Ashanti
Kumasi
The seat of the Asante kings, where the Asantehene still sits in state every six weeks and kente is woven in villages down the road.
Kumasi is the capital of the Asante kingdom and Ghana's second city, and the Asantehene still holds court here at Manhyia Palace, where the old palace is now a museum of the kings. It is a big, loud trading city built around Kejetia Market, one of the largest in West Africa, and the best place in the country to see Asante culture as living practice: kente and adinkra cloth, gold regalia, talking drums and the Akwasidae gatherings held every six weeks. A sacred crater lake and the villages where kente is woven lie within an hour.
Suggested stay
2–4 days
Language
English, Twi
Currency
GHS
Timezone
UTC
Why you'll love Kumasi
A living kingdom The Asantehene still holds court at Manhyia, and at Akwasidae chiefs arrive in kente and gold under great umbrellas, to talking drums and horns. Tradition here is a working institution.
The market Kejetia and the Central Market spill across the city centre in a maze of stalls selling cloth, beads, sandals, yams, smoked fish and hardware.
Cloth and craft Kente woven in narrow strips on hand looms, adinkra symbols stamped in bark dye, brass cast by the lost-wax method, all made in and around the city.
Food Fufu pounded to order and served in light soup, groundnut soup or palm nut soup, eaten with the right hand in the city's chop bars.
Best time to visit
Aug, Nov-Jan
28-33° days
6.699° N, 1.623° W
UTC · Africa/Accra
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Weather & when to go to Kumasi
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Aug, Nov-Jan
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Kumasi
No month to rule out. December and January are the driest, with a dusty harmattan haze in the sky. Rain builds from March, peaks in May and June, eases in August and returns in September and October, mostly as heavy afternoon storms. February and March are the hottest. Akwasidae comes round every six weeks all year, so the Asante calendar matters more than the season.
Top things to do in Kumasi
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Manhyia Palace Museum - the old palace of the Asante kings
history culture arts 👍 PopularBuilt in the 1920s for Prempeh I on his return from exile, the old palace is now a museum of royal furniture, regalia, photographs and life-size figures of past kings and queen mothers. Guided tours tell the story of the kingdom, and the current Asantehene lives in the newer palace beside it.
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Akwasidae at Manhyia - the Asantehene in state
culture arts history ⭐ Highly recommendedEvery six weeks, on a Sunday set by the Akan calendar, the Asantehene sits in state in the palace grounds to receive chiefs and the public. Chiefs arrive under huge umbrellas, dressed in kente and gold, to talking drums and horn calls. Visitors can watch: dress respectfully and confirm the date locally.
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Kejetia Market - one of West Africa's biggest markets
shopping culture arts 👍 PopularThousands of stalls pack Kejetia and run on into the Central Market next door: cloth and beads, sandals, yams and plantain, smoked fish, herbs and hardware, each trade in its own lanes. Go in the morning, carry little, and expect to get lost at least once.
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Centre for National Culture - kente, brass and the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum
culture arts shopping 👍 PopularWorkshops where you can watch kente weaving, woodcarving, adinkra printing and brass casting, with craft shops alongside. The small Prempeh II Jubilee Museum, in a replica of an Asante chief's house, holds royal regalia and relics of the kingdom.
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Kumasi Fort - the Armed Forces Museum
historyThe stone fort the British built in the 1890s, where the colonial governor and his garrison were besieged during Yaa Asantewaa's rising in 1900. It now houses the Armed Forces Museum, covering that war and the Gold Coast soldiers who fought in East Africa and Burma in the World Wars.
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Okomfo Anokye Sword - the blade no one can pull out
history culture artsIn the grounds of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, a sword said to have been driven into the earth by the priest who called down the Golden Stool around 1700. Legend holds that if it is ever pulled out, the Asante kingdom will fall. It is kept under cover and shown by a guide.
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Baba Yara Stadium - watch Asante Kotoko
culture artsKotoko, the Porcupine Warriors, are one of Ghana's two giant football clubs, and Kumasi is fiercely loyal to them. A home game, above all against Accra's Hearts of Oak, is the loudest afternoon in the city.
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Fufu in a chop bar - the Asante staple
foodKumasi takes its fufu seriously: cassava and plantain pounded in a wooden mortar until smooth and elastic, then served in light soup, groundnut soup or palm nut soup with goat, chicken or smoked fish. Lunchtime is when it is freshest.
Best areas to stay in Kumasi
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Adum
Sightseeing on a budget $Busy commercial heart beside the markets
Explore hotels in Adum →
Ahodwo and Nhyiaeso
Comfort and quiet $$$Leafy southern suburbs with the better hotels
Explore hotels in Ahodwo and Nhyiaeso →
KNUST and Ayeduase
Longer stays $Green university campus and student quarter
Explore hotels in KNUST and Ayeduase →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Kumasi
Getting to & around Kumasi
Getting there
Fly from Accra to Kumasi Airport in under an hour, or take an intercity coach up the main highway in around four to six hours.
Flight
Kumasi Airport (KMS)
Domestic flights from Accra land in the north-east of the city, about 20 minutes from Adum by taxi or ride-hailing car, longer at rush hour. Most international visitors connect through Accra's Kotoka airport.
Coach
Air-conditioned intercity coaches run from Accra through the day, around four to six hours depending on traffic at both ends. Tro-tros are slower and more cramped.
Coach
From Cape Coast and Takoradi on the coast, coaches and tro-tros take roughly four hours, the usual link on a loop through the coastal forts.
Coach
From Tamale and the north, buses run down the main north-south highway in six hours or more, the way in from Mole National Park.
Getting around
Walking
Adum, Kejetia and the Cultural Centre are walkable, though pavements are crowded and traffic heavy.
Free
Taxi
Shared taxis run fixed routes like buses; charter a 'dropping' taxi to go anywhere, and agree the fare before you get in.
TBC
Tro-tro
Minibuses leave Kejetia and the other lorry stations for every suburb and nearby town. The mate calls the destination and collects cash.
TBC
Ride-hailing
App-based ride-hailing works across the city and saves haggling over fares.
TBC
Day trips from Kumasi
Lake Bosomtwe
Full daySacred crater lake
Ghana's only natural lake fills a meteorite crater ringed by forested hills. The Asante hold it sacred as the place where souls come to bid farewell to the god Twi, and by old custom fishermen paddle out on wooden planks rather than boats. Walk the shore villages from Abono, swim, or stay the night.
Getting there
car | bus
About an hour south-east by taxi or car, or by tro-tro with a change at Kuntanase
Bonwire and the craft villages
Full dayKente and craft villages
Bonwire is where Asante kente is said to have first been woven, and weavers still work narrow strip looms in the village. Pair it with Ahwiaa for woodcarving and Ntonso for adinkra, where symbols are stamped onto cloth in dye made from tree bark.
Getting there
car | tour
Under an hour north-east by car or hired taxi, easiest as one loop
Bobiri Forest Reserve
Half dayForest butterfly sanctuary
A tract of protected rainforest with a butterfly sanctuary, where guides walk you along forest trails among hundreds of species. It is the easiest taste of the Ashanti forest from the city, and a simple guesthouse makes an overnight possible.
Getting there
car
About an hour east by car, off the Accra road
Ejisu and the Besease shrine
Half dayAsante shrine and history
Ejisu was the home of Yaa Asantewaa, the queen mother who led the 1900 rising. Just beyond it, the restored shrine at Besease is one of the Asante traditional buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage List, its earth walls moulded with bold relief patterns around a small courtyard.
Getting there
car | bus
About 30-45 minutes east on the Accra road by car or tro-tro
A little history of Kumasi
Kumasi grew from a forest settlement called Kwaaman, and its name is usually explained as 'under the kum tree', after a tree the priest Okomfo Anokye is said to have planted there. Around 1700 Anokye and the ruler Osei Tutu bound a group of Akan states into the Asante union, sealed in the founding story by the Golden Stool descending from the sky onto Osei Tutu's knees. The stool holds the soul of the nation, and no one sits on it. After Asante defeated Denkyira in 1701, gold, kola and trade with the coast, including in enslaved people, made Kumasi the capital of one of West Africa's most powerful states.
Through the nineteenth century Asante fought a series of wars with the British on the coast. A British force burned much of Kumasi in 1874, and in 1896 the British occupied the city and exiled Asantehene Prempeh I. When the governor demanded the Golden Stool in 1900, Yaa Asantewaa, queen mother of Ejisu, led the last great rising. Asante was annexed, but Prempeh I came home in 1924, the kingship was restored in 1935, and the court at Manhyia has carried on alongside the modern city ever since.
Osei Tutu's Asante union defeats Denkyira at Feyiase, and Kumasi becomes the capital of an independent kingdom.
Asante forces defeat a British-led army at Nsamankow; Governor Charles MacCarthy is killed.
British troops under Garnet Wolseley enter Kumasi and burn much of it, the war remembered in Asante as Sagrenti.
British forces occupy Kumasi without a battle; Asantehene Prempeh I is arrested and later exiled to the Seychelles.
The British governor demands the Golden Stool; Yaa Asantewaa leads the War of the Golden Stool and the British are besieged in Kumasi Fort.
Prempeh I returns from exile; the palace built for him the following year is today the Manhyia Palace Museum.
The Asante Confederacy is restored and Prempeh II is enstooled as Asantehene.
Ghana becomes independent, with Kumasi, capital of the Ashanti Region, as its second city.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is enthroned as the sixteenth Asantehene.
Know before you go
Payment
Cash preferred
English
Everywhere
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type G
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+233
FAQs about Kumasi
▸ When is the best time to visit Kumasi?
December and January are the driest months, and November and August are also among the best: August is a cooler, drier break between the two rainy seasons. Rain peaks in May and June and again in September and October, usually as heavy afternoon storms, so no month is a write-off. February and March are the hottest. For culture, time your visit to an Akwasidae Sunday, which falls every six weeks all year.
▸ What is Akwasidae, and can visitors go?
Akwasidae is the Asante festival held every six weeks, on a Sunday fixed by the traditional 42-day calendar. The Asantehene sits in state in the palace grounds at Manhyia while chiefs arrive in kente under great umbrellas, to drumming and horn calls. Visitors are welcome to watch: dress modestly, ask before photographing people, and confirm the date locally, since it moves through the Western calendar.
▸ How many days do I need in Kumasi?
Two days covers Manhyia Palace Museum, Kejetia, the Centre for National Culture and the fort. Add a day for Lake Bosomtwe and another for the kente and craft villages, more if you are timing a visit to Akwasidae. Kumasi is also the natural hinge of a Ghana loop, between the forts of the coast and Mole National Park in the north.
▸ Is Kumasi safe for visitors?
Kumasi is generally relaxed for visitors and people are welcoming. The main risk is pickpocketing in the crush of Kejetia and the lorry stations, so keep phones and cash close and carry little. Take a taxi after dark rather than walking quiet streets, and check your own government's current advice before travelling.
▸ What should I eat in Kumasi?
Fufu is the Asante dish: cassava and plantain pounded into a soft, stretchy ball and served in light soup, groundnut soup or palm nut soup with goat, chicken or fish. Eat it with the right hand, pinching off pieces and swallowing rather than chewing. Look out too for kontomire stew, made with cocoyam leaves, and kelewele, spiced fried plantain sold from street stalls in the evening.
▸ How do I get from Accra to Kumasi?
Fly to Kumasi Airport in under an hour, or take an intercity coach up the main highway in around four to six hours, depending on traffic at both ends. Coaches leave through the day from Accra's bus stations; tro-tros cost less but are slower and more cramped.