Togo

Lomé

The capital greets you with market noise and a steady Atlantic breeze. It is worth a trip for the world's largest voodoo market and long walks along the seafront. Life moves at a lazy pace here, which makes it an easy place to begin a West African route.

Kpalimé

Ringed by emerald hills, this is the best base in the country for anything active. Wondering where to go for good coffee and waterfalls hidden in the jungle? These highlands. Villages of craftsmen and painters sit close by.

Atakpamé

A key junction in the centre of the country, spread over rolling hills. You can do the old quarters in a day and watch local weavers at work. It makes a good rest stop before the push north.

Sokodé

Up north the culture is Muslim and the traditions run deep. People come for the fire dance festivals that the Tem people still stage. This is the country's other face, nothing like the coast.

Kara

The main northern city works as a base for trips to the mud fortresses. From here you can reach the deepest corners of the savannah, home to the Kabye. It is lively and has the best choice of rooms anywhere in the north.

Aného

The old colonial capital sits on the strip between ocean and lagoon. Travellers come for the mix of European history and traditional fishing life. The mood is far calmer and quieter than in noisy Lomé.

Akodessewa Fetish Market: The one thing to see in the capital is a vast open-air supermarket of fetishes. Animal skulls, leopard hides and dried herbs are laid out in rows, and the priests working here will run a ritual or make you an amulet for whatever problem you bring them.

The mud castles of Koutammakou: Worth the trip to the far north for the two-storey tower-fortresses of the Batammariba people. Built of earth and straw, they look like miniature castles and feel completely alien against the sun-scorched savannah, still housing an ancient way of life.

Kpalimé waterfalls: For cool air and tropical green, head into the country around Mount Agou. A walk to the Womé or Kpimé cascades through coffee plantations with a local guide is the best nature you will get here, and you can swim in clear pools under the canopy.

Grand Marché: Central Lomé is trading chaos run by the "Nana Benz", the legendary and seriously wealthy cloth traders. This is where to buy bright textiles with patterns you will not see elsewhere and feel the unpolished rhythm of a West African city.

Fire dances in Sokodé: Time it right and you will watch Tem dancers swallow red-hot coals unharmed. Tourists often assume it is staged, but in the remote northern villages the magic feels real.

The coast: Sand runs from the capital to the Benin border, lined with coconut palms and fishermen's huts. Swim carefully because of strong undertows, but for shade and a plate of the day's catch these beaches are ideal.

Currency: The West African CFA franc is pegged hard to the euro. Change money at the big banks in Lomé; bringing euros is noticeably better value than anything else, because the fixed rate means you lose nothing on conversion.

Cards: Visa and Mastercard are accepted in only a couple of expensive hotels in the capital, and Amex is essentially useless. Bring cash euros or dollars in clean, undamaged notes. A Wise or Revolut card is handy for ATM withdrawals, but never plan on paying by card anywhere outside Lomé.

ATMs: You can withdraw cash on international cards at Ecobank or Orabank branches. Per-transaction limits often cap out around 200-300 dollars, and the local bank's fee on top of your own can be painful, so take out larger amounts less often.

Bargaining: In markets and private transport you always negotiate, and always with a smile. Halve the opening figure without hesitation, especially if you are the only foreigner in sight; haggling reads here as respect, not meanness.

Item	Price (USD)
Dinner at a street café	3.0
Bottle of local beer	1.8
Motorbike taxi ride	1.0
Litre of petrol	1.2
Large bottle of water	0.7
Night in a simple guesthouse	18
Bus ticket to Kara	14
Kilo of ripe mangoes	1.5
One-week entry permit	20
Local SIM card	4
Entry to the fetish market	9
Coffee in the hill country	2.5
Taxi from the airport	12
Fried cheese in the north	1.3

Shared taxis: Intercity travel runs on battered old saloons known as bush taxis. They fill to bursting and leave the station only when full, which is cheap but genuinely exhausting given the squeeze and the absence of air conditioning.

Coaches: For long hauls to Kara or Sokodé, go with one of the bigger transport companies. They have proper terminals, a fixed timetable and reasonably modern vehicles, which makes a multi-hour crossing of the country far more bearable.

Motorbike taxis: Every town has "zémidjans", nimble bikes that thread through any jam. It is the fastest way around Lomé, but it carries real risk: riders take chances in traffic and nobody here expects to hand a passenger a helmet.

Town taxis: Ordinary unmarked cars work on a price agreed in advance. Settle the fare strictly before you get in, or the sum will magically grow by the end of the ride, especially if the driver reads you as a well-off visitor.

Car hire: Driving yourself is a poor idea given the chaotic traffic and the state of secondary roads. Hiring a car with a driver for the day is far more practical and spares you both the stress and any conversations with the traffic police.

On the water: In the coastal lagoons and on Lake Togo, narrow canoes are often the only link between settlements. It is a fine way to see fishing villages from the water, but check the boat sits steady and ask about a life jacket before a long crossing.

Guesthouses: The cheapest beds are in small family-run places called auberges. Expect a bed, a fan and a shared bathroom and nothing more, but the trade-off is that you end up living squarely inside local life rather than beside it.

City hotels: Lomé has genuinely modern options with air conditioning and their own generator for when the power drops. Book ahead online, although plenty of reliable places still take reservations only by phone.

Catholic missions: In smaller towns you can often sleep at a church community. These are safe, clean and cost almost nothing, and solo travellers are always welcome, but be ready for spartan rooms and a strict house routine including curfews.

Eco-lodges: Around Kpalimé, cabins built of local stone and timber are popular. This is the pick for anyone who wants to wake to tropical birdsong and drink morning coffee looking out at mist-wrapped hilltops and green valleys.

Details that matter: In any budget room, check the mosquito net over the bed for holes before you accept it. Ask straight away whether the tap actually runs and whether the sockets work, because infrastructure in the provinces fails often.

Where to base yourself: In the capital the administrative quarter and the beachfront strip are the safest bets. Avoid suspiciously cheap rooms near the seaport, where nights get loud and basic hygiene standards are not always kept.

The staple: Everyday eating is built around fufu, a dense pounded mass of boiled yam. You eat it with your hands, pinching off pieces and dipping them into spiced sauces made with fish, meat or vegetables and, invariably, palm oil.

The sauces: Do not leave without trying gombo, an okra sauce with a distinctly slippery texture. The rich groundnut sauce is just as popular, and cooks here pair it perfectly with tender chicken or river tilapia grilled over coals.

Eating safely: The street stalls known as maquis are cheap and interesting, but watch the hygiene closely. Pick places where the food is cooked in front of you over an open flame, and drink only sealed bottled water from brands you recognise.

Quick bites: Markets everywhere sell alloco, slices of ripe plantain fried in oil. Spiced jollof rice with tomato is the other reliable filler, assuming you are not put off by a heavy hand with chilli and West African seasoning.

A northern speciality: Around Kara, look out for wagashi, a cheese the locals make from cow's milk. It is fried to a golden crust and sold at the roadside as a calorie-dense snack, wrapped neatly in broad green leaves.

What to drink: For alcohol there is chukutu, a cloudy millet beer, and sodabi, a fierce palm-sap spirit. Against the heat nothing beats ginger juice or bissap, a cold and very sour infusion of dried hibiscus flowers.

Petty theft: Pickpockets work the crowded districts of Lomé and the central markets hard. Leave expensive jewellery at home, never pull out a wad of notes in public, use a hidden money belt and keep a hand on your bag in a crush.

After dark: Once the sun goes down, quiet streets and the city beaches turn risky. In the evenings move only by proper taxi, ideally one called for you by your hotel reception, rather than walking and hoping for the best.

Border zones: The situation on the Burkina Faso frontier remains tense in 2026 because of armed groups operating in the region. Before planning anything in the far north, ask local authorities for the current picture and check your own government's travel advisory.

Photography: Photographing military sites, government buildings and anyone in uniform is strictly forbidden. Always ask ordinary people politely before pointing a camera, or you risk an angry scene and a demand for a large payment.

The ocean: Powerful undertows along the capital's shoreline make swimming genuinely dangerous even for strong swimmers. Do not go deep on wild stretches of coast where there are no lifeguards and no locals in the water.

Health: Malaria is a real threat, so repellent and nets are not optional. If your temperature rises for no obvious reason, go straight to a clinic for a rapid test; in the capital that is done quickly and accurately.

Greeting first: In Togo this is the single rule of etiquette you cannot skip before any conversation. Before asking directions or a price, say hello and ask how the person is doing, otherwise you will simply be read as badly brought up.

The voodoo world: Treat local cults with genuine respect even when the rituals strike you as strange or unsettling. Voodoo here is not a tourist attraction but a living faith that shapes what most people do and think day to day.

The right hand: Money, food and handshakes are passed with the right hand only. The left is considered unclean, and using it in a social exchange can land as a direct and rather coarse insult.

Dress: Towns have no strict code, but in villages and the Muslim north cover shoulders and knees. Very revealing clothes belong on hotel grounds; in public a tidy, understated look earns you a great deal of goodwill.

Seniority: Hierarchy carries enormous weight, and the last word in any dispute goes to the eldest person present. Be pointedly polite with community heads and older people and everyday problems tend to resolve themselves quickly.

Time: Nobody here is in a hurry and every arrangement is approximate. Bottomless patience and a friendly smile will get you much further than insisting on your rights or demanding punctuality.

The language you need: French is the official language, and travelling solo without at least a little of it is genuinely hard. English is understood only in the larger hotels in the capital, so markets and transport will be in French whether you like it or not.

Local tongues: Ewe is spoken across the south and Kabye dominates the north. Even two or three words of the local dialect wins people over instantly and tends to produce fairer prices on everything from cloth to a taxi ride.

Mobile: Buy a SIM from Togocom or Moov at an official shop with your passport in hand. That gets you steady mobile data in the towns and along the main highways, which matters more than anything else for navigation.

eSIM: If your phone supports virtual SIMs, activate a data package before you fly. It saves hunting for a shop on arrival, but it costs more than a local tariff and gives you no local number for calls.

Messaging: WhatsApp is the tool everything runs on, from booking a guesthouse to hiring a guide. Always keep a little data in reserve so you can message a host or driver at short notice.

Wi-Fi: Free wireless turns up only in capital hotels and the speed is usually poor. Do not count on a connection in the provinces, so download every offline map you need before you leave Lomé.

Signs in English: Street signs, menus and bus stations are almost entirely in French, so a translation app with the French pack downloaded offline is worth its weight.

English	French	Pronunciation
Good morning	Bonjour	bon-ZHOOR
Good evening	Bonsoir	bon-SWAR
How are you?	Ça va?	sa VA
Fine, thanks	Ça va bien, merci	sa va BYAN, mer-SEE
Please	S'il vous plaît	seel voo PLEH
How much is it?	C'est combien?	say kom-BYAN
That's too expensive	C'est trop cher	say tro SHER
Give me a better price (slang)	Fais un prix	fay uhn PREE
Where is the toilet?	Où sont les toilettes?	oo son lay twa-LET
Help!	Au secours!	oh suh-KOOR
Drinking water	De l'eau	duh LOH
White foreigner (slang)	Yovo	YO-vo
Motorbike taxi (slang)	Zémidjan	zay-mee-JAHN
Thank you (in Ewe)	Akpé	ak-PAY
No problem	Pas de problème	pa duh pro-BLEM
Goodbye	Au revoir	oh ruh-VWAR
I don't understand	Je ne comprends pas	zhuh nuh kom-PRON pa
Let's go!	On y va!	on ee VA
Small change	La monnaie	la mo-NAY
My friend	Mon ami	mon a-MEE

Paperwork: Carry paper photocopies of your passport, entry permit and vaccination certificate at all times. At the frequent road checks it is better to hand over copies and keep originals in a hotel safe or deep in a locked bag.

Medical kit: Pack a full kit including antibiotics, rehydration salts and something that reliably brings a fever down. Specific medicines can be impossible to find outside Lomé, and the quality of what village shops sell is often questionable.

Power: Bring a serious power bank, because rolling blackouts happen regularly across the country. Sockets are the European type, but voltage swings badly, so a surge protector is not a wasted item in your bag.

Clothing: Loose cotton or linen works best, drying fast and keeping the sun off. Pack a long-sleeved shirt for evenings; it is your simplest defence against malarial mosquitoes and the surprising night chill up north.

In an emergency: Save your embassy or nearest consulate covering Togo in your phone before you go, along with the address of a trusted private clinic in Lomé. Having both to hand saves hours and gets your insurance moving faster.

Small gifts: Little souvenirs from home, badges or good postcards, break the ice fast in villages. Nobody expects it, but the gesture often opens a door and turns a transaction into a long conversation.