Central, Ghana · Africa
Elmina is worth a stop: 20 minutes from Cape Coast, 30km from Kakum National Park Canopy Walkway.
Elmina is in Central, Ghana, with about 34,000 people. The nearest town is Cape Coast, about 12 km away.
Elmina (Fante: Edina) is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region. It is situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, 12.2 km (7.6 mi) west of Cape Coast. Elmina was the first European settlement in West Africa and it has a population of 33,576Read more
people, as of 2013. The current Municipality chief of Elmina is Solomon Ebo Appiah.
When the Portuguese, after first coming in contact with the Gold Coast struck an agreement with the King of Elmina to build the São Jorge da Mina Castle in the 1470s, the settlement grew to become an important centre of commerce and trade in the region. Nowadays, Elmina shows strong influence from Europe in its culture and people.
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Discover famous landmarks, scenic roads, and more near Elmina.
Within an hour or so of Elmina: Cape Coast Castle (12 km), Kakum National Park Canopy Walkway (30 km).
Elmina is in Central, Ghana, about 12 km from Cape Coast.
Road trip
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Places within a drive of Elmina. Keep the ones you like and add them to your trip.
2 notable places within an hour's drive.
castle
A whitewashed Atlantic fort begun by the Swedes in 1653 and expanded by the British, holding the dungeons through which enslaved people passed to the Door of No Return. Now a UNESCO site and museum above the fishing beach.
12 km · about 25 min drive
national park
Seven rope-and-plank bridges strung between emergent trees roughly 40 m above the rainforest floor, opened in 1995 and one of very few canopy walks in Africa. Half an hour inland from Cape Coast.
30 km · about 35 min drive
Year-round
Tropical latitude: plan around the wet season rather than temperature.
Other places to explore near Elmina.
Your trip starts here
Pick the days, drop in the stops, and share it with whoever's coming.
![View of the fort and the roadstead at Elmina.
Title in the Leupe catalogue (NA): Afbeelding van het Kasteel d'Elmina en het fort St. Jago, benevens de gelande troepen en eene Vloot op de reede.
[?] van n' gesigt.
On the shore Dutch troops who have landed are shown battling with Ghanaians. The fort is still in Portuguese hands. This may be a depiction of the expedition headed by Jan Dirckszoon Lam in 1625. In 1637 the fort was to fall into Dutch hands.
Strips of Japanese paper have been pasted along the edges of the picture.
Notes on reverse: Afbeelding van het Kasteel d'Elmina en het fort St. Jago, benevens de gelande troepen en eene vloot op de reede [in pencil] / Hans Propheet, 1629 [in pencil] / 468 [stamped in bold on a small label].
Notes in the Leupe catalogue (NA): De vloot op de reede leggende, bestaat uit 19 schepen.
Top right: Mc: sc[?] / Hans Propheet.
Top left and bottom right, twice: 771 [in pencil].](https://prod-images.planyourroadtrips.com/img/city-images/elmina-gh-50847--13509/0-AMH-7708-NA_View_of_the_fort_and_the_roadstead_at_Elmina.jpg?w=1080&q=80&f=webp)
