Travel to Benin

Voodoo culture, ethnic groups, body modifications and peculiar constructions

Trips

Upcoming trips to Benin

If you prefer other dates or your own route, we design a tailor-made itinerary through Benin. Tell us about your interests in the form on this page and our team will suggest a route.

Plan your tailor-made trip

The Republic of Benin is a small country of great contrasts, full of ethnic and cultural diversity. In the south, the Atlantic coast, where the two big cities are located. Not far away is the city of Ganvie, whose peculiarity is that it is built on Lake Nokue. In the west, we find Ouidah, an old port of "export" of slaves and current capital of Voodoo.
In the interior of the country we find Abomey, the historic capital of the powerful kingdom of Dahomey, where we can find a set of World Heritage royal palaces, and where the greatest number of societies of Voodoo tradition is really concentrated. And further east, the Holi people, an ethnic group that traditionally "dressed" with very colorful tattoos and sharpened their teeth. In Dassa we find its emblematic hills.
The north is Otamari territory, an animist ethnic group with facial scarifications and builders of "tata somba", small "castles" built by hand. In the northern area there are also the Fula or Peulh, the most widespread ethnic group of semi-nomadic cattle breeders in Africa.

Why should you travel to Benin?

Cities with a colonial footprint

The Atlantic coast is home to large cities such as Cotonou, Porto Novo, Ouidah or Ganvie. Cities where the colonial imprint and the mixture of cultures is more than evident.

Tattoos and scarifications

Some women from ethnic groups such as the Fulani, the Ije or Holi, and the Ditamari or Soba still sport complex body tattoos.

Datamarí or Somba man

Epicenter of the Voodoo tradition

Voodoo is the most widespread animist religion in the world, since the slaves took it with them to the "new world" where it adapted and evolved into different branches that still exist, such as Santeria, Candomble...

The monumental complex of the Royal Palaces of Abomey

Abomey is home to the palaces of the historic kingdom of Dahomey. The royal complex was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

Ancestral architecture of the “tata somba”

The Ditamari or Somba are known as adobe artisans, given their great skill in building "tata somba", small two-story castles.

Useful information for travelling to Benin

Download the useful information sheet

Download the Benin fact sheet to access detailed information on the visa, mandatory vaccinations, currency and payment methods available at the destination, weather, reservation policy and travel contracting and more. You just have to fill in the following fields and we will send you the file by email.


    Communications Policy.

    If you want to know more about our communications and data protection policy, please click on this link

    Articles about Benin

    Experiences from other travellers, knowledge from our experts and features on the tribes and landscapes of the country.

    See more articles about Benin