 | Flytrippers cofounder |
I spent 23 days in Côte d’Ivoire with my girlfriend back in April 2024. We started in Grand-Bassam, having arrived overland from Ghana, and then spent most of our time in Abidjan, the country’s largest city. Often called Ivory Coast in English, it’s an overlooked country worth discovering.
This was part of a long trip (4 months) in West Africa, a very unique region of Africa. I wanted to share a bit of content from this less touristy continent.
I’ve been sharing many trip overview posts recently, from all over the world. Flytrippers aims to help you travel for less through our 3 types of content, namely flight deals, travel rewards, and tips/inspiration/news.
Here’s the overview of my trip to Côte d’Ivoire.
Reason for my trip to Côte d’Ivoire
I’m sharing why I did this trip, to get straight to the point.
Here are the 2 main reasons:
- Explore Côte d’Ivoire
- Slow down in a nicer city
Explore Côte d’Ivoire
Our initial plan was to go from Nigeria all the way to Morocco entirely overland. We wanted to visit every coastal country in West Africa, as part of our quest to visit every country in the world.
About 2 months in, we realized we needed more time to do it right. So we slowed down and started exploring more in depth. Côte d’Ivoire ended up being the last country of that first stretch. It was country #89 for me on the UN 193 list.
We still have Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau left. We have to go back to finish those 4. We went back to Senegal later that year and went up to Morocco from there.
In terms of logistics, we got our visas for Côte d’Ivoire (and Mali, where we were going next) right before in Accra. At the time, you were supposed to apply in your home country, so we got a Ghana residence card first to be allowed to apply there.
Slow down in a nicer city
Ghana was a more intense and adventurous stretch, and the power situation there was particularly rough: lots of outages, some for multiple days, with no air conditioning or fan on those 35°C+ nights, and sometimes no water.
We needed a little break from that.
Abidjan was a nicer bigger city to slow down in before another intense bit in Mali after. We splurged a little on a nice apartment in the Riviera neighborhood so we could stay put and catch up on work after Ghana.
It was quiet and spacious, the Wi-Fi was always reliable, and we never had any power issues. We also had a 3-day 2-night stay in a luxury hotel to redeem some of our Marriott Bonvoy free night certificates. I wrote a review of the La Maison Palmier hotel.
Itinerary of my trip to Côte d’Ivoire
I’m sharing the general itinerary of my trip, to give you the outline of the destinations I visited (maybe you saw them on my Instagram stories if you follow me).
Here’s my itinerary on a map.
We arrived overland from Ghana, and after Abidjan, we flew to Bamako in Mali, our last African stop before our summer in Europe (including in our favorite affordable mountain spot, Bansko).
This trip lasted 23 days in April 2024.
Here are the destinations I visited during my trip:
- Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮
- 4 nights
- Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮
- 18 nights
Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮
We took a taxi from our hotel in Ghana to the border, cleared Ghana exit immigration, walked across a long border bridge, then cleared Côte d’Ivoire entry immigration.
We hopped in a shared taxi toward Grand-Bassam and got a Yango (a Uber-like local service) from the taxi drop-off to our Airbnb.
Grand-Bassam is a smaller historic town on the coast, on the way in from the Ghana border.
We walked the historic streets, and we did a day trip to Assinie-Mafia for the beach and a boat tour in Îles Ehotilé National Park.
A funny sight after so long in tropical climates was one of the villas we saw driving there. It had a big Montreal Canadiens sign on the wall!
The beach was nice and not too crowded.
The boat tour we did in the National Park was pretty interesting too.
The stay there was a lot shorter, and the town itself is smaller. I liked Abidjan better.
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮
Abidjan is Côte d’Ivoire’s main city, with about 6.3 million people living there (similar to Toronto). It’s on a lagoon, and it reminded me a bit of Sydney with the water and bridges.
We stayed 2 nights at La Maison Palmier, a Member of Design Hotels, and then 16 nights in our Riviera apartment.
The luxury hotel stay was a good redemption of 2 of our 35,000-point Marriott Bonvoy free night certificates.
After 3 months of traveling in all sorts of places in West Africa, it was an amazing experience! I wrote a more in-depth review of the La Maison Palmier hotel too.
Now is the best time to finally get an extra annual certificate if you don’t already have both, with the rare record-high Marriott Bonvoy welcome bonus deals that are back until September 22, 2026.
That stay is a good example of why every Canadian traveler should have at least 2 annual certificates from the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card (available even if you don’t have an incorporated business)… or 4 in 2-player mode as we do.
|
Best credit cards for Marriott points |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
 Valuation (BONUS)(≈ 19.6% back on $6k)
Rewards: ≈ $1293
Card fee: $120 (≈ 19.6% back on $6k)
Rewards: ≈ $1293
Card fee: $120
Spend required:
$6k in 6 mos. spend $6k in 6 mos. &
make 1 purchase in month 15 Best for: 122,000 pts after welcome bonus
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)(≈ 11.9% back on $10k)
Rewards: ≈ $1335
Card fee: $150 (≈ 11.9% back on $10k)
Rewards: ≈ $1335
Card fee: $150
Spend required:
$10k in 6 mos. spend $10k in 6 mos. &
make 1 purchase in month 15 Best for: 130,000 pts after welcome bonus
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. |
Each card gives you one of these certificates every year after the first renewal. Caroline and I each have both cards, which is what all Canadian couples who like to travel should do as well.
As for the city, you can see Tour F going up. It is meant to be the tallest tower in Africa once it is finished.
We walked around downtown, went to the local market, and saw the Pyramid, this old funny-looking building.
We also hiked in Parc National du Banco.
We participated in Abidjan Restaurant Week and discovered many nice local restaurants.
We also learned how to cook our own alloco (fried ripe plantain), and the grilled chicken was great.
Everyone speaks French here, which made it very easy for me. In our neighborhood, it was safe to walk around at any time.
Around town, we used Yango and Bolt most of the time.
Like the other countries that use the West African franc, Côte d’Ivoire was more expensive than Ghana, especially for food.
There is still a lot to see, and I would gladly base myself in Abidjan again.
Learning how to travel for less
Join over 150,000 savvy Canadian travelers who already receive Flytrippers’ free newsletter so we can help you travel for less (and inspire you, too)!
Sign up for our free newsletter
Sign up for our newsletter
Summary
We spent 23 days in Côte d’Ivoire after coming overland from Ghana. We started in Grand-Bassam, then slowed down in Abidjan, including 2 nights at La Maison Palmier, a Member of Design Hotels, thanks to Marriott Bonvoy free night certificates. I would for sure come back to this country again.
What would you like to know about my trip to Côte d’Ivoire? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Côte d’Ivoire (photo credit: Kevin Gagnon/Flytrippers)
