Top 10 Places to Visit in Guinea

The small country of Guinea is described as the hidden gem of Africa, with its stunning landscapes and real gems, so we had to list the top 10 places to visit in Guinea.

The landscape of Guinea is a mixture of all of West Africa to the north. It includes the Upper Guinean plains covered with shrubby savanna vegetation with small forest islands in the northwest.

It also offers great views of the valleys and chalets to the southeast.

In addition, Guinea has dense forests containing valuable woods such as:  Mahogany, making it an unparalleled tourist destination.

This great slab on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, promising adventure and solitude, is a separate world, unknown and truly beautiful!

Let's explore Best Places to Visit in Guinea :

Top 10 Places to Visit in Guinea:

1. Conakry – the capital and largest city of Guinea

Pulsing with a very African rhythm with a mix of markets, diving and Malinké music, Conakry is everything you would expect from a capital city representing one of West Africa's most chaotic countries.

Coups and counter-coups have raged (often bloodily) through its streets for decades, and in the heart of the city remain the haunting remains of Camp Boiro, where political prisoners were tortured during the unrest under President Sékou Touré.

However, beautiful and important landmarks such as St. Mary's Cathedral and the National Museum of Guinea do a good job of balancing it all out these days.

Conakry – the capital and largest city of Guinea

Conakry – the capital and largest city of Guinea

2. Iles de Los Islands – A magical archipelago and a must-visit in Guinea

The Iles de Los islands lie just off the coast of Conakry's vibrant city streets.

Stretching over the islands of Tamara, Rumi and Kassa (along with a few additional smaller islands), the archipelago is a place of sloping golden sands, mangroves, slender palm trees and the salty foam of the Atlantic Ocean.

Some of the best beaches line the coastal stretches of Ile de Rhum and Casa, with a few resort hotels on offer, and easy access from the capital's docks by boat.

Beach in Ile de Los Islands

3. Upper Niger National Park – the most attractive in Guinea

It dominates a huge area of 6,000 square kilometres in central-eastern Guinea.

Spanning a vast area of riverine forests, savannah, winding rivers and mountain forests, it is home to some of the country's only remaining dry forests.

Among the tree branches and canopies, the reserve hides chimpanzees, Gambian mongooses, rare West African manatees and the curious giant pangolin.

For wildlife lovers, it is definitely the biggest attraction in the country!

A herd of elephants in the Upper Niger National Park.

Read also: Africa and its most beautiful and unusual national parks

4. Fouta Djallon Highlands – One of the most beautiful and best places to visit in Guinea

A carpet of green, broken only by jagged, rocky outcrops of ancient sandstone rocks, weathered and eroded by century after century of attrition, covers the vast expanse known as Fouta Djallon.

This verdant landscape in the heart of Guinea, with its jungle-clad valleys and lichen-dotted rocks, has a reputation as one of the most beautiful places in the country.

Waterfalls in the Fouta Djallon Highlands

Kambadaga Falls in the Fouta Djallon Highlands

5. Mount Nimba – Top 10 Places to Visit in Guinea

Straddling the tri-border between Guinea, Ivory Coast and Liberia in the far southeast of the country, Mount Nimba represents the highest point in the wild and rugged Nimba Mountains.

It arches like a great grass-clad spine from the rolling fields of the swaying savannah that surrounds it, with green highland meadows and green prairies often far above the clouds.

Today, the entire area is an eco-tourist’s dream come true. It comes complete with a UNESCO label that aims to protect all other endangered species such as: the live frog, duiker, zebra, pygmy hippopotamus – the list goes on!

Mount Nimba

6. Cape Verde Island – The Caribbean Version of Guinea Beaches

You may just have to pinch yourself to remember you're in West Africa, but that's okay, because you'll almost have the beaches of Soban and Bel Air almost entirely empty; except for the seagulls, and the ancient, salt-sprinkled granite boulders.

Beach on Cape Verde Island

7. Kindia City – One of the best experiences in Guinea

A short drive across the West African savannah from the vibrant capital of Conakry, the small rural retreat of Kindia offers a respite from the urban strife of Guinea's coast.

Head to the small county town of low-rise cottages and thatched hamlets to experience the everyday feelings of rural life.

You can taste fou fou bread in delicious okra sauce, wander around the market and even venture out to the outskirts of the Fouta Dalon area, where the waterfalls Foil of the Mare Carving the rocks into two parts.

Waterfalls of the Voile de la Mare in Kindia

8. Boké City – Represents Guinea’s Dark Past

In fact, Bouquet was a thriving town in the dark and gloomy years of the European slave trade in West Africa.

Along the ports and wharves, all lining the cliffs of the Rio Nunez, thousands of caravans of human cargo once departed for the Atlantic coast a little further west.

Today, the profound reality of this past can still be seen at the Bouquet Museum, which does a good job of chronicling the lives and plight of slaves captured during that era.

Bouquet Museum

Cottages in Bouquet

9. Dobrica City – Don’t miss visiting this wonderful city

Along the inlets of the Gulf of Sangaria and the winding water channels, and the vast expanses of mangrove swamps that flow into the Atlantic Ocean in this part of the country, little Dubreka offers an interesting glimpse into rural life in Guinea.

However, with the great mountains looming overhead, it's easy to see that the natural side of things is the city's biggest draw.

Certainly, nothing can compete with the roaring waterfalls. Cascade of La Sumba Beautiful, falling and crashing over a series of rocky cliffs near the center.

City of Dubrica

Cascade de la Sumba waterfalls in Dubreka

10. Ziama Massif Reserve – Top 10 Places to Visit in Guinea

The Massif du Ziama, a seemingly endless expanse of greenery that occupies the deep southern reaches of eastern Guinea, is one of the country's most important reserves.

They are dense, misty expanses of dabima and pacu trees, inhabited by crocodiles and turtles, not to mention some of the most remote human tribes in Guinea.

The 1,000 square kilometre area of the Ziama Forest on the plateau has been designated a biosphere by UNESCO, and is of particular interest to conservationists.

Ziama Massif Reserve

Read also:

Most visited countries in Africa

Amazing pictures showing the beauty of the African continent