Bobo-Dioulasso is Burkina Faso's second city and by most accounts its most pleasant. Where Ouagadougou is dusty and bureaucratic, Bobo is green, shaded, and unhurried — a city of wide boulevards, busy market squares, and a relaxed atmosphere that makes it easy to linger.
The Grande Mosquée, built in the traditional Sudanese mud-brick style, is the city's most striking sight. The Musée Provincial du Houët occupies a handsome Sudanese-style building and houses both modern African art and traditional crafts. The old Kibidwé district, with its narrow lanes and traditional architecture, is a great area to wander on foot. Nearby, the sacred catfish pools at Dafra and the rock village of Koro make easy half-day trips out of town.