Brazzaville rewards walking. The riverside area along the Congo offers views across to Kinshasa's skyline, and the contrast between the two capitals — one chaotic and enormous, the other calm and human-scaled — is immediately apparent from the embankment.
The Basilique Sainte-Anne is the most striking building in the city. The neighbourhood of Poto-Poto is the cultural heart, with an art school that has produced painters whose work now hangs in international collections. The markets at Ouénzé and Moungali offer the full texture of daily Congolese life without the hassle that comes with more tourist-oriented attractions.
For history, the National Museum near the river traces Congo's colonial and post-colonial story, including the remarkable episode when Brazzaville became the capital of Free France after 1940. The de Gaulle house is close by.