Cape Coast is the historical heart of Ghana and the place most visitors find hardest to forget. The town is dominated by Cape Coast Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that served as one of the main holding points for enslaved Africans before they were shipped across the Atlantic. A guided tour through the dungeons and out through the Door of No Return is devastating and essential, and the West African Historical Museum on the upper floor is one of the best small museums in the region.
The town itself is a busy, compact place with a lively fishing harbour tucked right beside the castle walls, a university, and good restaurants and bars catering to both locals and visitors. The hills above town have two more old British forts — the Fort William Lighthouse and Fort Victoria — both giving panoramic views over the bay. Cape Coast is smaller and more manageable than Accra, and many travelers prefer to base themselves here while exploring the coast.
Kakum National Park, with its famous canopy walkway, is just a 30-minute drive north. Elmina and its castle are 15 km to the west. If you can time a visit for early September, the Oguaa Fetu Afahye festival fills the streets with Fante chiefs in palanquins, asafo company flags, and a week of drumming and procession. You could spend several days in Cape Coast without running out of things to see.