Kumasi makes a fine base for excursions into the Ashanti hinterland. Bonwire is the classic kente-weaving village, half an hour northeast — go early, watch the looms in action, buy directly. Lake Bosumtwi, a sacred crater lake an hour south, is the place to swim, hire a wooden plank-boat from local fishermen, and watch a sunset over the rim.
For something darker, the Adanwomase kente village offers a quieter, less commercial alternative to Bonwire, and the Ntonso village further north is the home of adinkra cloth — the symbol-stamped fabric used in funerals across Ghana. All three can be combined into a long single-day loop.