Labe is the unofficial capital of the Fouta Djallon, the great highland plateau that occupies much of central Guinea. With a population of around 300,000, it is Guinea's third-largest city and the main commercial hub for the highland region — a transit point for travellers heading to Guinea-Bissau, a market town for Fulani farmers and herders from across the plateau, and a base for exploring some of West Africa's most distinctive highland scenery.
The town itself is spread across a gentle hill, with a busy centre around the grand market, where indigo-dyed cloth and hand-worked leather goods made in the Fouta Djallon tradition are sold alongside fresh produce and everyday goods. The old quarter retains some colonial-era buildings and the atmosphere of a town that has been an important administrative centre for over two centuries — first as part of the Fulani theocratic state, then under French colonial rule.
The real attraction of Labe is the highland landscape around it: rounded plateau hills with views into deep river valleys, waterfalls cutting off the plateau edge, and a cooler climate that makes outdoor activity genuinely pleasant. Saala Falls are the most accessible from town. For serious hikers, Mount Loura to the north and the full trail network of the Fouta Djallon offer days of walking through landscape that sees very few foreign visitors.