Abidjan is the obvious starting point. It is one of the great West African cities — messy, loud, and genuinely cosmopolitan. The business towers of Le Plateau face the lagoon; across the water, Treichville and Adjamé are dense and alive. Read more.
Grand Bassam was Côte d'Ivoire's first French colonial capital, abandoned after a yellow fever epidemic in 1899. The old town on a lagoon island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, full of crumbling administrative buildings, a good market, and a long beach. It makes a perfect day trip from Abidjan or an overnight stop. Read more.
Yamoussoukro is the official capital — a strange city of empty boulevards, oversized government buildings, and Felix Houphouët-Boigny's extraordinary Basilique de Notre Dame de la Paix, a near-replica of St Peter's in Rome, set incongruously in the central Ivorian savanna. Love it or find it absurd, it's unforgettable. The presidential palace comes with a crocodile pond. Read more.
Man and the West — The lush hills around Man are the best destination in the country for those willing to get off the main roads. Villages like Biankouma, Gouessesso, and Tieni-Siabli offer traditional life, good hiking, and genuine warmth from the Dan (Yacouba) people. Sunday markets in the area are worth planning your itinerary around.
Taï National Park is one of the last remaining areas of primary tropical rainforest in West Africa and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It protects chimpanzees, pygmy hippos, duikers, and over 1,000 plant species. Getting there requires planning — access is from the town of Taï — but the forest is extraordinary.
Comoé National Park in the northeast is another UNESCO site, one of the largest protected areas in West Africa, covering diverse ecosystems from gallery forest to savanna. It was badly poached during the years of civil conflict but has been recovering. It is remote and requires a guide.