The historic centre of Freetown is small enough to walk in an afternoon — the Cotton Tree, the National Museum, the old slave-emancipation buildings on Tower Hill, and the colonial churches all sit within a few blocks of each other. Add the extraordinary National Railway Museum at Cline Town, the chimpanzee sanctuary up at Regent, and the long sweep of the peninsula beaches and you have several days of substantial sightseeing.
Plan around the traffic — the steep hills and single coast road make journeys far longer than the distances suggest. Mornings are best for the centre, late afternoons for the beaches, and Saturday is usually quieter than weekdays.