Getting in and visas for Ghana

While visas on arrival are supposed to be available for visitors from countries without Ghanaian embassies or consulates, in practice this works spottily if at all and some travellers have not been able to even board the plane without a visa. It's thus best to play it safe and get a visa in advance. Travelers that are staying longer than their entry visa (a maximum of 30 or 60 days are usually granted for tourists) are advised to bring their passport for visa extension to Immigration Service early and expect delays in getting their passports back. Two weeks are provided as the guideline for processing time, but this can often take much longer. If you don't want to go through the hassle of Immigration Service, you may consider going to Togo and back to get a visa stamp at the border.

By plane

All International flights are through Kotoka International airport at Accra, it is very central and there are always lots of taxis available, a taxi ride anywhere in the city shouldn't cost more than 40,000 cedis (August 2006)eqv of $4.35. North American Airlines flies non-stop once a week from New York City (JFK) and Baltimore (BWI) through May 20th, 2008. Delta Air Lines serves Accra from New York City (JFK) with four flights per week. British Airways flies from London Heathrow, and Ghana International Airlines and Astraeus fly from London Gatwick. The Royal Dutch airlines (KLM) flies daily from Schiphol, Amsterdam. Lufthansa and Alitalia maintain daily direct flights from Frankfurt and Milan respectively, with a short stop in Lagos, Nigeria. Emirates flies daily non-stop from Dubai in the Middle East (with connections to Asia and the Far East). Ethiopian Airlines flies four weekly non-stops from Addis Ababa (with stopover, you can visit another African country). Also, South African Airways flies four times a week non-stop from Johannesburg -- though this will involve substantial backtracking (an extra 10,000 km each way!) unless you live in Australia or somewhere down under. If coming from Brazil or nearby, the flight from Rio to Luanda, Angola on Angola Airlines would be the shortest. From there, you can go non-stop to Accra. The lowest fares to Ghana outside of Africa are usually from London, but that doesn't necessarily mean British Airways is the cheapest (i.e. a transfer inside continental Europe may be required). Those living in North America might be able to save by getting a cheap ticket to London from their home country. (Beware that there are two separate international airports, Gatwick and Heathrow, and allow lots of connection time.)

By train

No international rail connections exist.

By car

The border at Aflao with Togo is an entertaining scene. It appears very disorderly and human traffic seems to flow freely. However it is unlikely that a white person can pass through without all the formalities. The process of filling out forms and checking visas can take quite a while for non-diplomats. Soldiers on the Togo side are likely to ask for a bribe but need not be paid if all of your documents are in order. Border officials on the Ghanaian side in contrast are much more difficult to bribe. A visa into Ghana can be bought at the border at double the normal cost (because of the speedy delivery) for some GH₵110. The border with Cote d'Ivoire at Elubo takes less time to cross but Ivorian guards seem much more keen on the rules. By bus: Ghana's national bus company, Metro Mass Company, run services within the capital city, Accra, and within other regions in Ghana. STC run bus services to & from cities within Ghana and some nearby countries. ABC Transport [2], based in Nigeria has a daily air conditioned bus to Lagos for about GH₵45.

By boat