Guinea
Conakry
Guinea's loud, music-mad capital on a sliver of peninsula, and the way in to the Îles de Los and the Fouta Djallon highlands.
Conakry is Guinea's capital and main port, a long, crowded city strung out along the narrow Kaloum Peninsula into the Atlantic, with its colonial-era centre on the tip. Few tourists come and it has no single showpiece: its draws are the Grand Mosque, the sprawling Madina market, a national museum of masks and instruments, and some of the best live music and drumming in West Africa. Boats run out to the beaches of the Îles de Los, and the road inland climbs towards the waterfalls and plateaus of the Fouta Djallon.
Suggested stay
2–4 days
Language
French
Currency
GNF
Timezone
UTC
Why you'll love Conakry
Music The city of the independence-era state orchestras and national ballets still teems with djembe drummers, kora and balafon players, and dance troupes who teach visiting students.
Markets Madina is one of the biggest markets in West Africa, a maze of wax prints, indigo cloth, spices, dried fish and hardware that seems to have no end.
The islands The Îles de Los lie a short boat ride offshore, with sandy coves, fishing villages and forest that feel a world away from the city's traffic.
1958: Here Sékou Touré told de Gaulle that Guinea preferred poverty in freedom to riches in slavery, weeks before it became the only French territory to vote for independence.
Best time to visit
Nov-Apr
31-32° days
9.517° N, 13.700° W
UTC · Africa/Conakry
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Weather & when to go to Conakry
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Nov-Apr
Watch for Jun-Oct monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Conakry
June to October is the rainy season, and Conakry is one of the wettest capitals on earth: July and August bring near-daily torrential rain, flooded streets and even worse traffic. May turns heavy and humid as the rains approach. From November to April it is dry, hot and sunny, with Harmattan dust hazing the sky around the turn of the year.
Top things to do in Conakry
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Grand Mosque and Camayenne Mausoleum - the city's landmark
culture arts history 👍 PopularOne of the largest mosques in West Africa, built with Saudi money, rises over gardens in Camayenne. Beside it, the Camayenne Mausoleum holds the tombs of Samori Touré and Alfa Yaya Diallo, leaders of the resistance to French conquest, and of Sékou Touré, the first president. Dress modestly and ask at the gate before going in.
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Madina market - West Africa's great bazaar
shopping culture arts 👍 PopularThe commercial heart of the city, a vast market of cloth and wax prints, indigo-dyed fabric, spices, dried and smoked fish, second-hand clothes, hardware and phone stalls, packed into lanes that seem to go on forever. Go in the morning, ideally with a local companion, keep valuables tucked away and expect the traffic around it to crawl.
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Îles de Los - beaches a boat ride offshore
nature wildlife scenic 👍 PopularA chain of islands a short boat ride from the port at Boulbinet, and the city's weekend escape. Kassa, the closest, and Roume, with its sandy coves and forest, are where people go to swim and eat grilled fish on the sand. Tamara, the largest, is quieter and more lived-in, with fishing villages along its shore.
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Live music nights - Guinea's bands and griots
nightlife music culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedGuinean music runs from griots singing over kora and balafon, through the dance-band sound of the independence era, to today's afropop and hip-hop. Live sets turn up in bars, hotel terraces and cultural centres, busiest at weekends, and the Centre Culturel Franco-Guinéen hosts regular concerts. Ask locally what is on that week.
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Djembe and dance lessons - learn from Guinean masters
culture arts nightlife musicGuinea's drumming and dance traditions, carried around the world by its national ballets, draw students to Conakry for lessons and longer study stays. Classes can be arranged by the hour or over weeks, often in a family compound with a full percussion ensemble. Go through a known teacher or school rather than a street approach.
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Musée National - masks of the coast and forest
culture arts historyA small national museum in the Sandervalia quarter of Kaloum and the best primer on the country's cultures: ritual masks and statues from the Baga coast and the forest region, drums, balafons and koras, and traditional dress. The displays are modest and labelling thin, so a guide adds a great deal.
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Kaloum and Boulbinet - the old centre on foot
history culture artsThe original town at the tip of the peninsula holds the ministries, the Catholic cathedral of Sainte-Marie and the busy fishing port at Boulbinet, where painted pirogues land their catch and women smoke fish along the shore. Walk it in the morning, and keep the camera away from government buildings and soldiers.
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Sauce feuille and grilled fish - eat Guinean
foodRice with a sauce is the everyday meal: sauce feuille of pounded cassava leaves, sauce arachide with peanuts and sauce gombo with okra. In the evenings grilled fish and brochettes come off roadside grills, fonio from the Fouta Djallon turns up as a light grain dish, and ginger juice and bissap are the drinks to order.
Best areas to stay in Conakry
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Kaloum
Business and sightseeing $$Old colonial centre on the peninsula tip
Explore hotels in Kaloum →
Camayenne
Comfort on the coast $$$Seafront hotels near the Grand Mosque
Explore hotels in Camayenne →
Kipé
Longer stays $$Residential northern suburb favoured by expats
Explore hotels in Kipé →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Conakry
Getting to & around Conakry
Getting there
Fly into Conakry International at Gbessia, on the peninsula itself, usually connecting through Europe or another West African hub.
Flight
Conakry International Airport (Gbessia) (CKY)
The airport sits in Gbessia, about 15 km up the peninsula from Kaloum. Hotel pickups and taxis take from 30 minutes to well over an hour depending on traffic, so arrange a pickup for a late arrival.
Drive
From Freetown, shared taxis and buses run north to the Pamelap border crossing and on to Conakry on a paved road. Allow most of a day.
Drive
Overland from Senegal and Mali, bush taxis come through the Fouta Djallon or Upper Guinea on long days over rough roads before descending to the coast.
Getting around
Taxi
Shared taxis run fixed routes along the main roads, picking up along the way; hire one outright for a direct trip. Agree the fare before getting in.
TBC
Moto-taxi
Motorbike taxis weave through the jams and are often the fastest way across town, but helmets are rare and accidents common.
TBC
Car with driver
Hiring a car and driver by the day, through a hotel or agency, is the easiest way to cover the long peninsula and reach day trips.
TBC
Boat
Boats to the Îles de Los leave from Boulbinet in Kaloum. Pick one with life jackets and skip the crossing in rough weather.
TBC
Day trips from Conakry
Îles de Los
Full dayIsland beaches
The classic escape from the city: a boat from Kaloum to Kassa or Roume for sandy coves, swimming, forest walks and grilled fish on the beach, or out to Tamara, the largest and quietest island, with fishing villages along its shore.
Getting there
ferry
Under an hour by boat from Boulbinet port
Kindia and the Voile de la Mariée
Full dayMarket town and waterfall
Kindia, a market town ringed by fruit plantations at the foot of the hills, is the first stop inland on the road to the Fouta Djallon. Nearby, the Voile de la Mariée, the Bride's Veil, spills down a rock face into a pool, a favourite weekend outing. The falls run strongest after the rains.
Getting there
car
About 3 hours inland by road each way, more in city traffic
Fouta Djallon
2 daysHighland plateaus and waterfalls
The cooler sandstone highlands where the Niger, Senegal and Gambia rivers rise, with waterfalls, gorges and Fula villages around Dalaba, Pita and Labé. Two days only scratches the surface, but it is the trip that shows why travellers come to Guinea.
Getting there
car
Most of a day by road each way via Kindia and Mamou, by bush taxi or with a driver
A little history of Conakry
Conakry began as a pair of fishing villages on Tombo Island, just off the tip of the Kaloum Peninsula, in the country of the Baga and Susu peoples. The island passed to France in the 1880s, and the French built it up as the capital and port of their colony of Guinea, laying out a planned town and running a railway inland to Kankan on the Niger in the early 1900s. The Îles de Los offshore stayed British until 1904.
In August 1958 Sékou Touré told a visiting Charles de Gaulle that Guinea preferred poverty in freedom to riches in slavery, and in September Guinea became the only French territory to vote No in the referendum on the French Community. Independence followed at once, France withdrew abruptly, and Touré ruled a one-party state from Conakry for 26 years. His government sponsored national orchestras and ballet companies, and held political prisoners at Camp Boiro in the city. Touré died in 1984, and the army took power days later.
Tombo Island and its fishing villages pass to France, which builds a colonial port town on it.
Britain cedes the Îles de Los to France under the Entente Cordiale.
Sékou Touré tells Charles de Gaulle in Conakry that Guinea prefers poverty in freedom to riches in slavery.
Guinea votes No in the referendum on 28 September and declares independence on 2 October, with Conakry as its capital.
A Portuguese seaborne raid on Conakry frees Portuguese prisoners of war but fails to overthrow Sékou Touré.
Sékou Touré dies, and days later the army under Lansana Conté takes power.
Know before you go
Payment
Cash only
English
Rare
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+224
Bring cash. Foreign cards and ATMs are unreliable to unusable here, so plan on carrying what the trip needs and changing money on arrival.
Monsoon flooding risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Conakry
▸ When is the best time to visit Conakry?
November to April is the dry season and the best time: hot, sunny and rainless, with Harmattan dust hazing the sky around the turn of the year. May grows sticky as the rains approach. June to October is the rainy season, and Conakry is one of the wettest capitals on earth: July and August bring near-constant downpours, flooded streets and gridlocked roads.
▸ How many days do I need in Conakry?
Two or three days cover the city: the Grand Mosque and mausoleum, Madina market, the National Museum and the fishing port at Boulbinet, plus a night of live music. Add a day on the Îles de Los, and more time for Kindia and its waterfall or the road into the Fouta Djallon.
▸ Is Conakry safe for visitors?
Most visits pass without trouble with normal big-city care: pickpockets work the crowded markets, and taxis are safer than walking after dark. Police and army checkpoints are common, so carry your passport or a copy. Do not photograph government buildings, soldiers, the port or the airport. Political demonstrations can close roads and shut shops at short notice; avoid gatherings and check your own government's current advice.
▸ What language is spoken in Conakry?
French is the official language, used in government, business and on signs. On the street Susu is the everyday language of Conakry, while Pular and Maninka are widely spoken by people from the Fouta Djallon and Upper Guinea. English is not widely spoken, so some French goes a long way.
▸ Is Conakry expensive?
It depends what you buy. Hotels are dear for the standard, because demand from mining, aid and business travellers keeps rates high. Street food, markets and shared taxis are cheap. Guinea runs largely on cash, cards are accepted mainly in the bigger hotels and cash machines can be unreliable, so carry enough cash for your stay.