Visiting the castles
Hours, fee tiers and how tours actually start at Cape Coast and Elmina castles — walk in, wait for a group, no booking needed.
Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle are walk-in sites: there is no online booking, and none is needed. Buy a ticket at the gate, wait for a group to form, and a guide takes you through. Most visitors pair the two in one day — they are about 15 minutes apart by road.
Fees may be higher than listed
Late August to early September is festival season
Cape Coast Castle
A 1653 fort rebuilt into the British colonial headquarters, now a UNESCO World Heritage museum of the Atlantic slave trade, run by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.
- Open
- Daily, 9:00am–4:30pm
- Quietest
- Weekday mornings — visitors describe a quieter, more reflective atmosphere before the day-trip groups from Accra arrive in the afternoon
- Phone
- +233 3321 32529
- Address
- On the seafront, Cape Coast town centre
- Website
- Official page
Admission
- Ghanaian adult
- GH¢20
- Ghanaian schoolchild (primary–SHS)
- GH¢5–6
- Ghanaian tertiary student or volunteer
- GH¢10 — with ID
- Non-Ghanaian adult
- GH¢80
- Non-Ghanaian student
- GH¢20–60 — primary GH¢20, JHS/SHS GH¢30, tertiary GH¢60 — bring the ID
Amounts are GMMB's published schedule, last reviewed 1 July 2023 and still posted on gmmb.gov.gh in June 2026; the Board has announced a newer revision without publishing figures. The guided tour is included in the ticket. Pay in cedis, in cash, at the gate.
How a visit works
Buy your ticket at the gate. There is no online booking, and none is needed.
A guided tour is included in the ticket. Tours leave when a group has formed — roughly every 30 to 60 minutes on busy days — so expect a short wait.
There are things to see while you wait: the castle houses a museum and a crafts shop.
The tour takes about 45 minutes, through the dungeons, the condemned cell and the Door of No Return.
Good to know
- This is memorial ground and the tour is emotionally heavy. Guides are consistently praised for telling the history with dignity — give it your attention and take the pace they set.
- The castle is also GMMB's regional headquarters for Central and Western Regions; the phone number here is the office to call about group visits or anything out of the ordinary.
Elmina Castle (St George's Castle)
Founded by the Portuguese in 1482 — the oldest European building in sub-Saharan Africa — on the harbour in Elmina, about 15 minutes west of Cape Coast by road.
- Open
- Daily, 9:00am–4:30pm
- Phone
- +233 3321 32529
- Address
- Elmina, beside the fishing harbour
- Website
- Official page
Admission
- Ghanaian adult
- GH¢20
- Ghanaian schoolchild (primary–SHS)
- GH¢5–6
The two castles, side by side
| Cape Coast Castle | Elmina Castle | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1653, by Sweden; rebuilt by the British | 1482, by Portugal; rebuilt by the Dutch |
| Later role | British Gold Coast headquarters and a centre of European education in Ghana | Dutch Gold Coast headquarters until 1872 |
| Hours and fees | 9:00am–4:30pm daily; GMMB fee schedule | Identical — same hours, same schedule |
| Getting there | On the seafront in Cape Coast town centre | About 15 minutes west by road, in Elmina |
| Around the site | Museum and crafts shop inside the castle | Fishing harbour, Fort St Jago and Posuban shrines nearby |