Best time to visit Ghana

October to March is the best time to visit Ghana, when the climate is marginally cooler and less humid, and you'll miss the spring and summer rains. Harmattan – the Saharan wind – blows in from December, which causes haze, dust and very dry skin. Read our guide on when to go to Ghana, with detailed month-by-month information on weather, as well as our top picks from the festivals calendar.

Home\Africa\Ghana

Best time to visit Ghana

Ghana’s location close to the equator means it does not experience huge variations in temperature throughout the year; seasons are instead dictated by rain and wind. The best time to visit Ghana is the dry season, from October to March. Thanks to its largely paved roads, Ghana is one of the easiest West African countries to travel through in the wet season – but rain does make travel less pleasant, and summer is hot and very sticky. Wildlife is easier to spot in Mole National Park when it’s dry, with elephants seen particularly between December and March. Be aware of the arid harmattan wind, though, which blows in from the Sahara from December.

Call us for the best time to go to Ghana

A month by month guide on when to go to Ghana

January in Ghana

Dry weather

Wildlife watching

Low visibility

Dry weather is the norm in Ghana in January – rain is a rarity in the north at this time of year, and the landscape is parched. In Mole National Park wildlife including elephants and hippos congregate around water. Lions are less common, but dry season makes it easier to spot them. The harmattan winds blow sand from the Sahara – pack sunglasses and face scarves.

January is great for our Ghana, Togo and Benin holiday

February in Ghana

Walking

Beach breaks

Hot, dry and sunny

Ghana in February is fantastic for walking, particularly in the south, whether between caves and waterfalls in the mountainous Volta region, or beaches and fishing villages on the coast. February is warm and dry, the Sahara winds dying down, and visibility improves both for walkers and for those catching some rays on gorgeous beaches such as those of Ada Foah.

March in Ghana

Hottest month

Sporadic rain

Peak season ending

March is the hottest month in Ghana. Temperatures nudge 30°C on the south coast but can top 40°C further north. You can feel the rain in the air in Ghana in March, so do expect the occasional shower, especially in central regions, with the north seeing storms of increasing strength and frequency from later in the month. Squalls – short, powerful bursts of wind, are also likely.

April in Ghana

Rains begin

Homowo Festival

Shoulder season

April sees the weather break, but the heaviest rain is yet to come. When it does, getting around by road can be more difficult, but Ghana in April is still good for wildlife, and travel deals. The Ga people of Greater Accra celebrate Homowo, or laughing at hunger, which commemorates a time of famine and seeks to avoid another by placating the gods with many traditional rituals and prayers.

May in Ghana

Low season

Wet and humid

Mosquitos

Ghana in May holds little appeal. This month sees heavy rain throughout the country, particularly in the south. Some intrepid travellers are tempted by the prospect of going north, given that the rains lower temperatures there slightly, but it is also humid, and you’ll encounter plenty of mosquitos. Another strike against May is that some roads may be washed out, impeding travel.

June in Ghana

Accra

Wettest month

Flooding in north

Think lightweight, easy-drying clothes if you travel to Ghana in June. This is the wettest month in Ghana, and one of the worst times to travel. In the north, which is hot and dry for much of the year, flooding is a serious risk. It’s a different picture in the south, which tends to have two wet seasons every year. By late-June it is usually much drier on the coast, making travel perfectly pleasant.

Ghana is one of the only places in West Africa where we go in summer because the rains don’t disrupt travel too much.

– Jim O’Brien, founder of our partner Native Eye

July in Ghana

Panafest (biannual)

Dry in south

Cool(ish) in north

The wet weather briefly relents in southern Ghana in July. The north remains sodden, but with temperatures falling to the low 30s°C travel here is not an unattractive prospect. If venturing to the south, bear in mind that every other year people flock from across the continent and further afield for Panafest, a moving celebration of African culture and a reminder of the historical slave trade.

August in Ghana

Coldest month

Variable weather

Founders’ Day

While it’s rarely cool in Ghana, August is the coolest month of the year, though daytime temperatures in the north still top 30°C. Ghana in August is marked with changeable weather – but generally think hot and dry in the south, wet and slightly milder in the north. August also sees Founders’ Day, commemorating Ghana’s struggle for independence from British colonial rule.

September in Ghana

Harvest festivals

Rains in south

Shoulder season

September can be a good time of year to visit Ghana, especially the north where temperatures are marginally lower than normal. Ghana in September is a shoulder month. It’s not quite the dry season yet, and the south is entering another brief rainy period, but it’s definitely fine to travel. There are fewer tourists around, and a lot of lively harvest festivals taking place around the country.

October in Ghana

Rains slowing

Wildlife viewing

Coffee harvest

October is a good time to visit Ghana. It’s drying out in the south, and the rains are also slowing in northern and central regions. Ghana in October is popular for wildlife watching, and there are lots of migratory birds around. But it’s also a great month for cultural tours – coffee plantations are in harvest, and rural communities are full of life.

October is a great for our cultural history holiday

November in Ghana

High and dry season

Harmattan winds

Hogbetsotso Festival

Ghana in November is distinguished by the harmattan winds that blow south from the Sahara and continue until March. They can cool things down a little, but they can also result in tickly throats and itchy eyes, as well as poor visibility which inhibits photography and can even delay flights. This is the dry season, though, and November is a great time to travel to Ghana especially for wildlife watching.

December in Ghana

AfroFuture Festival

Mole National Park

Busy hotels

December is a good time to visit Ghana, with fewer mosquitos and sunny weather. Accra sees temperatures around 32°C as it hosts the vibrant AfroFuture Festival – dress to impress. And as Christmas approaches, many Ghanaians visit from abroad. Hotels and flights are busy, but with festive celebrations around the country Ghana in December has much to offer cultural travellers.

Call us for the best time to go to Ghana

Ghana Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

102

MAY

140

JUN

202

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

Contact Us

Call us for a chat about our holidays. We are happy to discuss your holiday and help in any way we can. No bots, queues or awful hold music.

01273 823 700 01273 823 700

Call us until 6pm

Calling from outside the UK

rosy@responsibletravel.com

Best times to visit Ghana for festivals & events

Akwasidae (every sixth Sunday)

Held by the Ashanti people every six weeks to honour their ancestors, the Akwasidae Festival is a colourful and inclusive celebration where tourists are very welcome. The Ashanti king is present, along with his chiefs, and before meeting with them he takes part in an impressive parade, with drumming, dancing, horns and singing. The king’s Golden Stool also plays a key role – as the festival commemorates the day it was brought down from heaven.

Aboakyer Festival (May)

The Aboakyer Festival commemorates the migration of the Efutu and Winneba peoples to Ghana, and their resilience and togetherness in overcoming the challenge. There is feasting, drumming and dancing, but the focal point of the celebrations is a ceremonial deer hunt through the forests, with participants competing against each other, and dressed colourfully in traditional attire.

Enjoy the Aboakyer Festival, as well as the Awakudae and Dipo festivals, with our Festivals of Ghana tour

Panafest (July; biannual)

Panafest promotes and celebrates the goals of the Pan Africanism movement: self-determination, justice, equality and freedom, through a vibrant showcasing of Africa’s diverse culture. The festival programme takes in historical theatre, music and poetry, as well as tours of chiefs’ durbars (courts) and old slave forts. One of the main themes of Panafest is the repercussions of the international slave trade, and the healing process.

Enjoy Panafest with our tailor made tour

AfroFuture (December)

AfroFuture is a major global event centred on the Ghanaian capital, Accra and incorporating art, fashion, community engagement and music. Our holidays that take in AfroFest don’t only feature the biggest parties. They also immerse you in Ghanaian history and culture, whether that’s guided tours of the Makola market where you can pick out fabrics to be sewn into personalised clothing, sombre tours of coastal slave forts, or traditional naming ceremonies held at chiefs’ palaces.

Enjoy AfroFuture with our Ghana highlights and festival holiday

Our travellers also ask…

What is the best month to travel to Ghana?

The best month to visit Ghana is January, midway through the dry season, when travel around the country is easy and there is excellent wildlife watching to be had in Mole National Park. You could also make a good case for October. At the tail end of the rainy season, holidays in October won’t be affected by the harmattan winds. Humidity is lower, and there are harvest festivals around the country where visitors are very welcome.

What is the rainy season in Ghana?

Ghana’s rainy season is between April and September, though it varies depending on where you are in the country. In the centre and south of Ghana, rains usually fall in April, May and June, with a brief respite from July to August. There is then a shorter rainy season in September, October and the first half of November. In the more desert-like north, the rains arrive from March to September. Thanks to the dry earth, when the rain does fall it can cause terrible flooding and blocked roads.

What is the cheapest time of year to go to Ghana?

April to September can be the cheapest time to visit Ghana. This is the rainy season, when travel in the interior can sometimes be difficult due to flooding that damages roads. But that doesn’t stop visitors from coming, as the rains bring relief from the perpetual heat, and lush foliage. You can also often find travel deals in shoulder months like September, where the rains are dying down but the peak dry season is still some way off.

What is the hottest month in Ghana?

March is the hottest month in Ghana. The country’s low altitude and proximity to the equator gives it a typical tropical climate. Daytime temperatures are high throughout the year, approaching or topping 30°C on most days, and humidity is generally upwards of 80 percent along the coast. In northern Ghana, March can often bring daytime temperatures above 40°C, as well as intermittent showers and storms with the fast-approaching rainy season.

Best time to visit Ghana

Best time to visit Ghana