Day Trips

Mairie - Porto Novo

Carlo ms 2009

Porto Novo is a fascinating epic of a richly amalgamative culture and an enviable heritage that contours the  silhouette of an exotic holiday destination. The Porto Novo Day Trip Guide offers visitors great ideas for day trips in this captivating African vacation spot.

Abomey

Abomey is nice day trip option from Porto Novo for its Royal Palace Museum, where visitors can even have an audience with the ruling Monarch. There is a historical museum, exhibiting fascinating items of the region’s monarchial history and the striking Royal Sepulchres site that pays homage to the brave warriors of Abomey. Visitors can watch several artisans at work, creating magnificent pieces of bronze and copper artifacts on the streets on the town market.

Contonou

Contonou is another scenic attraction located a few kilometers from Porto Novo en route to Abomey. The town and its surrounding regions are filled with panoramic little hamlets that have nice, multi-colored houses and quaint street-side flea markets. The lagoon market in Contonou is a must visit along with a trip to the Artisan’s Center

Pendjari National Park

This is one of the largest and most celebrated national parks in West Africa and houses more than 250 spices of birds and over 50 species of wild mammals like lions, water buffaloes, baboons, elephants and a host of other creatures in a lush natural environment.

Voodoo Mystic

Tourists can go on a thrilling voodoo trail by visiting Ouidah. The region located a few kilometers from Porto Novo has a The Temple of the Sacred Python, the voodoo burial, Sao Joao Museum of Voodoo and even a fetish bazaar. There are several other interesting places to visit like the Kindji Market Square, the Museum of History (which exhibits slave trade memorabilia), the sacred forest, the intriguing Place of the Common Grave and hold your breath-the tree of forgetfulness and the gate of no return, which is a spooky site that is frequented by visitors wanting to catch a glimpse of the region’s mysticism.

Porto Novo’s surrounding region seems highly eccentric at first instance but gradually as its layers unfold, the region comes across as a rich storehouse of off-beat culture and ancient mysticism.