8 Days Voodoo Festival Tour - Togo & Benin Republic
Tour Overview
Eight days built around Benin's National Voodoo Festival, held on the second Friday of January — trance dances and rituals at Ouidah's Port of No Return, the Python Temple, and Kpasse Sacred Forest — plus Lomé's Akodessewa Fetish Market and a boat trip to the stilt village of Ganvié.
Tour Highlights
What Makes This Different
This trip is timed and routed around the actual festival calendar — the National Voodoo Festival at Ouidah (second Friday of January), plus the smaller Allada festival and Zangbeto dances later in the itinerary — rather than a generic 'voodoo culture' tour that could run any week of the year. Most operators covering Togo and Benin sell them as separate country tours; this one is a single continuous route with one guide from Lomé to Cotonou.
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Arrival in Lomé, Togo
Arrival in Lomé with airport pickup and hotel transfer.
Explore Lomé City
Visit the Akodessewa Fetish Market — Lomé's famous voodoo market selling traditional remedies and spiritual items — then the Grand Marché and the National Museum.
- National Museum
- Independence Square
- Cathedral visit
- Grand Marché
- Akodessewa Voodoo Market
- Arts & Craft Market
Day Trip to Kpalimé
Watch coffee being processed by hand in Kouma-Konda village, browse traditional crafts in Kloto, then join the Akpesse traditional dance in the evening.
- Kouma-Konda village for coffee processing
- Kloto for traditional crafts
- Experience Akpesse traditional dance
Travel to Ouidah, Benin
Cross into Benin and walk the Kpasse Sacred Forest before touring the Python Temple, where live pythons are kept as sacred, protective animals.
- Travel from Lomé to Cotonou
- Continue to Ouidah
- Visit Kpasse Forest
- Tour Python Temple
Voodoo Festival Day
Celebrate the annual Voodoo Festival at the 'Port of No Return' in Ouidah witnessing trance dances, rituals, and ceremonies.
- Attend Voodoo Festival at Port of No Return
- Witness trance dances
- Experience sacred rituals
- Observe traditional ceremonies
Ganvie & Porto Novo
Take a boat through Ganvié, home to roughly 30,000 people living on stilts over Lake Nokoué, then visit King Toffa's palace and Porto Novo's ethnographic museum.
- Boat trip to Ganvie stilt village
- Porto Novo ethnographic museum
- King Toffa's palace
- Brazilian church visit
Abomey Palaces & Allada Festival
Tour the UNESCO-listed Royal Palaces of Abomey, once home to twelve kings of the Dahomey Kingdom, then join the smaller Allada Voodoo festival for the Zangbeto masquerade dances.
- Tour Abomey royal palaces
- Visit Slave Trade Museum
- Attend Allada mini Voodoo festival
- Experience Zangbeto dances
Departure
Transfer from Ouidah to Cotonou for international flight departure.
What's Included
Included
- Airport arrival/departure assistance
- Return airport-hotel transfers
- Private air-conditioned transportation
- Accommodation with daily breakfast
- English, French, or Spanish-speaking guide
Not Included
- Entry visas for Togo & Benin
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Lunch and dinner meals
- Alcoholic beverages
- Entry fees at tourist sites
- Camera fees
- Personal expenses
- Tips for staff
Ready to Witness the Ouidah Voodoo Festival Yourself?
This tour is built around the national festival date (the second Friday of January), not a generic culture tour. Get a custom quote for this itinerary.
