Entry requirements | Organizing your trip | Visiting | Eating | Paying | Speaking |

Entry requirements

Passport and visa service

Visa HQ

Diplomatic representations

List of diplomatic representations (in French)

For more information

Organizing your trip

Means of transport recommended in town

Recommendation

The road network is well developed and many roads are asphalted.

Taxis are a practical and cheap means of transport, the fare is fixed however many kilometers are covered. You can recognize them by their orange color in Abidjan and Bouaké; in Yamoussoukro they are white with green and orange stripes.

Each large town has at least one bus station serving Abidjan at least. The most comfortable and reliable public transport is the bus. The use of the bush-taxi has fallen off since a real bus network at the national level has been developed.

The train is also used less and less. It links Abidjan to Dimbokro, Bouaké, Ferkéssédougou, Bobo Dioulasso and Ouagadougou.

Maps of urban networks

Maporama
UT Library on line
Mapblast

Means of transport recommended in the rest of the country

Recommendation

The road is the best means of transport.

Rail companies

Flight from Greece

No aircraft company operates direct flights from Athens to Abidjan. To find out air connections from Greece to Ivory Coast click here

Traveling by yourself

Recommendation

Most of the Ivorian road network is asphalted. However, you should avoid driving at night because of the many hold-ups.

Road maps

Multi Map
Map of Côte d'Ivoire

Find an itinerary

Visiting

Different forms of tourism

Historical

From the North to the South, there are many historical monuments: the French district in Bassam, the Governors' house in Bingerville.

Cultural

Bonoua (residence of the king of the Abouré), Krinjabo (Agni country), Sénoufo country, Dan country, Sakassou (capital of the Baoulé kingdom).

Nature

A succession of rocky cliffs and sandy creeks on the south-west coast ( Lahou-Fresco-Sassandra-san Pédro, etc....). Ecological tourism: 6 national parks ( Azagny - Comoé - Banco - Tai - Marahoué - Péko - Sanglé Mount - the Ehotilés islands ). Apart from these parks there are the reserves of Divo, Mount Nimba, Lamto and the Abokouamekro Game Reserve.

Religious

The mosques of Kong and Kawara, not forgetting the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro ( a copy of St Peter's Basilica in Rome).

Thermal

Nonexistent.

Beach

Seaside tourism: 500 km of beaches with coconut palm plantations in the south-east (Abidjan-Bassam-Assinie).

Winter sports

Nonexistent.

Outdoor activities

All water sports can be practised on 300 000 hectares of lagoon.  There are golf courses in Abidjan, Bouaké, San Pédro and Yamoussoukro; the Abidjan marathon and many sports events.

Shopping

Awélé (an abstract strategy board game), masks, bronze, gold or silver jewelry, colored material, drums, leather goods, Korhogo fabrics.

Tourism organizations

Côte d'Ivoire Tourism
Information portal on tourism in Côte d'Ivoire
Réseau Ivoire (Network Ivoire - in French)

Eating

Food specialties

Abidjan is the city where you can find different kinds of restaurants: French, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Italian, exotic food (Creole etc.). The district of Treichville is famous for its spicy dishes.
Kedjenou: Banana skins stuffed with chicken and vegetables.
N'voufou: chopped up bananas with palm oil, served with an eggplant sauce.
Attieké (manioc couscous)

Aloko: (plantains fried in oil).

Drinks

Bissap (decoction of hibiscus flowers), niamakou (decoction of ginger), bangui (palm tree sap).

Tchapalo (millet beer), koutoukou (brandy made from bangui).

Dietary restrictions

Dietary restrictions vary according to a person's religion.

Paying

Domestic currency

CFA Franc BCEAO

ISO Code

XOF

To obtain domestic currency

The currency is the CFA franc.

Possible means of payment

You must take a very large quantity of cash, as shopkeepers often have little change. Visa and Mastercard cards can be used in the large hotels in Abidjan.

Exchange rate on

Automatic Teller Machines (ATM)

To find out the locations of ATMs in in the Côte d'Ivoire, click on the link to your credit card: Visa, Mastercard or American Express

Speaking

Official language

French

Other languages spoken

There are numerous local dialects such as Dioula (a language close to Bambara), Sénoufo (in the North), Bété and Baoulé (in the South).

Business language

French

Getting some knowledge

Wikibooks.

Free translation tools

Babel Fish - Free French-English-French translation of texts and web pages
Terminological dictionary - Free French-Engish-French dictionary with 3 billion terms
French-Bambara glossary -
lexicool - Free Greek-French-Greek translator
Babel Fish - Free Greek-French-Greek translator
lexilogo - Free Greek-French-Greek translator

We can translate your foreign-language documents.

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Last updates: May 2012