The best things to do in Conakry are the Grande Mosquée Fayçal and its mausoleum, a pirogue from Boulbinet to the Îles de Loos, Marché Madina, the national museum in Kaloum and a concert at the Centre culturel franco-guinéen. Give it two or three days, one of them on the islands, and a day out to the Soumba falls. December to March is dry.
Conakry began on Tombo island in the 1880s and spread up the Kaloum peninsula until it held more than 1.6 million people. It is a working capital, not a showpiece: a vast mosque, a giant market, a port, and a ring of islands twenty minutes offshore by pirogue.
Saudi-funded and opened in 1982, it holds 12,500 worshippers inside and as many again on the esplanade. The mausoleum in its grounds keeps the tombs of Samori Touré, Alfa Yaya and Sékou Touré.
Kassa, the nearest island, is about twenty minutes out, with the calmest swimming. Room has the small beach and the rooms to stay over, and Tamara, the largest, once held a prison.
One of the largest markets in West Africa, selling everything from indigo cloth to plastic homewares. It was the scene of the 1977 market women's revolt against Sékou Touré.
The national collection is modest, and most of its value sits in one room of masks and musical instruments from across Guinea. Pair it with a walk through old Kaloum.
More semi-wild forest than formal garden, with towering kapok trees and shade the rest of the city lacks. It sits between the mosque and the hospital, so the two make one outing.
The colonial cathedral, its first stone laid in 1928, is the landmark of the old centre. Step in for the cool, then walk to the waterfront a few minutes away.
It marks the night a Portuguese-led force landed in Conakry and was driven off, opened on the first anniversary in 1971. It is the key to how the Touré state saw itself.
Opened in 1999, the CCFG runs concerts, films, storytelling and a library, and its Momo Wandel hall is where Guinean stars play to a home crowd.
The falls drop through forest just beyond Dubréka, north of the capital, and a round trip fits in one day. Facilities are run-down, so go for the water, not the comfort.
The massif rises to about 1,000 metres north-east of the city, about 50 km from the capital. On a clear day the view runs back to the coast.
A public holiday that opens the dry-season festival months.
Marks the 1984 coup that followed Sékou Touré's death.
The book festival founded in 2009. The 2026 edition ran 23–25 April.
The end of Ramadan, a public holiday. The date follows the moon.
Eid al-Adha, set by the moon and often confirmed only the day before.
The 1958 break with France, with parades and dance in the capital.
Kora and string music on stages around the city. Check each year.
A public holiday, with Mass at the Cathédrale Sainte-Marie.
The old Gbessia airport, renamed in 2021, about 13 km from Kaloum on the peninsula's main road. No public transport runs to it.
Arrange a hotel pickup, or agree the fare before you get in. There are no meters, and evening traffic into Kaloum is slow.
Yellow shared taxis and minibuses run fixed routes along the peninsula. Fares are cheap and negotiated, so ask first.
Wooden boats leave Boulbinet port for the Îles de Loos. Agree the price for the whole boat and the return time.
Cassava or sweet potato leaves stewed with meat or fish, over rice.
A rich peanut sauce with chicken, beef or fish, over rice.
Party rice cooked in a tomato and oil sauce with meat or fish.
Chicken in lemon, mustard and slow-cooked onions.
Rice or fonio under a vegetable sauce seasoned with soumbara.
The ancient West African grain, grown on the Fouta Djallon plateau.
A peanut stew with meat, tomato and okra.
The day's catch, grilled whole at the seafront spots.
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