Burkina Faso: Getting there & around

Direct flights from Europe to Ouagadougou airport leave from Paris and Marseilles. If you're flying in from the USA you'll have to transfer at Paris, Dakar or Abidjan. The airport is only about 8km (3mi) from the city centre and you can usually get a taxi or bus from the terminus.

Because Burkina Faso is landlocked, getting in and out of the country by land is usually fairly cheap and the options are plentiful (although train services were suspended at the time of writing). Buses and vans are called cars in Burkina Faso, and they run with admirable frequency from Ghana, Niger, Togo and Mali. Bush taxis and minibuses also do the same inter-country trips but you may find you have to get out at the borders, cross, and pick up another one on the other side. Minibuses are often 25% cheaper than the Peugeot 504 bush taxis. Driving your own car in and out of the country is fairly easy, and generally speaking the roads are in fairly good condition.

Burkina Faso has one of the better infrastructures in West Africa so getting around the country shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Buses and cars leave from most major towns, as do minibuses and bush taxis although train services are currently suspended. Hitching in Burkina Faso is uncommon; most drivers will expect payment for a lift unless you luck upon a western traveller with their own car.