M
Musée de la Blackitude
If time is short, give the overpriced National Museum a miss, and take a passionately well-informed tour (French only) of this private collection. It’s a…
Cameroon
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all travel to the Bakassi Peninsula, and to within 40km of the borders with Chad and Nigeria's Adamawa state in Cameroon's North and Adamaoua provinces. All but essential travel is warned against to the rest of the North and Adamaoua provinces. Click here for more information.
Cameroon is Africa's throbbing heart, a sultry mosaic of active volcanoes, white-sand beaches, thick rainforest and magnificent parched landscapes broken up by the bizarre rock formations of the Sahel. With both Francophone and Anglophone regions, not to mention some 250 local languages, the country is a vast ethnic and linguistic jigsaw, yet one that, in contrast to so many of its neighbors, enjoys a great deal of stability.
With reasonable road infrastructure, travel is a lot easier here than in many parts of Africa. Still, you'll miss none of those indicators that you're in the middle of this fascinating continent: everyone seems to be carrying something on their heads, makossa music sets the rhythm, the street smells like roasting plantains and African bliss is just a piece of grilled fish and a sweating beer away.
Explore Cameroon
- MMusée de la Blackitude
If time is short, give the overpriced National Museum a miss, and take a passionately well-informed tour (French only) of this private collection. It’s a…
- MMefou National Park
A 45-minute drive south of Yaoundé, Mefou is run by Ape Action Africa, an organisation established to protect primates in Cameroon. Well-informed guides…
- Fon's Palace
Just north of Bamenda is the large Tikar community of Bafut, traditionally the most powerful of the Grassfields kingdoms. The fon's (local chief's) palace…
- NNôtre Dame Cathedral
The honking of Yaoundé's traffic merges with the sound of prayer and song at Nôtre Dame Cathedral. It's a bold triangular building, consecrated in 1955,…
- MMusée National
Located in a grand white 1930s villa – a former presidential palace – the museum provides a thorough, if overpriced, trip through Cameroon's history…
- MMarché Central
The market is housed in a dramatic brutalist building in central Yaoundé, with towering floors of fabric and garment sellers and a bank of tailors. It can…
- PPlace de l'Indépendance
A dramatic expression of independent Cameroon, this huge square is fronted by Yaoundé's Hôtel de Ville (town hall) and edged by flower beds and proudly…
- MMusée d'Art Camerounais
At the Benedictine monastery on Mt Fébé, north of Yaoundé's city centre, the Musée d'Art Camerounais has three exhibition rooms with an impressive…
- EEspace Doual'art
Well worth dropping into if you're nearby in Douala, this contemporary art space hosts changing displays of work from all over Cameroon and the rest of…
Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Cameroon.
See
Musée de la Blackitude
If time is short, give the overpriced National Museum a miss, and take a passionately well-informed tour (French only) of this private collection. It’s a…
See
Mefou National Park
A 45-minute drive south of Yaoundé, Mefou is run by Ape Action Africa, an organisation established to protect primates in Cameroon. Well-informed guides…
See
Fon's Palace
Just north of Bamenda is the large Tikar community of Bafut, traditionally the most powerful of the Grassfields kingdoms. The fon's (local chief's) palace…
See
Nôtre Dame Cathedral
The honking of Yaoundé's traffic merges with the sound of prayer and song at Nôtre Dame Cathedral. It's a bold triangular building, consecrated in 1955,…
See
Musée National
Located in a grand white 1930s villa – a former presidential palace – the museum provides a thorough, if overpriced, trip through Cameroon's history…
See
Marché Central
The market is housed in a dramatic brutalist building in central Yaoundé, with towering floors of fabric and garment sellers and a bank of tailors. It can…
See
Place de l'Indépendance
A dramatic expression of independent Cameroon, this huge square is fronted by Yaoundé's Hôtel de Ville (town hall) and edged by flower beds and proudly…
See
Musée d'Art Camerounais
At the Benedictine monastery on Mt Fébé, north of Yaoundé's city centre, the Musée d'Art Camerounais has three exhibition rooms with an impressive…
See
Espace Doual'art
Well worth dropping into if you're nearby in Douala, this contemporary art space hosts changing displays of work from all over Cameroon and the rest of…
Guidebooks
Learn more about Cameroon
Ready to go? Get to the heart of Cameroon with one of Lonely Planet's in-depth, award-winning guidebooks.
