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 feel overwhelming, but select some fabric, get measured up and you can have a made-to-measure outfit within two hours. Factor in longer for embroidery.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Musée de la Blackitude

0.14 MILES

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…

2. Nôtre Dame Cathedral

0.27 MILES

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,…

3. Musée National

0.39 MILES

Located in a grand white 1930s villa – a former presidential palace – the museum provides a thorough, if overpriced, trip through Cameroon's history…

5. Afriland First Bank

0.47 MILES

Africa First Bank is a highlight of Yaoundé's Place de l'Indépendance, with its colourful mosaics depicting tribal figures and Egyptian scenes, and a…

6. Place de l'Indépendance

0.47 MILES

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…

7. Musée d'Art Camerounais

3.77 MILES

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…

8. Mefou National Park

17.04 MILES

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…