Porto-Novo Travel Guide
Most travelers land in Benin and stay in Cotonou. I almost made that mistake. Porto-Novo, the official capital, sits just thirty kilometers east of Cotonou and gets a fraction of the visitors. After three days there I had the place to myself, and I think that is the point. If you want markets without a hard sell, a lively vodun heritage, and the feeling of a real African capital that nobody forced into a tourist brochure, Porto-Novo rewards you. Here is how I made it work.
Getting There
The nearest international gateway is Cotonou’s Cadjehoun Airport, with flights through Casablanca, Paris, and Istanbul. From the airport I took a shared land cruiser taxi across the city to the main Dantokpa area, then switched for Porto-Novo. The whole transfer took about ninety minutes including traffic. The simpler option is a private taxi from Cotonou at roughly twenty thousand CFA, about thirty two US dollars. There is no train. You can also cross by water from Cotonou’s Marina on the pirogue, which is scenic but slow and not worth it unless you have time. Most people, myself included, take the road.
Getting Around
Within Porto-Novo you walk most places, and I did. The center is compact. For longer trips I used the moto taxis, the ubiquitous zemi-johns. Rides cost two hundred to five hundred CFA, always agree on the price before you climb on. The sages of travel would tell you to wear a helmet, and they are right, though few locals do. For the Akpakpa neighborhoods and out to the lake, regular blue and white bush taxis run set routes. I found a cheap trick: when I needed to cross town I bought a small phone data pack and used a local ride app, which beat haggling every time.
Where to Stay
Porto-Novo lacks the big hotel chains, and I was glad of it. I stayed at a comfortable guesthouse near the Grand Mosque, a simple place with a ceiling fan, cold showers, and a breakfast of local bread and coffee for under ten US dollars a night. The Dona Guest House and the big Hotel de la Capitale are the two names that come up again and again. For a bit more comfort, the De France and Le Roi de Tchéco are decent. Book ahead on a weekend because local weddings fill the midrange places. Power cuts happen, so ask for a room with a generator backup. Every stay I had was friendly and safe, which brings me to the biggest point.
Food
Benin feeds you well and cheaply. My best meal was a plate of acasson, a fermented cassava dish, with prawns at a street stall near the market, and it cost me next to nothing. I learned that la sauce and its famous sister sauce d’arachide, peanut sauce, go with almost any fish or meat. For lunch I ate pounded yam and kponan, a spicy beef tripe stew, at one of the rowdy roadside chop bars. For something fresher, the market sells grilled fish, avocado, and pineapple that is sweeter than anything I find at home. I always drank bottled or filtered water and ate only cooked food, and I never once got sick. Breakfasts are usually bread and margarine with strong coffee or sweet milky tea.
Safety
I felt safer in Porto-Novo than in most cities I have visited. Violent crime is rare. The honest risk is petty theft and opportunistic scams, so I kept my phone in my front pocket, carried a small copy of my passport, and left the original at my lodgings. Taxi drivers sometimes quote a higher fare to visitors, so I confirmed a price before getting in. At night I used motos and stayed on the main streets around the Place Bayol. The biggest real hazard is traffic: drivers ignore most road rules, and I crossed the busy roads slowly and with care. The Directory headquarters and the presidential palace areas are well policed. Use common sense, keep valuables out of reach, and you will have nothing to worry about.
Worth Knowing
Porto-Novo is small enough to see in a day, but I wish I had planned two. Give yourself time for the Honmé Museum of the Kings of Dahomey, the Portuguese-style building that once housed the palace, and for the vodun ceremonies that pulse through the city on festival days. Most shops close by early evening, so eat before eight. French is the working language, and a few phrases of it carried me everywhere. Bring cash in smaller notes, because change for a ten thousand CFA bill can be a problem. If you come for the mud mud architecture, the lakeside villages, and a quieter version of Benin, Porto-Novo will reward you the same way it rewarded me.
