Exercise caution — there are real risks that travellers should plan around. Public infrastructure and health services are limited outside the main cities.
Regional breakdown
The picture in Ghana shifts sharply from south to north. Accra, the capital, and the coastal belt around Cape Coast and Takoradi see most visitors. These areas deal mainly with opportunistic crime — pickpocketing, bag snatching and occasional muggings after dark. Travellers tend to report fewer problems in the daytime than at night. The north is where the warnings concentrate. The official advisory guidance warns against all but essential travel to the Bawku municipal area in the Upper East region. Long-running local conflict and sporadic gunfire have kept Bawku on the watch list for years. The official advisory guidance goes wider. It flags the Upper East, North East and Upper West regions for extra caution. The western edge of the Savannah region. West of the N12 highway along the borders with Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire. Sits one step higher on the US scale at Level 3 (Reconsider Travel). Spillover risk from the Sahel insurgency drives that call. Tamale and Kumasi, two of the larger inland cities, are not singled out, but travellers heading further north from them should plan routes carefully.
Recent advisory changes
The official advisory guidance last updated its Ghana page on 10 December 2025. The advice against all but essential travel to Bawku has held steady, and no wider regions have been added. The official advisory guidance reminds travellers that insurance may be void if they ignore the guidance. And points to its regional risks page for the detail behind the Bawku call. The official advisory guidance reissued its Ghana advisory on 8 April 2025 at Level 2 (Exercise Increased Caution). The headline reasons are crime and the targeting of women and LGBTQ+ travellers. The official advisory guidance kept the western Savannah border strip at Level 3 (Reconsider Travel) because of the Sahel security picture. Neither government has ordered departures, and neither has moved Ghana as a whole to a higher tier. Both warn that police outside the main cities often lack the resources to respond quickly to serious incidents.
What travellers should know
Crime is the day-to-day issue most visitors deal with. The official advisory guidance records carjackings, street muggings, assaults and sexual violence, mostly at night and in quiet areas. Keep valuables out of sight, use booked taxis or ride-hailing apps after dark, and avoid walking alone on unlit streets. Road travel at night outside the cities carries extra risk from poor lighting, livestock and unmarked hazards. Ghana's law criminalises same-sex conduct, with sentences of up to three years. The official advisory guidance notes that rhetoric and violence aimed at LGBTQ+ people have grown. Women travellers should read official advisory guidance's specific guidance before the trip. Anyone heading to the three northern regions or the Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire border areas should check local news the week of travel. Register with their home government's traveller alert programme and tell someone their route. Travel insurance that covers medical evacuation is worth arranging, as hospitals outside Accra can be limited.