What this journey is
A tour built on both registers of one religion
Vodun Days is the Beninese state festival of Vodun. It runs from 2 to 9 January 2027 at Ouidah, and it is at its strongest on the last two days, when the five ritual sites officiate together, the Vodun dance one after another at the arena, and the great ecumenical ceremony is held on the beach at night. Our journey covers the whole festival week and is built around those two days: the squares of Ouidah, which hold the public, cultural side of the festival; and a morning at Sahouè-Doutou, in the Sahouè country, where the same religion is lived on the community's own ground, away from the stage. That access is negotiated, not published, and it is the reason the journey is built the way it is. This page describes the tour itself: the days, what is included, what it costs. The festival, its dates, its sites and its etiquette are explained on our Vodun Days 2027 page, which is where to start if you are new to it.
Around the festival, the week gives Benin its context: Ouidah on the opening days, when the squares are still breathable; Grand-Popo and the mouth of the Mono; Ganvié, the town on stilts that the Tofinu built to escape the slave raids of the Dahomey kings; Porto-Novo, the Afro-Brazilian capital, and the Dark River at Adjarra; and Cotonou itself, where you sleep every night and where the journey begins and ends. Your hotel, and every lunch and dinner from the evening of your arrival to your last night, are included in the price: eight nights in a quiet three-star in Cotonou with breakfast, and restaurants we have chosen.
The journey is led by Fèmi Kochoni, founder of Heritage and Routes, born and based in Cotonou, who has guided Vodun Days at every edition and works the rest of the year as a Tour Director for American operators on this coast. Never more than ten travellers; usually far fewer.
The heart of the festival
7, 8 and 9 January: the three days that matter most
The festival runs from 2 to 9 January, and its last three days are the heart of the ceremonies: the squares of Ouidah at their fullest, the convents, Sahouè-Doutou, the closing at the arena and the great ceremony on the beach. Whichever way you join us, the whole week from 2 January, from Lomé on 5 January, or for the three days with Ghana afterwards, you are there for all three. See the three ways to join.
Day by day
Nine days, 2 to 10 January 2027
Every night at the same hotel in Cotonou, a quiet three-star ten minutes from the airport; Ouidah is forty-five minutes along the coast. The festival is walked, in heat, on sand and packed earth: count on six to eight kilometres on foot on the 8th and the 9th (activity level 4 out of 5), and easy days otherwise (2 out of 5).
Day 01 · Saturday 2 January
Cotonou — we meet you at the airport
Whatever time you land at Cardinal Bernardin Gantin airport, Fèmi is there. Transfer to your hotel, time to settle, and a first dinner together at Restaurant Teranga: the briefing on the days ahead, the etiquette of the squares and the convents, and the one conversation that matters, what you have come looking for. The festival opens in Ouidah today; we go there tomorrow, rested.
Day 02 · Sunday 3 January
Ouidah — the opening days, before the crowds
Up to Ouidah while the squares are still breathable: the Python Temple, the Sacred Forest of Kpassè, the Portuguese fort and its museum, and the first Egungun outings of the festival week, working from the day's timetable. Lunch in Ouidah. In the late afternoon, the four kilometres of the Slave Route on foot, from the auction square to the Door of No Return, in the best light of the day. Back to Cotonou for dinner.
Day 03 · Monday 4 January
Ganvié, on the water
A slower morning. Out onto Lake Nokoué by pirogue to Ganvié, a town of some thirty thousand people built entirely on stilts, founded in the seventeenth century by the Tofinu, whom the Dahomey kings could not follow onto water. The market happens between boats. Back in Cotonou, Dantokpa, the largest market in West Africa, and the Amazon monument over the boulevard. Lunch at La Cabane du Pêcheur, on the water. A free afternoon to rest, then dinner at Restaurant Yara: the night to eat properly and talk through the first days.
Day 04 · Tuesday 5 January
Grand-Popo and the mouth of the Mono
West along the coast road to Grand-Popo, the old trading town on the Mono river. By pirogue to the Bouche du Roy, where the river meets the ocean, past the fishing villages and the salt pans; the Zangbéto, the night-watchmen of the Mono, are at home here. Lunch on the coast. Back to Cotonou along the same road, with the lagoon on one side and the sea on the other.
Day 05 · Wednesday 6 January
Porto-Novo and the Dark River
Thirty kilometres east to Porto-Novo, the constitutional capital: a Yoruba kingdom, then a Portuguese trading post, then a French colonial seat, all three still visible in the same street. The royal palace of King Toffa, now the Musée Honmè; the Great Mosque, raised as a church in Brazilian baroque by families who came back from Bahia after emancipation; the Afro-Brazilian quarter. Lunch at Maman Bénin, then the Musée Adandé for the Gelede masks and the old town on foot. On the way back, Adjarra and the Dark River, crossed by pirogue: black water under a roof of trees, ten kilometres from the capital. Dinner at the Hôtel du Lac, on the lagoon in Cotonou.
Day 06 · Thursday 7 January
Ouidah — the first of the three days
Thursday 7 January is a public holiday in Benin, and from today the festival gathers towards its climax: the squares of Ouidah fill and the timetable gathers pace towards the weekend. Travellers joining us for the three days, or from Lomé, meet the group here. We spend the day in Ouidah working from the day's timetable, lunch in town, and come back to Cotonou for dinner.
Day 07 · Friday 8 January
Ouidah — the squares and the convents
Up to Ouidah in the morning and straight to the squares, working from the day's timetable rather than wandering: where the drums we came for are playing, at the hour they play. Egungun at Place Maro, Zangbéto before the French fort, the Sacred Forest of Kpassè. Lunch at the Fondation Zinsou, in the restored Portuguese-Brazilian house on the Ouidah square. The afternoon rotation, when the convents open again after the heat and the crowds thin for an hour around three o'clock, the best light and the best access of the day. Back to Cotonou; dinner at Les Alizés, on the seafront.
Day 08 · Saturday 9 January
Sahouè-Doutou, then the closing and the great ceremony
West to the Sahouè country and the village of Doutou: the shrines, a Fa divination consultation, and the ceremony the elders have agreed to open to you, on ground where the religion is lived rather than shown. Silence is expected in places, and photography is negotiated ceremony by ceremony. There is nowhere to sit down to lunch, so we carry a picnic and eat when the ceremony allows. Back towards Ouidah by mid-afternoon for the closing at the arena, where the Vodun enter in turn and dance, the only afternoon of the year when they are all on one ground. An early dinner at La Palmeraie, then down to the beach at seven for the great ecumenical Vodun ceremony, until about ten. Your seat in the reserved enclosure is booked and included. Bring a light layer and flat shoes: it is sand, and the wind comes up.
Day 09 · Sunday 10 January
Departure
Morning at your disposal, then transfer to the airport three hours before your flight — or onward with us into Ghana (see below).
What is included
Everything on the ground, hotel and meals included
Included
- Eight nights with breakfast in a quiet three-star in Cotonou, ten minutes from the airport, in a double room shared with the person you travel with (single room on request), added at cost
- Private air-conditioned vehicle with driver for the nine days, fuel included
- Guiding throughout, in English or French, led by Fèmi
- Every entrance fee, and the contre-don that accompanies each negotiated access
- Access to the ceremony at Sahouè-Doutou, negotiated with the elders
- Your seat in the reserved enclosure for the great ceremony on the beach, 9 January
- Lunch and dinner from the evening of the 2nd to the 9th, in the restaurants named above (a picnic on the Sahouè day)
- The pirogues at Ganvié, on the Mono and on the Dark River; bottled water in the vehicle every day
- Airport transfers on arrival and departure
- Tips for the driver, the pirogue crews and the village hosts
Not included
- International flights, the Benin e-visa and, if you start in Lomé, the Togo visa: both visas are yours to obtain
- A single room, USD 465 for the eight nights, if you are not sharing
- Drinks, and lunch on the 10th
- Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover, which is a condition of travel
- The guide's gratuity, customary at about USD 10 a day, at your discretion
Investment
What it costs
From USD 2,905 per person, hotel and all meals included, VAT included. Your exact price is confirmed in your written proposal, which you receive within 48 hours of your message. Ten travellers at most: 9 seats left.
Prices are per person in a double room shared with the person you travel with; alone, a single room adds USD 465. The hotel is in the price at cost, without margin, and carries VAT like the rest. January is the peak season on this coast and the hotels fill: rooms and VIP seats are held for you until 15 November; after that, on availability.
Nothing is paid before we meet. We ask no deposit: the whole amount is settled on the day you arrive in Cotonou, once you have seen that we are there, in cash, or by a transfer timed to arrive that day. We commit the reserved seats, the rooms and the access at Doutou on our own account beforehand; in return we ask only that you tell us at once if your plans change. If you cancel at any time before arrival, you owe nothing. Prices are fixed in CFA francs and shown in US dollars at our fixed rate of USD 1 = 550 CFA.
Three ways to join
Three ways to join, one heart: 7 to 9 January
The last three days of the festival, 7, 8 and 9 January, are the heart of the ceremonies. Every option below includes them, with the same group.
The Vodun week, 2 to 10 January: the journey described above, from USD 2,905 per person.
From Lomé, 5 to 10 January: we meet you in Lomé on 5 January for the city and the Akodessewa fetish market; on the 6th, Lake Togo by pirogue to Togoville; on the 7th we cross into Benin and join the group in Ouidah for the three days. Priced on request in your written proposal.
Benin, Togo and Ghana, 7 to 19 January: arrive in Cotonou by the morning of 7 January for the three days in Ouidah with the group; then, from the 10th, Togo's coast, the Volta at Akosombo, Kumasi and the Asante court, the castles of Elmina and Cape Coast, and Accra, with a Ghanaian vehicle and licensed guide. You fly home from Accra on the 19th. Priced on request.
One thing we tell everyone who asks: Akwasidae, the Asante court's ceremony in Kumasi, falls on 3 January and 14 February in 2027; on the 3rd we are in Ouidah, so no January journey built around Vodun Days can include it.
Practical
Logistics
Group size
Ten travellers at most, 9 seats left. Travellers on the three options share the festival days, 7 to 9 January. If you would rather keep your days private, say so and we price it in your proposal.
Dates
2 to 10 January 2027: the whole festival, 2 to 9 January, and departure on the 10th. The Ministry publishes the detailed programme in December; if the state moves a ceremony, we adapt on the day.
Activity level
4 out of 5 on the 8th and the 9th: six to eight kilometres a day on foot, in heat, with a late night on the beach. 2 out of 5 the other days: short walks, pirogues, an air-conditioned vehicle.
Visa and health
Benin e-visa online at evisa.gouv.bj, a few days' processing. Starting in Lomé, you also need a Togo visa, which you obtain yourself, and your Benin e-visa must cover entry on 7 January. Yellow fever certificate checked at the airport; antimalarial prophylaxis recommended. January is the dry season: Harmattan dust, 22 °C at night, 30–32 °C by day.
Photography
Each site has its own rule; some allow at a distance, some forbid the image, some ask an offering first. We brief each morning. At Doutou, photography is negotiated on site and sometimes refused.
Hotel
Included: eight nights in one quiet three-star in Cotonou, ten minutes from the airport, with breakfast. Hotels in Ouidah itself are few and full during the festival; the drive is forty-five minutes.
Questions
What travellers ask first
Why nine days, and not just the two strongest days of the festival?
Because the festival runs for a week, 2 to 9 January, and arriving only for the last two days means seeing the climax without what leads to it. Nine days give you Ouidah on the opening days, when the squares are still breathable, then Ganvié, the Mono coast and Porto-Novo, and finally the three days at the heart of the festival, 7 to 9 January, rested and prepared, with the closing at the arena and the great ceremony on the beach; you leave on the 10th. If you only have the three days, two of our options are built on them. If you only have a few days, write to us. The full calendar of the festival is on our Vodun Days 2027 page. Read before you go: arriving in Ouidah for Vodun Days, what Vodun Days actually celebrates, our practical travel tips, the activity levels on tour and the general FAQ.
Which hotel, and can I have my own room?
One quiet three-star in Cotonou, ten minutes from the airport, for all eight nights, with breakfast; we name it in the written proposal. Prices are per person in a double room shared with the person you travel with; a single room adds USD 465 for the eight nights. We book and pay the rooms on our own account before you arrive.
Can I come alone?
Yes. Alone, your price is confirmed in your written proposal. On the festival days other Heritage and Routes travellers who chose the same dates may join, never more than ten in all; if you would rather keep the days to yourself, say so and we price it in your proposal.
Is there really no deposit?
None. A deposit sent to a small company in Cotonou gives you no practical recourse, so we do not ask for one. The whole amount is settled on the day you arrive, once you have seen that we are there. If you cancel at any time before arrival, you owe nothing.
How fit do I need to be?
Fit enough to walk six to eight kilometres a day on sand and packed earth, in heat, on the 8th and the 9th, with a late night on the beach: activity level 4 out of 5 on those two days. The other days are 2 out of 5, with short walks, pirogues you step into from a jetty, and an air-conditioned vehicle. Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover is a condition of travel.
What happens if the Ministry moves a ceremony?
The detailed programme is published in December, and the state has moved ceremonies before. The tour covers the whole week and is built on the three days at its heart and on Doutou, whose access does not depend on the Ministry; if a public ceremony moves, we adapt on the day, and Fèmi is in Ouidah at every edition precisely for that. If the festival itself were cancelled, you would owe nothing, since nothing is paid before we meet.
Tell us your dates. We answer within 48 hours.
One message is enough: your dates, how many of you, Benin alone or with Togo and Ghana. You get a written proposal, day by day, with the full price; nothing to pay until we have met in Cotonou.
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