Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital.
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country's major international airport, Douala International Airport (DLA). It is the commercial and economic capital of Cameroon and the entire CEMAC region comprising Gabon, Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Cameroon. Consequently, it handles most of the country's major exports, such as oil, cocoa and coffee, timber, metals and fruits. As of 2025, the city and its surrounding area had an estimated population of 4,346,000, while the city proper had an estimated population of 3,816,500. The city sits on the estuary of the Wouri River and its climate is tropical.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Douala Maritime Museum
Museum showcasing the rich maritime history of Douala.
- 02Place du Gouvernement
- 03Cathedral of St Peter and Paul Bonadibong
Rue Joss,.
- 04Doual'art
Housed in La Pagode, a structure that resembles a pagoda, showcases local artists' work and facilitates arts and culture in the community.
- 05La Nouvelle Liberté
- 06Palais Dika Akwa
Former estate of a noted anthropologist named Dika Akwa that shows elements of Sawa architecture and culture.
From Wikivoyage: Douala, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
- 01CanalOlympia Bessengué
Movie theater and event venue for performing arts.
From Wikivoyage: Douala, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Nice Cream, Bd de la Liberté. A very cozy diner serving pizza and ice cream, just what every traveler needs after melting in the sun. Plus shawarma and milk shakes. +237 6 90 03 03 44 Mediterranee, Bd De Liberte. Greek and pizza, so exciting because it's open 24 hours. +237 6 99 98 09
From Wikivoyage: Douala, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Douala
- Airports
- Douala (DLA), 5 km · Malabo (SSG), 115 km · Yaoundé Nsimalen (NSI), 209 km
- Yaoundé → Douala202 km · quickest by road, 3h 37m · $19–26
- Garoua → Douala712 km · quickest by air, 6h 1m · $150–230
- Malabo → DoualaTrain, bus, flight, ferry and road, side by side
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Douala
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Douala. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inThere are passenger ferries, usually one sailing per week, from Bata and Malabo, both located in Equatorial Guinea.
From Wikivoyage: Douala, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01371 km
- 022,295 km
- 032,555 km
- 042,567 km
- 053,096 km
If you know how people move in Douala – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.