Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation.
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It had a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais. The spelling of the name Ouagadougou is derived from the French orthography common in former French African colonies.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Ouagadougou
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Ouagadougou Cathedral
Ouagadougou Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Ouagadougou is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ouagadougou in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. It was built in the 1930s, by apostolic vicar Joanny Thévenoud from the White Fathers, at the time of French West Africa, and was dedicated on 19 January 1936, after a two-year construction.
700 m · Catholic cathedral in Burkina Faso · Wikipedia - 02University Joseph Ki-Zerbo
The Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, formerly known as University of Ouagadougou, is a public university located in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Founded in 1974, it was officially renamed in 2015.
3.1 km · university in Burkina Faso · Wikipedia - 03Stade du 4 Août
The 4 August Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it has an athletics track.
2.8 km · stadium in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso · Wikipedia - 04Stade Municipal
Stade Dr. Issoufou Joseph Conombo is a multi-use stadium in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
900 m · stadium in Burkina Faso · Wikipedia - 05National Library of Burkina Faso
The Bibliothèque nationale du Burkina Faso is the legal deposit and copyright library for Burkina Faso. It was established on November 6, 1996.
800 m · national library · Wikipedia - 06Musée de la musique de Ouagadougou
This is an article for a museum in Burkina Faso. For the museum in the USA, see National Music Museum.
1.3 km · music museum in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso · Wikipedia - 07Maison du Peuple
La Maison du Peuple, Ouagadougou is a building in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The building is 2,500-seat theatre that opened in 1965 and is still used for concerts and events.
600 m · theatre in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso · Wikipedia - 08Great Mosque of Ouagadougou
The Grand Mosque of Ouagadougou is a historic mosque in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. It is one of the city's principal Islamic places of worship and has played an important role in the religious life of the Muslim community of Ouagadougou.
600 m · Mosque in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso · Wikipedia - 09
- 10Stade de l'USFA
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It had a population of 2,415,266 in 2019.
9.1 km · building in Africa · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Grand Mosque of Ouagadougou
- 02Ouagadougou Cathedral
Built by the French in the 1930s, it is one of the largest in western Africa.
- 03National Museum
- 04Museum of Music
Exhibits all the musical instruments of Burkina Faso.
- 05Bangr Weogo
Urban park in Zone du Bois (also called 'La Foret') has many trails for walking and running.
- 06Naba Koom
Small garden with a statue depicting a woman handling a calabash to pour water.
From Wikivoyage: Ouagadougou, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Cineburkina (50 32 03 28) and Cine Reale are more comfortable/safer movie theaters Café Zaka has live bands every night The Moro Naaba ceremony is every Friday morning at 07:15, 15-min ceremony symbolizing a Mossi historical event (preparation for battle against a rival king that stole his amulets, but being persuaded to keep peace).
From Wikivoyage: Ouagadougou, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Most larger cafés have food in the afternoons and evenings, but here are a few notables from the recommendations of Bobo Stage Goers and others: African Gondwana (somewhat expensive, Zone du Bois, great atmosphere) La NASA - Vegan, cheap, near Pharmacie Sacré-Coeur La Colombe - Vegan, cheap, serves excellent tofu brochettes for XOF1,200.
From Wikivoyage: Ouagadougou, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Ouagadougou
- Airports
- Ouagadougou Thomas Sankara (OUA), 2 km
- Stations
- Ouagadougou Airport, 2.4 km
- Bobo Dioulasso → Ouagadougou328 km · quickest by road, 4h 25m · $28–39
- Tamale → Ouagadougou338 km · quickest by road, 5h 52m · GH₵200–265
- Niamey → Ouagadougou415 km · quickest by air, 4h 39m · $80–120
- 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 Ouagadougou
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 Ouagadougou. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inA shared taxi, the green ones, to city centre should cost no more than XOF500, but be aware that many will ask for up to CFA 1,000.
From Wikivoyage: Ouagadougou, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 011,549 km
- 022,098 km
- 032,563 km
- 042,594 km
- 053,691 km
If you know how people move in Ouagadougou – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.