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Libreville
Capital and largest city of Gabon

Libreville

Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary.

Plan a trip to Libreville→From Port Gentil

Libreville occupies 65 square kilometres (25 sq mi) of the northwestern province of Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904.

Get in

Getting to Libreville

  1. 01
    Libreville International Airport

    Air France flies to the city from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Turkish Airlines from Istanbul and other airlines mostly fly from other African destinations.

See

Worth seeing

Libreville's greatest asset is, probably, the seafront (bord de mer) where people gather daily to relax by the Atlantic Ocean. All along the seafront you will find some Gabonese sculptures (some are 20 feet tall!) looking over the beach. You could also go in Nzeng-ayong to see the Arboretum de Sibang which is a huge tree sanctuary inside Libreville which groups thousands of local species.

  1. 01
    Cathédrale Sainte Marie

    Built in 1958 by Bishop Adama, it sits close to the coastline on the site of the former Fort d'Aumale.

  2. 02
    Notre Dame de Lourdes

    The front facade and retable behind the altar have a hand-painted airy white and blue tapestry that is quite pacifying.

  3. 03
    Church of St

    This church has a Pan-African type of mosaic on its pediment, and 31 wooden columns carved by Gabonese artist Zéphyrin Lendogno that depict stories from the Old and New Testament.

  4. 04
    National Museum of Arts and Traditions
  5. 05
    Musée National du Gabon

    Another museum whose status seems somewhat iffy, but it can be co-located with the Musée des Arts et Traditions du Gabon possibly.

  6. 06
    Presidential Palace

    The executive office of Gabonese government.

Do

Things to do

Libreville is a place where people are very laid back and take things slowly. Don't worry about time and plans, and enjoy the city. There is not an exhaustive list of things to do. It is a true multicultural town; its people are very welcoming and will show you the true aspects of the city.

  1. 01
    Casino Croisette
Eat

Where to eat

Eating at any good restaurant ends up costing from US$24 for the meal and drinks. Not cheap but it is usually worth it! There are some high end restaurants that can be compared to the best restaurants in Western metropolises. The standard of quality in cheaper restaurants is high. Try one of the three Papa Union restaurants.

  1. 01
    Life By Mayena
  2. 02
    Le Shalimar

    Rue d'Alsace,.

  3. 03
    Roma Restaurant & Hotel

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.