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Ouagadougou
Capital of Burkina Faso

Ouagadougou

Ouagadougou or Wagadugu is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation.

Plan a trip to Ouagadougou→From Bobo Dioulasso

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.

Get in

Getting to Ouagadougou

Ouagadougou International Airport is the main gateway and is located to the immediate south of city centre, distance from the airport to the United Nations roundabout is less than two kilometres. The airport is quite small and, like many African airports, somewhat disorganized. National carrier Air Burkina has flights most West African capitals as well as Paris, from where Air France also offers daily service.

  1. 01
    Ouagadougou Central
See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Grand Mosque of Ouagadougou
  2. 02
    Ouagadougou Cathedral

    Built by the French in the 1930s, it is one of the largest in western Africa.

  3. 03
    National Museum
  4. 04
    Museum of Music

    Exhibits all the musical instruments of Burkina Faso.

  5. 05
    Bangr Weogo

    Urban park in Zone du Bois (also called 'La Foret') has many trails for walking and running.

  6. 06
    Naba Koom

    Small garden with a statue depicting a woman handling a calabash to pour water.

Do

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).

Eat

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.

How locals move

Getting around Ouagadougou the local way

  • 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. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Marco Schmidt (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons.