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Pointe-Noire
City, department and commune of the Republic of the Congo

Pointe-Noire

Pointe-Noire is the second largest city and main economic centre in the Republic of the Congo, with a population of 1,420,612 inhabitants in 2023.

Plan a trip to Pointe-Noire→

Since the 2002 constitution, it is also an autonomous department and a commune; before this date it was the capital of the Kouilou region. It is situated on a headland between Pointe-Noire Bay and the Atlantic Ocean and is located near the border with Angola.

Get in

Getting to Pointe-Noire

  1. 01
    Agostinho-Neto International Airport

    It has local flights from Brazzaville, and international flights from Paris, Istanbul, Nairobi, and other African cities.

  2. 02
    Pointe-Noire

    The old colonial railway terminus, with "Bavarian-inspired" architectural style, was completed in 1936.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    African Circle Museum of Pointe-Noire
  2. 02
    Mâ-Loango Regional Museum

    Housed in a former royal palace, displays artifacts (weapons, baskets, etc) pertaining to tribal life and the history of the region of the Republic of the Congo.

Do

Things to do

  1. 01
    Diosso Gorge

    Just outside Pointe Noire, there's the spectacular Diosso gorges.

  2. 02
    Côte Sauvage

    The premiere beach of Pointe-Noire with pretty sand but a little bit contentious as far as surf, theft, and safety (at night) go.

  3. 03
    Tchimpounga Animal Sanctuary

    Jane Goodall's chimpanzee sanctuary for rescued primates who have been caught up in illegal bushmeat trade.

  4. 04
    Conkouati-Douli National Park

    A five-hour drive (in the dry season) North of Pointe Noire, near the Gabonese border is the vast and relatively scarcely visited national park of Conkouati-Douli.

Eat

Where to eat

Citronnelle, Opposite Atlantic Palace Hotel. Typical French patisserie, which has some excellent patisseries, cakes and fresh orange juice La Cite, Taxi will take you there. Typical bakery that also serves shawarma, sandwiches and kebab, for good prices, Shawarma is around FCFA 2000, try the Chocolate Bread (Pain de Chocolat) ~ FCFA 500.

How locals move

Getting around Pointe-Noire the local way

  • Get inDo not go outside of PNR without a known driver and a 4WD.
  • Get inThere are no scheduled passenger ferries to Pointe-Noire.

From Wikivoyage: Pointe-Noire, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-08.

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