You want the whole arc
Not only the castles, and not only the celebration. Ghana holds both and this itinerary is built to carry you through them in the order they happened.
2027 signature group experience
The Juneteenth Ghana Experience
Take the day back to where the story began. Nine days from Accra to Kumasi to the Cape Coast, closing on Juneteenth itself.
- Where
- Accra, Kumasi, Elmina and the Cape Coast, Ghana
- When
- 12 to 20 June 2027
- Length
- 9 days, 8 nights
- From
- $4,020 per person sharing
The reason for the dates
Juneteenth, in the country the story started in
Juneteenth marks the day the news of freedom finally reached the people it belonged to. Two and a half years late, but it came.
Saturday 19 June 2027 falls on day eight of this journey, and we spend it in Accra: a morning of service alongside Ghanaian schoolchildren, an afternoon on the water, and dinner high over the city as the lights come on. That placement is deliberate. You pass through the Door of No Return earlier in the week, and then you celebrate on the other side of it.
What this is
A country with kings, not a country that begins with enslavement
Ghana held the Ashanti kingdom, a written symbolic language and four centuries of cloth long before the ships arrived. This journey gives that half of the story its proper weight. You spend two days in Kumasi with the Asantehene's palace, the kente looms and the adinkra stamps before you go anywhere near the coast.
Then the road turns south, and the week changes register. Assin Manso. Cape Coast Castle. Elmina. There is no comfortable way to do this and we do not try to make one. We give it the time it needs, and we build the recovery into the itinerary rather than leaving you to find it.
Who it is for
This journey suits you if
You want Juneteenth to mean something this year
Spent in West Africa, in service, among people who greet you with Akwaaba. Welcome home is not a marketing line here. It is what you will actually be told.
You would rather travel with a group than alone
The heavy days are easier shared. So is the celebration. This is a small group with room to be quiet in when you need it.
Day by day
Itinerary
Nine days, eight nights, Accra in and Accra out. Two nights in Accra, two in Kumasi, two on the coast at Elmina, then two back in Accra for Juneteenth.
12 Jun
Welcome to Ghana
Met at Kotoka International in Accra with the welcome that gives this journey its tone: Akwaaba. Private transfer to the Movenpick Ambassador, then a group welcome dinner and the first taste of Ghanaian cooking. Rest. The week ahead asks something of you.
13 Jun
Accra City Tour
The W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre, where the great Pan-Africanist lived out his last years as a Ghanaian citizen and where he is buried. Then Flagstaff House, the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum, Independence Square and the Black Star Gate, and the Arts and Crafts Centre. Dinner is your own.
14 Jun
To Kumasi, seat of the Ashanti kingdom
A short morning flight to the Garden City. The Manhyia Palace Museum, official residence of the Asantehene. The kente weaving village, where the narrow strip looms have run for four hundred years. Ntonso, home of adinkra, where symbols are carved into calabash and stamped in natural dye. Ashanti food, and a group dinner.
15 Jun
Kumasi at leisure
A deliberate gap, placed before the coast rather than after it, because what comes next takes something out of you and it is better to arrive rested. Rattray Park, Kejetia Market, the National Cultural Centre, the Adum district. We give you a written list. Nothing is scheduled.
16 Jun
Assin Manso and Cape Coast Castle
The day the journey turns. South to the river the Akan call Ndonkor Nsuo, the Slave River, where captured people were washed before being taken on to the coast. Then Cape Coast Castle, down into the dungeons and out through the Door of No Return. We keep the rest of the day soft.
17 Jun
Elmina Castle
Built by the Portuguese in 1482, the oldest European structure in sub-Saharan Africa. The dungeons, the museum, the governor's quarters set directly above the women's cell, and Elmina's own Door of No Return. The afternoon is deliberately open. After two days like these, people need different things.
18 Jun
Kakum National Park, and back to Accra
Kakum is rainforest, and after the coast it is the exhale. The canopy walkway runs 350 metres across seven suspension bridges, forty metres above the forest floor. Then the road back to Accra, about three and a half hours, and check-in for the final two nights.
19 Jun
Juneteenth in Ghana
The day this journey is named for. A morning Day of Service at the American International School's elementary campus, working alongside Ghanaian students and staff. An afternoon at Polo Beach Club with the Atlantic in front of you. Dinner at Sky Bar 25, on the roof of one of Accra's tallest buildings. We raise a glass on Juneteenth, in West Africa, having walked through the door and come back out.
20 Jun
Departure
After breakfast, transfer to Kotoka International. You arrived a visitor. You leave with the names of the places your people came from.
Where you stay
Four properties, four settings
Movenpick Ambassador, Accra
Nights 1 and 2. In the Ridge district, in gardens that make central Accra feel further from the traffic than it is. Seven kilometres from the airport, which matters on a night arrival. Step-free throughout, with two rooms adapted for wheelchair users.
Oak Plaza Suites, Kumasi
Nights 3 and 4. An all-suite property in the Ark Complex, so every room has a sitting area you will actually use on the free day. Twenty-seven suites, which means the staff learn your name by the second morning.
Lemon Beach Resort, Elmina
Nights 5 and 6. On the shore at Elmina, a working fishing town. Being able to walk onto a beach in the evening after a day inside Cape Coast Castle is not a luxury detail. It is why this property is on the itinerary.
Kempinski Gold Coast City, Accra
Nights 7 and 8. A five-star on Independence Avenue for the Juneteenth nights, with a large pool and a full spa. You come back from the coast tired, and this is somewhere genuinely restorative to land.
The detail
What is and is not included
Included
- 8 nights accommodation: Accra, Kumasi, Elmina, Accra
- Daily breakfast
- Group welcome dinner and group farewell dinner
- Domestic flight from Accra to Kumasi
- Airport arrival and departure transfers
- All ground transport by private air-conditioned coach
- Qualified English-speaking guide throughout
- All tours and excursions as listed
- All entrance fees
- Unlimited bottled water
- Group shirt, and a Majestic Dream Vacations host once ten or more travellers have paid
- 24/7 on-ground support
Not included
- International airfare to Accra
- Travel insurance
- Ghana tourist visa
- Vaccinations
- Meals not specified, and all beverages
- Tips and gratuities for drivers and guides
- Personal expenses
- Optional tours and excursions
- Early check-in and late checkout
Investment
Pricing and payment
Per person, land only. International airfare to Accra is not included and we are happy to quote it when you place your deposit. Places are confirmed in the order deposits are received.
Per person sharing a room$4,020
Single occupancy, total$5,260
Single supplement$1,240
Deposit to reserve, per person$400
Deposit deadline13 February 2027
Final payment due13 April 2027
The deposit is non-refundable. Payment plans are available; your proposed payment dates and amounts will be provided in writing before you pay a deposit. Pricing is subject to availability and may change until your deposit is received and your place is confirmed in writing.
After you reserve
What happens next
1
You get it in writing
A written confirmation of your place, your occupancy and the total you owe. If you are taking a payment plan, the dates and amounts are set out in writing before you pay anything.
2
We sort the room
If you are sharing, we confirm who with. If you booked single occupancy, that is already held. Preferences are collected now rather than at check-in.
3
Airfare and your visa
Airfare to Accra is not in the price and we are happy to quote and book it. Ghana requires a visa for US passport holders, and we send you the current process in writing so you are not working it out alone.
4
Everything you need before you fly
Final payment is due 13 April 2027. After that comes your pre-departure pack: entry and health requirements, what to pack for the coast in June, and how the days are shaped.
5
Once the group fills, someone travels with it
When ten or more travellers have paid, a Majestic Dream Vacations host travels with the group. Below that number the trip runs without one, and you have a named contact at Majestic Dream Vacations who handles anything that comes up while you are away. There is 24/7 on-ground support behind the group either way, and it is in your price.
Before you book
Practical matters
Getting there
Flights must arrive in Accra on Saturday 12 June 2027. Most travelers leave the United States on the evening of Friday 11 June. We can quote your airfare when you deposit.
Passports and visas
A valid US passport is required, valid at least six months beyond your return date and carrying two to four blank visa pages. Ghana requires US passport holders to obtain an entry visa in advance. We will send you the current process.
Health
Vaccination requirements apply to Ghana. Confirm them with your physician and the CDC well before departure, and ask us early if you want the current guidance.
Pace and physical demands
Moderate. Two long road transfers and one short internal flight. The castles involve stairs, uneven stone and unlit spaces, and there is no step-free route through either. The Kakum canopy walkway is optional and a ground trail is available.
What the week asks of you
Two consecutive days at Assin Manso, Cape Coast Castle and Elmina affect people, and they are meant to. The free afternoon on day six is in the itinerary for that reason. Come knowing that.
Weather
June is the tail of the rainy season on the coast. Expect warmth, humidity and sudden rain. Pack light layers and something that dries quickly.
12 to 20 June 2027
Reserve your place
Deposits close 13 February 2027. Space is limited and held in the order deposits arrive. Tell us you want in and we will send you everything else.