Travel guide Gabon
The best time to go au Gabon
June
July
September
October
November
Practical information for travel au Gabon
Advertising
Get your travel guide: GABON / SAO TOME ET PRINCIPE
18.95 €
Edition 2024/2025
Buy the guide on fnac.com
Download a free extract
Advertising
What to see what to do au Gabon?
Where to go au Gabon?
The most beautiful tourist sites
Other au Gabon destinations
Départements
Petit Futé's best addresses au Gabon
Discover the most beautiful addresses selected by the authors of Petit Futé.
Advertising
Advertising
Featured articles du Gabon
Nouveauté excursion au GABON ! Le découvrir autrement ...
Updated on 06/09/2022 Ideas for holidays & weekend
Le campement Liambissi situé entre Omboué et Loango en bordure de mer, domine une des plus belles plages sauvages de la côte gabonaise. Le temps d'un week-end, promenez-vous sur une plage déserte,...
L'ile paradisiaque de SAO TOME !
Updated on 06/09/2022 Travel advice
Qui mieux que Yuri pour vous parler de cette île de Sao tomé ainsi que sa petite soeur Principe? Natif du coin, cet amoureux sait raconter l'histoire et les forces de Sao Tomé, l'ile chocolat ! Via...
Sao Tomé ou comment se prélasser à Miramar Hotel ou Equador Hotel
Updated on 06/09/2022 Travel advice
Le Miramar by Pestana est un hôtel de São Tomé, situé en bord de mer, dans un lieu tranquille et emblématique de la ville. Découvrez leur fameuse piscine avec ile et cascades d'eau.Le Pestana Equador...
How to travel au Gabon
How to go alone
Going alone is possible. You can, from home, organize the broad outlines of your trip: duration, what you want to do, take your plane ticket and imagine a tour. However, you will not be able to finalize the details easily: frequent changes of days and hours of domestic flights, train schedules, changes of management on site.
How to go on a tour
The offers for Gabon are mainly focused on the natural aspect of the country: vision of fauna, flora and fishing activities. Among the many animal species to observe, a few stars: gorillas, mandrill, humpback whales, leatherback turtles. You will find safaris, hikes, ecotourism trips or fishing trips.
How to get around
It is very difficult to get around in Gabon; even Gabonese rarely know more than three cities in the country. As a general rule, transportation (planes, trains, river connections) in Gabon can be surprising and delayed. The road network, even if it is beginning to develop, is often impassable during the rainy season, while the main roads are much safer.
Advertising
Advertising
Organize your trip with our partners au Gabon
Transportation
Book your plane tickets
Car Rental
Accommodation & stays
Find a hotel
Holiday rental
Find your campsite
Tailor-made trip
Services / On site
Activities & visits
Activate your VPN
Request your visa
Travel insurance
Book your next trip with Kayak
Travel au Gabon
Ideas for holidays and week-end breaks au Gabon
Entre ses fabuleux parcs, ses magnifiques paysages et ses plages sauvages au bord de l'Atlantique, le Gabon offre une multitude d'itinéraires et de possibilités d'excursions. Toutefois, le pays étant recouvert en grande partie par la forêt équatoriale, certains sites sont difficiles d'accès. Pour les coins les plus reculés, il faut compter un mois de voyage pour tenter de les découvrir. Il faut faire preuve de débrouillardise et de beaucoup de patience, car les aléas climatiques, routiers et politiques restent aussi innombrables qu'imprévisibles. Les parcs de l'Ivindo ou de Moukalaba-Doudou ne seront connus que des plus téméraires voyageurs. Il est possible de s'aventurer en autonomie dans les villes et leurs alentours, et sur les grands axes routiers du pays. Cependant, pour s'orienter vers les sentiers moins battus, il est indispensable de se tourner vers une agence qui obtiendra diverses permissions et des guides expérimentés.
Services
Find a hotel with Booking.com
Rent a car with Bsp-auto
Create a blog and travel journal
Find an agency with Quotatrip
Find unique holiday offers with our partners
Discover le Gabon
Despite its wild territory, Gabon has been inhabited since prehistoric times by various indigenous peoples of the African continent. From the Pygmies to the Bantu ethnic groups, they arrived in migratory waves and sometimes mixed, dividing themselves into sub-groups. As in many African countries, Europeans, notably the French, colonized the territory and a slave trade developed along the coast. On independence, Gabon became a democratic country, with political elections. However, one-party rule was soon established. Omar Bongo remained in power for 42 years. Then came his son, Ali Bongo, who was overthrown in August 2023. A predominantly Christian country, Gabon remains very attached to its traditions, particularly as regards ancestor worship. With a mainly utilitarian function, decorative crafts are not very well developed in the country.
The 12 keywords au Gabon
Assala
Also known as the forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), it is the emblematic animal of Gabon. This endemic species of the Congo Basin has the particularity of being small, not more than 3 m at the withers. It sneaks in the forests with more or less discretion. Its existence is endangered by intense poaching.
Bantu
Although the official language is French, many of Central Africa's ethnic groups share a common linguistic heritage: the Bantu language. In Gabon, for example, there are a number of peoples such as the Fang, Myéné, Punu, Mpongwè, Eshira, Nzebi and Bakota.
Bwiti
Practiced by the ethnic groups of central Gabon, the bwiti cult, which mainly invokes deceased relatives, appears to be one of the country's most important esoteric traditions. More than a religion, bwiti is considered a social structure representing local societies in terms of worship, teaching and therapy.
Cut and cut
It's a popular dish eaten at any time of day. Street vendors grill the meat, usually beef or mutton, over charcoal. It is then cut into small pieces, which are served in bread with mustard, chili, onions, "maggi sauce" and ketchup, or in a sheet of paper to take away.
Kongossa
Kongossa is such a common activity in Gabon that one would almost forget that the word originated in Cameroon! It could be translated as "gossip", but it also includes judgement, criticism and often affabulations. A kongossa can quickly make - or break - your reputation, so stay alert!
Mandrill
This very aesthetic monkey is one of the stars of the Gabonese forest. The male has bright shades of red and blue on his face, buttocks and testicles. The tribes can group up to 500 individuals! Unlike Rafiki in the Disney animation The Lion King, the mandrill in real life does not have a tail.
Cassava
It is the basis of the Gabonese diet, impossible to escape it! Well washed, the tubers are cooked, dried in the sun then crushed. The flour is then mixed with boiling water to obtain cassava cobblestones, served as a side dish. The leaves are also eaten: they can be found in broths and fish dishes.
Maquis
You can stop off at a maquis to enjoy fish or meat kebabs, or other typical dishes, for less. There's a whole range of maquis to choose from. In a "dos-tourné", you eat standing at the stand, with your back to the road. In an "improved maquis", you sit on a plastic chair, and the kitchen is located in a basic building.
Mapane
The term mapane is used to describe Gabon's working-class neighborhoods, which are similar to shantytowns. They are made up of small shacks of sheet metal, planks and concrete, built very close together and without building permits. Sometimes, to reach your own house, you have to pass through those of several neighbors.
Mvett
An instrument of traditional Fang music, the mvett is also the art of the spoken word, storytelling in the oral tradition of Gabon. In Fang, the term mvett refers to the set of stringed instruments, zither or mouth harp, accompanying the storyteller of an epic based on the founding myths of the Fang peoples, the largest ethnic group in Gabon.
Nyembwe
A rather fatty sauce made from palm nut juice, often used to accompany smoked fish, meat and poultry, including the famous nyembwe chicken, Gabon's national dish. The palm nuts, once boiled, are usually pounded by women but sometimes men do it. This recipe can be found in local restaurants.
Palm wine
It is the typical alcoholic drink of Gabon. There are two ways of making it: either the tree is cut and the sap is recovered, or the tree is cut while still alive. The sap is left to ferment for a few days, with the addition of a "bitter wood" root, which gives it more alcohol. The capital of palm wine is Moabi, in the province of Nyanga.
You are from here, if...
With the slightest glance or word, you can tell a person of Fang origin from a Myéné, a Tsogo from a Bakota or even an Eshira from a Bapounou, but it doesn't matter - you may belong to the same lineage!
At aperitif time, you meet up with your friends around a chilled Régab and soon you're carried away by the intense rhythms of the ndombolo until you lose all track of time.
After a week of hard work in the administrative offices of the capital, you return to your native village, in the heart of lush nature. Priceless!
In your spare time, you set off to discover the natural wealth of your country, on foot, by pirogue or in a 4x4. What's more, seeing elephants strolling along beaches or hippos swimming in the ocean is a common sight for you!
You'll be drawn into the street by the smell of grilled meat, then order a coupé-coupé from the maquis. It's the perfect way to quench your appetite on the way!
Advertising