"GRAND POPO - Laid Back and Lovely" Grand-Popo by janiebaxter

Grand-Popo Travel Guide: 14 reviews and 34 photos

Endless Beach and Fishing Villages

Grand Popo is on the coast of Benin just 85km from Cotonou, and sits on a big wide sandy beach which stretches all the way to Lome in Togo in the other direction.
Late afternoon is a good time to take a stroll along the beach by the fishing village and look at the prettily decorated fishing boats, the nets spread along the beach, and the fishermen mending their nets for the following day.
This is a laid back, happy little town – my room faced the beach on one side and the quiet end of the road on the other and I awoke every morning to the sound of people singing as they walked along the road.

Charming Grand Popo Old Town

Grand Popo Old Town

The old town of Grand Popo was quite important during the slave trade but now has many empty and derelict buildings. There are still people living there and if you walk through the side streets and explore a bit you will notice how totally charming it is.

The Mono River and Villages

Mono River

The Mono River is 500km long and runs through Togo before getting to Grand Popo where it flows into the sea at Les Bouches du Roi. There are mangroves, lots of birds and many small villages along the river making a living from fishing and salt making, and the area is a Voodoo stronghold so you will see a quite a few temples along the river banks.

See my main Benin pages for more general information on Benin.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Laid back, relaxed, happy, safe, plenty to see
Cons:None at all.
In a nutshell:Well worth a few days chilling out here

Last visit to Grand-Popo: Mar 2008
Intro Updated May 5, 2008
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Reviews (13)

Restaurant at Auberge Grand Popo - Grand-Popo

Great Food and Lovely Location Restaurants (1)

The Auberge Grand Popo has a lovely restaurant overlooking the beach, set in beautiful gardens. It is open on 3 sides to... more travel advice

See Salt Being Produced Things to Do (10)

The villages along the Mono River earn their living from fishing and some also make salt. Avlo village which we visited... more travel advice

Visit a Village on the Mono River Things to Do (10)

We visited one of the small villages along the riverbank as part of our boat trip on the Mono River, as we couldn't get... more travel advice

The Beach Things to Do (10)

The beach in Grand Popo stretches all the way to Lome in Togo in one direction and to Cotonou in the other direction. At... more travel advice

Warnings and Dangers (1)
The Sea is not Safe for Swimming

Hotels (1)
Beachside with Beautiful Gardens

Comments (4)

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Nemorino Sep 15, 2011 at 2:38 AM

Great that you were able to take a boat trip and visit a village on the Mono River and also see salt being produced in the traditional way. The name Grand Popo sounds a bit funny to German speakers because Popo is a childish word for backside in German.
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hopang Sep 26, 2009 at 10:37 AM

Wonderful Grand-Popo travel page with excellent photographs. Boat trip on Mono River and day trip to Togo sounds interesting to us. Old Town looks wonderful to visit and explore. ~ho & pang
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lynnehamman Aug 22, 2009 at 6:26 AM

Love the name of this place. It has quite a few attractions- Voodoo temples would interest me. The beach also looks lovely. Auberge Grand Popo seems perfect accommodation. Excellent photographs. Salt making tip is very good.
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junecorlett Aug 10, 2009 at 7:22 AM

Yes - that is a Coucal -we find them here in South Africa too.