Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Togo can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Togo itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required for entry to Togo for travelers aged 9 months and older, and airlines and border officials do check it. Malaria is present year-round throughout the country, so antimalarial medication is strongly recommended. Routine vaccines should be up to date, and hepatitis A, typhoid and hepatitis B are commonly advised; meningococcal meningitis vaccination is worth considering for the dry season in the north, and rabies for longer stays or rural travel. See a travel clinic 4 to 8 weeks before departure.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Togo, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
In Togo, always use your right hand to eat, pay and pass things, as the left is considered unclean. Ask before photographing people, and expect to pay a fee or ask permission at vodun shrines and the Akodessewa fetish market in Lomé; never touch ritual objects or enter sacred groves without a guide. Show respect to elders and village chiefs, who may expect a courtesy visit or small gift if you stay in a rural community. Dress modestly away from the beach and remove your shoes when entering mosques and some homes. Avoid criticizing the government or politics in public, and do not photograph military sites, police or official buildings. Public displays of affection are frowned upon for everyone, and same-sex couples should be especially discreet given the legal climate.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Togo.
- Fufu: pounded yam (sometimes mixed with cassava or plantain) worked into a smooth, stretchy ball and eaten by hand with groundnut, palm nut or tomato-based soup. It is the everyday centerpiece of southern Togolese meals, and the rhythmic thud of pestles in the late afternoon is part of village life.
- Akoumé with gboma dessi: a firm maize-flour dough served with a rich spinach-style sauce cooked with smoked fish, meat and palm oil. Cheap, filling and found at nearly every roadside canteen, it is the closest thing Togo has to a national plate.
- Ablo: slightly sweet, spongy steamed rolls of fermented maize and rice dough, usually paired with fried fish or grilled meat and a fiery chili sauce. It is a coastal favorite, especially in Lomé and Aného, and a staple of family celebrations.
- Koklo meme: grilled chicken basted in a spicy chili and onion paste, served with akoumé or ablo. It is a Togolese specialty that turns up at weddings, Sunday lunches and roadside grills.
- Amiwo (pâte rouge): maize dough cooked in a tomato, onion and chicken or fish stock that turns it reddish and savory. It is festive food, often served with chicken at gatherings.
- Tchoukoutou: a tangy, cloudy millet or sorghum beer brewed by women in the north, especially around Kara, and drunk from calabashes. Sharing it is a social ritual in Kabiyè communities.
Tap water in Togo is not considered safe for travelers to drink, and many locals avoid it too, relying on sealed sachet water and bottled water instead. Stick to bottled water (around 300 to 600 CFA for 1.5 liters) or use a filter or purification tablets, and be cautious with ice and raw salads outside better restaurants.
The main language in Togo is
Ewe. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Ewe skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for Togo includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - is not widely spoken in Togo: French is the official language, and outside a few hotels, NGO offices and border areas near Ghana you will rarely hear more than a few English words. In Lomé, younger, university-educated people and hostel or guesthouse staff often manage basic English, while in rural villages it is close to nonexistent. French helps far more than anything else, and a few words of Ewe in the south (“Woezon” for welcome, “Akpe” for thank you) or Kabiyè in the north earn real smiles. Download French for offline use in Google Translate and learn numbers in French so you can handle prices at markets and moto-taxi stands.
Money & Payments
The local currency of Togo is XOF (CFA).
Togo uses the West African CFA franc (XOF), pegged at 655.957 CFA to the euro, which works out to roughly 550 to 620 CFA per US dollar. ATMs are easy to find in Lomé and present in larger towns like Kpalimé, Atakpamé, Sokodé and Kara, but scarce in villages; Visa cards work most reliably, while Mastercard is accepted at fewer machines, and you should expect local fees of around 2,000 to 5,000 CFA per withdrawal on top of your own bank’s charges. Cards are accepted at upscale hotels, some supermarkets and a few restaurants in Lomé, but markets, guesthouses, transport and street food are cash only, and mobile money (Mixx by Yas and Moov Money) is what locals use instead. Euros are the easiest foreign currency to exchange thanks to the fixed peg, with US dollars a weaker second choice. Change money at banks or licensed bureaux de change in Lomé rather than with street changers, and carry small notes since change for 10,000 CFA bills can be hard to come by.
Tipping in Togo is appreciated but rarely expected at street food stalls, maquis or for bush taxis, where rounding up is plenty. In sit-down restaurants aimed at visitors, leaving 5 to 10 percent is a kind gesture if service is not already added. Local guides and drivers usually receive around 2,000 to 5,000 CFA (US$3 to 8) per day, depending on the length and quality of the trip.
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Best Backpacking
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.