Accra ⇄ Berlin · One stop · Via Brussels, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Lisbon or Doha
Flights from Accra to Berlin: the capital where Africa was divided
In the winter of 1884, European diplomats met in Berlin and drew the rules for carving up Africa. Two centuries earlier, the rulers of Brandenburg, whose capital Berlin was, had built a fort on Ghana's western coast. And in 2025 Berlin renamed a street in its centre after Anton Wilhelm Amo, the philosopher from Axim who taught at German universities in the 1730s. Today Berlin is Germany's most international city, young, cheap by Western European standards, and still marked by the Wall that divided it. There is no nonstop from Accra; one change in Brussels, Amsterdam or Istanbul gets you there the same day.
The best one-stop routes from Accra
Flight times are approximate, without the connection. Germany is one hour ahead of Ghana in winter and two in summer.
| Via | Airline from Accra | Accra → hub | Hub → Berlin | Transit visa for Ghanaians? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels | Brussels Airlines | about 6 h 50 | about 1 h 25 | Brussels becomes your Schengen entry point; you need your German Schengen visa |
| Amsterdam | KLM | about 6 h 30 | about 1 h 20 | Amsterdam becomes your Schengen entry point; you need your German Schengen visa |
| Istanbul | Turkish Airlines | about 7 h | about 3 h | No, if you stay airside |
| Lisbon | TAP Air Portugal | about 6 h | about 3 h 30 | Lisbon becomes your Schengen entry point |
| Doha | Qatar Airways | about 8 h | about 6 h 30 | No, if you stay airside; a long detour |
Which one to pick
Fastest: Brussels Airlines via Brussels or KLM via Amsterdam, both landing in Europe early in the morning, with a short hop to Berlin. Brussels Airlines belongs to the Lufthansa Group, so connections via Frankfurt or Munich are also possible on the same ticket. No transit visa: Turkish via Istanbul, the usual choice for Ghanaians still waiting for a Schengen visa. Book Accra to Berlin on one ticket.
Transit visas: check before you buy
Ghanaians normally need an airport transit visa to change planes in the Schengen area. With your German Schengen visa in hand, there is no problem: the first Schengen airport, Brussels, Amsterdam or Lisbon, is where you enter, and the flight to Berlin is then inside Schengen. Holders of a valid US, Canadian or UK visa are also exempt from the transit visa. Istanbul and Doha need no transit visa if you stay airside. Confirm with the German Embassy in Accra before booking.
Ghana and Berlin right now
Local time in both cities, the weather at this moment, and a converter between cedis, euros and the main currencies.
Say it like a Berliner
Most young Berliners speak good English. Berliners are known for being direct, sometimes rude: the famous Berliner Schnauze. Don't take it personally.
- Hallo / Guten Tag: hello / good day.
- Danke / Danke schön: thank you / thank you very much.
- Bitte: please, and also "you're welcome".
- Entschuldigung: excuse me, sorry.
- Was kostet das?: how much is it?
- Tschüss: goodbye. Berliners also say Tschüssi.
Germany in brief
Key facts
- Capital: Berlin, the largest city, with about 3.8 million people.
- Currency: euro (EUR). Cash is still common; small shops, bakeries and many bars may not take cards.
- Language: German.
- Time: UTC+1 in winter, UTC+2 in summer: one or two hours ahead of Ghana.
- Entry for Ghanaians: a Schengen visa, applied for through the German Embassy in Accra and its visa partner. Appointments can take weeks; apply early.
- Entry for UK and US passports: visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180 days. The EU's new entry system and ETIAS are being introduced; check before travel.
- Ghana in Berlin: the Embassy of Ghana is in Berlin, for Ghanaians living in Germany and visitors applying for Ghana visas.
- Plugs: two round pins (type F). Bring an adapter from Ghana's three-pin plugs.
Berlin and Ghana: three stories
The fort. In 1683 the Elector of Brandenburg, ruling from Berlin, had Fort Groß-Friedrichsburg built at Princes Town on Ghana's western coast, to trade in gold, ivory and enslaved Africans. The Brandenburgers sold it to the Dutch in 1717. It is the only German fort in Ghana and still stands above the sea.
The conference. From November 1884 to February 1885, the Berlin Conference met at Bismarck's chancellery on Wilhelmstraße. No African was invited. It set the rules for the "Scramble for Africa" that followed, including Germany's own colonies in Togo, Cameroon, East and South West Africa. Twelve years later, in 1896, German troops invaded the Kingdom of Dagbon in today's northern Ghana; objects taken there ended up in German museums.
The philosopher. Anton Wilhelm Amo, born near Axim around 1703, was brought to Germany as a child, studied law and philosophy, and taught at the universities of Halle and Jena: the first African known to have done so in Europe. In August 2025 Berlin renamed the Mohrenstraße, a street name long criticised as racist, to Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Straße.
- Fort Groß-FriedrichsburgPrinces Town: the only German fort in Ghana.
- The Brandenburg Gold Coast 1682–1721Germany's forts at Princes Town.
- Anton Wilhelm AmoThe first West African professor in Europe.
- Searching for AmoA 13-hour journey through Germany in his footsteps.
- Adibo Dali 1896The day Germany invaded the Kingdom of Dagbon.
- Yendi and what Germany tookThe seat of the Dagbon kingdom, and its objects in German museums.
Berlin: the main attractions
The Brandenburg GateThe symbol of the city, once trapped in the no-man's-land of the Wall. The Reichstag with its glass dome is a few steps away; book a free visit online.
The Berlin WallThe painted East Side Gallery, and the sober memorial on Bernauer Straße, where you see how the border really worked.
Potsdamer PlatzA wasteland on the Wall until the 1990s, now the city's modern centre of towers, cinemas and shops.- Museum Island and the Humboldt ForumThe Pergamon and Neues Museum, and the rebuilt palace holding the ethnological collections, including objects from Africa now under restitution review.
- Memorial to the Murdered Jews of EuropeThe field of concrete slabs near the Brandenburg Gate, with an underground information centre.
- Wilhelmstraße and Amo StreetThe site of the Berlin Conference, and the street now named after Anton Wilhelm Amo, a short walk apart.
Guided tours in Berlin, from the Wall to the government quarter, booked before you travel. Entrance fees are included in the tour price; tips are not included but always welcome.
Day trips from Berlin
An hour south-east of Berlin, the Spreewald is a maze of more than two hundred small canals, where the Sorbs, a Slavic minority, still keep their language and traditions, and the postman once delivered by boat. Potsdam, with the palaces and gardens of Sanssouci, is half an hour away by S-Bahn, and Dresden, rebuilt after its destruction in 1945, about two hours by train. Halle, where Amo studied, is about an hour and a half away.
Tours beyond Berlin: Potsdam, the Spreewald, Dresden and more, booked before you travel. Entrance fees are included in the tour price; tips are not included but always welcome.
Arriving at Berlin Brandenburg Airport
- The airport: Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt (BER), about 25 kilometres south-east of the centre, opened in 2020 after years of delay.
- Into town: the FEX Airport Express and regional trains run to Berlin Hauptbahnhof in about 30 minutes; the S-Bahn lines S9 and S45 are slower but also cheap. Buy an ABC ticket, which covers the airport zone.
- Getting around: the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and buses run on one ticket system. Day tickets are good value.
- Taxi: from the rank outside arrivals, about 40 to 50 minutes to the centre.
Honest tips for this route
- Visa first. German Schengen appointments in Accra can take weeks. Apply early, and never pay agents who promise approval.
- Buy a valid ticket. There are no barriers on Berlin's trains, but plain-clothes inspectors are frequent, and riding without a valid ticket costs a fine.
- Cash. Carry some euros; card payment is not everywhere, especially in small shops and bars.
- Sundays. Most shops are closed. Supermarkets at the main stations stay open.
- Winters. November to March is cold and dark, often below zero. Pack properly.
- Honestly: most of Berlin is open and international, but racist incidents do happen, more often in some outer districts and in rural eastern Germany. Use common sense, as anywhere.
- Food parcels. Meat, fish and dairy products cannot be brought into the EU from outside. Dried fish will be taken at customs.
Coming the other way: from Berlin to Ghana
German visitors need a Ghana visa before travel, available through the Ghana Embassy in Berlin. For Germans interested in their own country's history in Africa, Princes Town, the Volta Region and Yendi are as important as the famous castles of Cape Coast and Elmina.
- AccraJamestown, the Nkrumah Memorial Park, the markets and the beaches.
- German TogolandHow the Volta Region became part of Ghana.
- Cape Coast CastleThe dungeons and the Door of No Return.
- Elmina CastleThe oldest European building in sub-Saharan Africa, begun in 1482.
Airport pickup with free internet, private vehicle hire and a three-destination tour, booked before you land. Entrance fees are included in the tour price; tips are not included but always welcome.
Accra International Airport Embassies in Accra Ghana-Net.net (auf Deutsch)
Read and listen across Africa
Before you fly, tune in to the country you are going to. Live radio from all over the continent, in one place.
All airlines and city guides
More of Europe from Accra
Bridge cities across Africa
Search the whole network
Search our Network. Start here.
Part of the Ghana-Net network
GhanaFlights.info belongs to an independent network of more than 70 African travel, heritage and information websites, online since December 2000, with its own German-language network for readers in Germany. No Google advertising, no sponsored praise: just the routes and the countries, as they are.
Ghana-Net.com · Ghana-Net.net (Deutsch) · HoInGhana.com · GhanaMuseums.com · Elmina Castle · Cape Coast Castle Museum · MyGhana2027.com · AfricanIndependence.com
Updated and fact-checked: 29 October 2026. Routes from the airline timetables on GhanaFlights.info; flight times approximate; entry and transit rules checked in October 2026. Always confirm with the airline and the German Embassy in Accra before booking. Text and research by Remo Kurka for GhanaFlights.info. This website carries no Google advertising.