This new, thoroughly updated second edition of Bradt's Ivory Coast remains the only English-language guidebook to focus solely on this culturally rich West African country, a place of crimson savannas, sublime mountains and cream-hued beaches that is becoming increasingly popular for ecotourism and wildlife, surfing and off-the-beaten track travel. Written in easy-to-navigate geographical structure, chapters on background and practical information are followed by dedicated sections on Abidjan and the surrounding area; the southeast, including Grand-Bassam and Assinie; the southwest, including Sassandra, San-Pe´dro and the Parc National de Tai¨; and the centre: Yamoussoukro, Bouake´, Daloa and Abengourou. Moving up the country, the Dix-Huit Montagnes area is covered, including Man and Touba, followed by a chapter on the North, including Odienne´, Korhogo, Kong, Parc National de la Comoe´ and Bondoukou. From wildlife and birdwatching to hiking, trekking, chocolate and twerking, Bradt's Ivory Coast lifts the lid on what gives this country its unique flavour. Tribal arts, vibrant reggae, Afrobeat and traditional folk-music scenes, and delicious Ivorian food are all covered, as are hotels, the extraordinary mud mosques of Kong and the far north, Drummologie and 'talking drums', football (the 2023 Africa Nations Cup will be held here), and unprecedented pricing and timetabling information for the full range of transport options. Having only recently re-opened for tourism, Ivory Coast is West Africa's hidden treasure. Packed with vivid descriptions, detailed maps and essential practical advice, Bradt's Ivory Coast is the ideal companion for a perfect trip, whatever your interest.

Dr Tom Sykes ([email protected]) has been a travel writer and editor since co-compiling an anthology of hitchhiking tales, No Such Thing as a Free Ride? (Cassell Illustrated, 2005). Since his first visit to Ivory Coast in 2013, he has published articles on everything from the persecution of Ivorian Rastafarians to the 2015 presidential election for The Scotsman, African Courier, New Statesman, New Internationalist and New African. Now Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, these days he has to do most of his travelling during the summer holidays. He is the author of The Realm of the Punisher (2018), a 'political travelogue' of the Philippines, and the upcoming academic monograph A Cultural History of Manila: Literature, Empire and Orientalism in the Philippines. He is also a co-editor of the Nesta-funded hyperlocal news project www.starandcrescent.org.uk.