What it is
A town split between the old colonial quarter on the spit, Quartier France, and the working town of N'zima across the lagoon. It was the colonial capital from 1893 until a yellow fever epidemic pushed the administration to Bingerville in 1896. UNESCO listed it in 2012.
Why go
The old quarter is a grid of crumbling and partly restored administrative and trading buildings from the 1890s to 1920s, the most coherent colonial townscape in the country. The former governor's palace holds the Musée National du Costume. There is a craft market and a line of beachfront restaurants. The Abissa, the N'Zima new year festival, takes over the town for a week in late October or early November.
When to go
Any dry month, and ideally not a Sunday, when Abidjan arrives en masse. The Atlantic here has a strong undertow and the beach is not safe for casual swimming; the restaurants are the draw, not the water.
Most people stay 1-2 nights.