Cotonou: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Cotonou is a city of 679,012 people in Benin (Littoral), 7 m (23 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Cotonou Cadjehoun International Airport (COO), 4 km (2 mi) from the centre. It is a port city: Port of Cotonou. Our booking partner lists 578 places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Cotonou runs from about 11 h 48 min a day in late December to 12 h 32 min in late June (computed for 6.37° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Cotonou is served by one airport with scheduled flights. The closest large one is Cotonou Cadjehoun International Airport (COO), 4 km (2 mi) from the centre, with a longest runway of 7,906 ft, which limits it to short and medium-haul aircraft.
Flights to Cotonou: every airport, routes and times
Buses to Cotonou · Driving and car hire · Ferries
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 578 places to stay in Cotonou. Of the 135 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (72), and 3 are five-star. Across 13 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8 out of 10. Guests have left 3,599 reviews in total.
Hotels in Cotonou: the full picture, and book
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Musée des sciences naturelles de Cotonou | 15,000 | 2021 |
The busiest is Musée des sciences naturelles de Cotonou at 15,000 visitors in 2021. Figures are the latest each site has published, so they are not all for the same year.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Cotonou
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Lagos, 108 km (Nigeria)
- Ibadan, 199 km (Nigeria) — flights
- Lomé, 135 km (Togo)
- Accra, 303 km (Ghana) — flights
- Benin City, 354 km (Nigeria) — flights
- Ilorin, 333 km (Nigeria) — flights
- Warri, 380 km (Nigeria) — ferries
- Oyo, 235 km (Nigeria)
- Abeokuta, 135 km (Nigeria)
- Akure, 322 km (Nigeria)
Twin towns and sister cities: Taipei, Lagos, Atlanta, Žilina, Créteil, Rosny-sous-Bois, Ningbo, Geneva, Abidjan.
Common questions
Which airport serves Cotonou?
Cotonou Cadjehoun International Airport (COO), 4 km (2 mi) from the centre.
How big is Cotonou?
About 679,012 people live in Cotonou, across 79 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Cotonou in?
Africa/Porto-Novo, currently UTC+1.
What currency is used in Cotonou?
The Franc (XOF). Traffic drives on the right.
How many hotels are there in Cotonou?
Our booking partner lists 578 places to stay in Cotonou, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Cotonou?
Lagos (108 km), Ibadan (199 km), Lomé (135 km), Accra (303 km), Benin City (354 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.