Benin: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Benin feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 35 written places.
Warm, formal in its greetings and lively in its markets; personal connection precedes everything.
✓ Considered polite
- Greet before anything else - a Bonjour and a question about the family opens every exchange
- Use your right hand for greetings, payments and eating
- Ask permission before photographing people, shrines or ceremonies
- Dress smartly - clean, pressed clothes signal respect
✗ Better avoided
- Rush greetings - skipping the pleasantries reads as disrespect
- Give or receive anything with your left hand
- Expect fixed prices in markets - skipping the bargaining can even disappoint the seller
- Refuse a seat or water offered by a host - accept at least symbolically
Worth knowing
- Cash is king - carry small CFA franc notes, as ATMs thin out fast beyond Cotonou
- Zemidjan moto-taxis in coloured vests are the standard way around town - agree the fare first
- French is the working language, and a few words go a very long way
- Vodun is a living religion here, not a spectacle - its public face is the Ouidah festival each January
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.