Burkina Faso Solo Female Travel Safety Tips and Advice

On this page you will find first-hand, unbiased, and real safety tips, advice and reviews from women traveling solo, submitted directly from their personal experiences in the country.

Their opinions are unfiltered and submitted independently as part of the Solo Female Travel Safety Index, a ranking of 210 countries and regions based on how safe they are for women traveling solo.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers.

You don’t need to login to read the below reviews. But do sign up or login to share your solo travel experiences, country safety rating and comments.

Burkina Faso Country data

We have compiled a few data points below that can help you better understand Burkina Faso and have more context when thinking about travel safety.

Official country name: Burkina Faso.

Etymology: Formerly known as Upper Volta, the name Burkina Faso translates as "Land of the Honest (Incorruptible) Men".

Capital: Ouagadougou.

Independence / foundation: In the late 19th century, European states competed for control of the region. France eventually conquered the area and established it as a French protectorate. The area achieved independence from France in 1960 and changed its name to Burkina Faso in 1984.

Population: 22 million.

Currency: West African CFA Franc (XOF)
1 USD = 599 - 609 XOF
1 EUR = 656 XOF

Time zone: UTC 0

Languages spoken: French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population.

Religions: Muslim 63%, Roman Catholic 25%, Protestant 7%, traditional/animist 4%, none <1%, unspecified <1%.

Climate: Three climate zones including a hot tropical savanna with a short rainy season in the southern half, a tropical hot semi-arid steppe climate typical of the Sahel region in the northern half, and small area of hot desert in the very north of the country bordering the Sahara Desert.

Real GDP (ppp – purchasing power parity): $49 billion.

Real GDP per capita (ppp): $2,200.

Main airports: Ouagadougou Airport, Bobo Dioulasso Airport, Bogande Airport.

World heritage sites in Burkina Faso

There are over 1,100 world heritage sites spread across more than 165 countries. New ones are added every year, and some may be removed from the list for various reasons.

Number of UNESCO listed sites: 3.

Top world heritage sites:

- Ruins of Loropéni.
- Ancient Ferrous Metallurgy Sites.
- W-Arly-Pendjari Complex shared with Benin.

Interesting facts about Burkina Faso

- Capital of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougou. Spelled as “Wogodogo” in the Mòoré dialect, it literally means “You are welcome here at home with us”.

- Burkina Faso’s main export is gold, followed by cotton which the country is the largest exporter of in Africa.

- The University of Ouagadougou was founded in 1974, and it was the country’s first institution of higher education.

- Burkina Faso is a leader in art and culture and hosts the largest craft market in Africa, The International Art and Craft Fair.

Further reading: N/A.

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Burkina Faso Travel tips

More about Burkina Faso on Solo Female Travelers

Coming soon.

Did you spot any errors? We do our best to keep this information updated and accurate, but things change. If you saw anything that is not right, let us know so we can fix it: [email protected].

About the Solo Female Travel Safety Index

Safety matters to solo female travelers, you told us so in our annual Solo Female Travel Survey, where year after year, women prove that this is their most important concern when traveling solo.

We wanted to do something about it, so we built these country-specific pages where you can find reviews and scores for 7 key variables affecting the safety of women traveling solo.

How to use the Safety Index

On this page, you will find the country score and the personal opinions on safety of other women traveling solo.

You can sort the comments by:

• The level of experience traveling solo of the reviewer (beginner = <5 trips solo, Intermediate = 5 to 10 trips solo, Experienced = >10 trips solo).
• The age of the traveler.
• Whether they are a visitor or local.
• The date they were posted.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers. 

Thus, the lower the score, the safer the country.

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Looking for more safety resources?

This entire website is devoted to helping women travel solo. Check out the links below to learn more:

Solo Female Travel Stats: Results from the the largest, most comprehensive and only global research study on solo female travel trends, preferences and behaviors published.

Thanks to Jacobo Vilella for creating the Solo Female Travelers Safety Index ❤️