Ivory Coast Relax: Beaches, Luxury and the World's Largest Basilica

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This total-disconnect itinerary travels through the most refined side of Ivory Coast. It begins in Abidjan, the 'Pearl of the Lagoons' and the most cosmopolitan city in French-speaking West Africa, with its glass-city skyline over Ébrié Lagoon. Accommodation is in five-star hotels in the Plateau or Cocody district, with spas, infinity pools and Ivorian-French fusion cuisine. The first escape is to Grand-Bassam, the former colonial capital declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site: streets shaded by flamboyant trees, Creole houses with wrought-iron balconies and an endless fine-sand beach where fishermen haul in their nets at sunset. The jewel of the trip is Assinie, the Ivorian Saint-Tropez: a coastal strip between the Atlantic Ocean and Aby Lagoon with boutique resorts framed by palm trees and hammocks, water sports and fresh grilled seafood with sand between your toes. The grand finale is Yamoussoukro, the political capital where President Houphouët-Boigny built a replica of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican that is today the largest church in the world: 7,000 square meters of marble, stained-glass windows and a dome visible from miles away. Six days of tropical luxury, colonial heritage and paradise beaches.