Trans-Africa Overland Route 2026: What Runs and Who Runs It

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Oasis Overland has run a Trans-Africa expedition almost every year since 1997. In that time, it has never driven the same West African stretch of the Trans-Africa overland route twice.

The operator’s own explanation reads like a catalogue of everything that stops a truck: visa changes, border closures, elections, disease outbreaks and shifting government advice. In 2026, the Trans-Africa overland route faces something bigger than any single closure. It no longer works as one journey. War has cut it in the east, terrorist blockades have cut it across the Sahel, and visa rules fray it in Central Africa.

The result is a route with three statuses. Some sections run on schedule. Some run only for specialists. Some are closed to the tour trade altogether. That frontier is also an emerging destination. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau all sit on it, and truck operators route through each. This article sets out what runs, what does not, and who keeps it moving for UK buyers who want West Africa off the grid. We checked every date, price and advisory on 4 November 2026.

That history matters. According to Overlanding West Africa, tourism in the region has long concentrated on The Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Togo and Benin. Trucks went where the brochures did not.

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Where the Trans-Africa Overland Route Breaks

Start with the hole in the middle. Sudan sits between Egypt and Ethiopia, and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises against all travel there because of a conflict that began in April 2023.

The closure has reshaped the product. In 2024, Oasis Overland told clients it could not drive through Sudan and that Red Sea problems complicated truck shipping, so it launched a northbound Cape Town to Cairo expedition instead of another southbound run.

Today, Oasis splits the journey instead of abandoning it. Its 331-day Fes to Cairo expedition parks the truck in Addis Ababa, flies passengers to Egypt, and finishes with trains, buses and hotels. The company says it has run its last two trips this way. The price starts at £10,995, plus a US$5,800 local payment on the 2027 departure.

The Sahel is the second break, and a harder one. FCDO advises against all travel to Mali and tells British nationals already there not to leave by road, citing terrorist attacks on national highways. The group Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) has blockaded key routes across the south and west, including around the capital, Bamako. FCDO also advises against all travel to Burkina Faso. It warns that it may be unable to help British nationals evacuate in an emergency, and that insurance can be invalidated if travellers ignore its advice.

The risk is current. FCDO lists coordinated attacks on 25 April 2026 in Kidal, Gao, Kati, Sévaré and near Bamako International Airport, which closed temporarily, and further attacks on military sites on 4 July 2026.

Insurance, not bravery, decides what operators do next. Overlanding West Africa, a UK-registered company, dropped Burkina Faso in early 2019. It keeps Mali off its route because it cannot obtain tour operator and public liability cover if it ignores the official warnings.

The Atlantic Sections That Still Run

The western route works, and it works in sequence. Trucks leave Fez, cross Morocco and Western Sahara, and enter Mauritania. They reach the Senegal River at Rosso or Diama, then turn south through The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Dragoman’s version covers 10 countries in 77 days. The next departure leaves Fez on 21 October 2027 and reaches Accra on 5 January 2028. It costs from £4,395 plus a €1,250 cash local payment, carries a maximum of 24 travellers and puts passengers in tents for 75 per cent of nights.

Visas shape the schedule. UK passport holders need none for Morocco, Senegal or The Gambia, but they need one for Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Dragoman advises UK travellers to obtain the Ghanaian visa before they leave home.

Mauritania carries the biggest official caveat on this leg. FCDO advises against all travel to eastern Mauritania and to areas within 25km of the Malian border, and against all but essential travel to parts of the interior. Operators respond by calling their itineraries intentions, not promises, and by changing course when advice changes.

East of Ghana, the coastal road runs on to Lagos, but it is still the existing road. ECOWAS road ministers met in Lomé on 30 October 2026 and endorsed the first sections of a planned 1,028km, six-lane highway linking Abidjan, Accra, Lomé, Cotonou and Lagos. They also urged financiers to raise the capital still needed to build it.

Beyond Lagos, the route is for specialists. Dragoman offers an Accra-to-Cape Town extension through Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. Overlanding West Africa cancelled its own Togo-to-Congo trip because Nigeria tightened its visa rules, and it says Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo tightened theirs further.

Southern and East Africa keep running. Oasis Overland’s northbound itinerary carries the truck from Cape Town through Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, then on to Ethiopia, Somaliland and Djibouti before it stops at Addis Ababa.

Who Is Running the Trans-Africa Overland Route

Three UK-facing operators run the Atlantic leg, and each sells it differently. Oasis Overland sells the long haul. It lists Trans Africa departures for 2027 and 2028 and says it has run the expedition almost yearly since 1997. It also tells clients that West Africa remains largely undiscovered for tourism and that no two of its West African itineraries have matched.

Oasis sells its 75-day Fes to Accra trip from £3,995 to £4,595, with departures listed for 26 October 2026, 25 October 2027 and 23 October 2028. Dragoman, based in Oxford, sells one 77-day block with a tour leader, a driver and a cook, and displays ABTA and ATOL membership on its website. It will also price a shorter section on request. Overlanding West Africa sells slices.

The slices matter most to buyers. Overlanding West Africa runs seven trips a season between October and May, the dry season: three southbound legs, one Accra loop and three northbound legs. Its Dakar to Freetown leg runs from 26 October to 23 November 2026 at £1,840. Freetown to Accra runs from 23 November to 21 December 2026 at the same price. Each leg carries a separate cash kitty, and 2027–28 dates are open for booking.

On its own account, Overlanding West Africa was the first truck-based operator to run Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone in 2012 and Liberia in 2013. Those trips mattered because they brought paying visitors into countries rebuilding tourism after conflict.

Italy’s TransAfrica sits at the other end of the price scale. It sells a 24-day Marrakech to Dakar departure from 9 November 2026 from €7,927, and a 52-day Marrakech to Accra itinerary from €18,063. Group tour operators sell the route as a shared expedition. Small-group guided departures sell it as a service. UK buyers must know which of the two they are selling.

What UK Buyers Should Do With the Trans-Africa Overland Route

Demand sits behind the supply. UN Tourism counted 81 million international arrivals in Africa in 2025, up 8 per cent from 2024, the fastest growth of any world region. North Africa led, with an 11 per cent rise, giving the Fes start line a tailwind.

Sierra Leone shows how quickly a small West African market responds to attention. Its Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs said arrivals from Spain, the UK and Germany rose 50 per cent between 2023 and 2024.

The Ministry also announced on 2 November 2026 that Sierra Leone will host the third UN Africa Gastronomy Forum, after a UN Tourism team completed an inspection visit on 13 October.

That is the story of this section today. Carried for years by a handful of truck operators, the Atlantic leg now feeds markets that governments have started to measure. UK buyers can act on it in five steps.

• Sell sections, not the whole map. A 28-day leg carries far less visa and insurance risk than 331 days.
• Check financial protection before the route. Ask each operator for its cover in writing.
• Budget for visas. Dragoman puts the visa and letter-of-invitation bill for its West African expedition at roughly £1,000.
• Time the sale. The dry season runs from October to May, and operators already list 2027 and 2028 departures.
• Expect change. Every operator writes flexibility into its itinerary, and FCDO last updated its Mauritania advice on 19 October 2026.

Do not plan your next African itinerary on last year’s map. Read more Rex Clarke Adventures features on routes, visas and the operators shaping travel across the continent, and make your next buying decision a better-informed one.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) And Answers 

1. Can you still drive the Trans-Africa overland route from Cairo to Cape Town in 2026?

Not in one continuous journey. The FCDO advises against all travel to Sudan, which sits between Egypt and Ethiopia. Oasis Overland leaves its truck in Addis Ababa and flies passengers to Cairo, then completes the Egyptian leg by train, bus and hotel. Its Fes to Cairo expedition starts from £10,995 on the 2027 departure.

2. Which sections of the Trans-Africa overland route are operational?

The Atlantic leg from Morocco through Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal, then south through The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, runs with Dragoman, Oasis Overland and Overlanding West Africa. Southern and East Africa run as well. Central Africa runs only on long specialist expeditions, where visas for Nigeria, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo create the risk.

3. Can UK travellers cross Mali or Burkina Faso overland?

No operator in this article routes through them. The FCDO advises against all travel to both countries, and the Mali advice says British nationals already there should not leave by road. Travel insurance can be invalidated if you travel against FCDO advice.

4. How much does a West Africa overland trip cost?

Dragoman’s 77-day Fez to Accra expedition costs from £4,395 plus a €1,250 cash local payment for the 21 October 2027 departure, and it advises budgeting about £1,000 for visas. Overlanding West Africa sells single legs at £1,840 each for Dakar to Freetown and Freetown to Accra, plus a cash kitty. Italy’s TransAfrica prices a 52-day Marrakech to Accra itinerary from €18,063.

5. When is the best time to travel West Africa overland?

Overlanding West Africa runs its trips between October and May because that is the dry season. Dragoman and Oasis Overland also schedule their Fez departures in late October. Book early, and check FCDO advice for each country before you pay the balance.