Benin travel advice
A summary of the UK government’s (FCDO) travel advice for Benin, last updated by the FCDO on 15 December 2025. The full advice on GOV.UK is the authoritative version.
FCDO status
FCDO advises against all travel to parts of the country FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of the country
Latest FCDO update (15 December 2025): FCDO now advises against all but essential travel to the remaining areas of the Alibori and Atacora departments. FCDO continues to advise against all but essential travel and all travel to other areas in Benin (‘Warnings and insurance’ page).
Warnings (from the FCDO, word for word)
Your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Areas where FCDO advises against travel
Northern border regions
FCDO advises against all travel to the Parc du W National Park and the hunting zones of Mékrou and Djona. The park is tri-national, sharing an open border with Burkina Faso and Niger. There is a risk of terrorist attacks and kidnapping throughout the park.
FCDO also advises against all travel to:
- the area between the Parc du W and the border with Niger
- the Pendjari National Park and adjacent hunting grounds
- all other areas within 5km of the border with Burkina Faso
Eastern Benin
FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the area between the Interstate Highway (RNIE) 2 from Tchaourou to Malanville and the Benin-Nigeria border, due to increasing criminality.
Alibori and Atacora
FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the rest of the Alibori and Atacora departments.
Find out more about why FCDO advises against travel.
Passport validity
Your passport must be valid for the duration of your stay.
Check with your travel provider that your passport and other travel documents meet requirements. Renew your passport if you need to.
You will be denied entry if you do not have a valid travel document or try to use a passport that has been reported lost or stolen.
From FCDO: entry requirements. Written for British passport holders.
Recent FCDO updates
- 15 December 2025: FCDO now advises against all but essential travel to the remaining areas of the Alibori and Atacora departments. FCDO continues to advise against all but essential travel and all travel to other areas in Benin (‘Warnings and insurance’ page).
- 10 December 2025: New information about dual nationals returning to the UK (‘Entry requirements’ page).
- 7 December 2025: Latest update: Update on the attempt coup (See ‘Political situation’ on the ‘Safety and security’ page)
Plan your trip
This page shows the FCDO’s headline status and quotes its text word for word; we don’t reword safety advice. It refreshes automatically, so it can lag GOV.UK by up to a day. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: FCDO foreign travel advice on GOV.UK. FCDO advice is written for British nationals; other nationalities should also check their own government’s advice.