The shortest distance between a plane and a gorilla.
Also the most expensive one.
Kigali is the best connected airport in the region and two hours from the Virungas, which makes Rwanda the fastest way into the mountains. It is also the most expensive, at USD 1,500 a permit.
Rwanda is small, and that is the point of it. Kigali International is two hours from Volcanoes National Park on a tarmac road, so you can land in the morning and sleep beside the forest that night. Nowhere else in the gorilla range comes close to that.
It is also the easiest country in the region to move through. The roads are good, the visa is issued on arrival, cards work, and the distances are short enough that nothing eats a day.
The honest part is the price. A Rwandan permit is USD 1,500 against Uganda's USD 800, for the same hour with the same species under almost the same rules. Both are on the table here, and the answer about which one suits your trip arrives before you book rather than after. Landing at Kigali and trekking in Uganda is not a workaround, it is the shortest road to the cheaper permit.
Safaris in Rwanda
Safaris that start or end in Kigali, including the ones that cross into Uganda at Cyanika.
Typically 3 to 5 daysGorilla trekkingUganda Gorilla Trekkingfrom USD 3,450per personSee the itinerary
Typically 3 to 5 daysGorilla trekkingRwanda Gorilla Trekkingfrom USD 3,900per personSee the itinerary
Typically 7 to 10 daysGorilla trekkingUganda Honeymoon Safarifrom USD 4,200per personSee the itineraryThe places worth the drive
Volcanoes National Park
Five of the eight Virunga volcanoes, and the forest Dian Fossey worked in for eighteen years.
Twelve habituated families, a two hour drive from Kigali, and a golden monkey permit at USD 100 that most people skip and should not.
Nyungwe Forest
One of the oldest rainforests in Africa, 1,000 square kilometres, and thirteen primate species including chimpanzee and a troop of around 400 Angolan colobus.
The canopy walkway runs 160 metres across a ravine, 70 metres up.
Akagera National Park
Savanna, lakes and papyrus swamp on the Tanzanian border, restocked with lion in 2015 and rhino in 2017 after both were lost.
Two and a half hours from Kigali, which makes it the only place in the country you can add a classic game drive without a flight.
Lake Kivu
One of the African Great Lakes, with no crocodiles and no hippo, along a shoreline of coffee terraces and fishing villages.
Gisenyi and Kibuye are both an easy drive from Volcanoes, and are where most people spend the day after a trek.
Kigali
Spread across a set of hills, clean to a degree that visitors comment on, and genuinely safe to walk at night.
The Genocide Memorial at Gisozi is not an optional stop. Give it two hours and nothing scheduled afterwards.
The year in Rwanda
Rwanda sits just south of the equator at altitude, so it is temperate all year and cool at night. The rain is what moves.
The long dry season
The best trekking months. The trails are firm, the volcanoes are clear in the mornings and the forest is at its most walkable.
It is also when permits go first, and Rwanda caps numbers hard.
The short rains
Afternoon rain, green hills, and fewer people on the mountain.
The permit price does not drop, but lodge rates often do, which is where the saving is in Rwanda.
The short dry season
Clear and busy over the new year, then quiet. Good visibility from the Virunga slopes and reliable roads throughout.
A strong window for combining Volcanoes with Akagera.
The long rains
The wettest months, and the forest floor shows it. Trekking is harder work and the descents are slippery.
Nyungwe is at its best for birds, and the hills have never looked better.
What we tell everyone
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