Destinations across East Africa
From the Maasai Mara to the Rift Valley, the Swahili coast to the Mountains of the Moon. Filter by country below.
🌤 1°
Mount Kenya
Africa's second-highest peak — snow-capped equatorial giant wrapped in alpine moorland and bamboo forest.
🗓 Best: January–February and July–Septe…
Buffalo Springs National Reserve
Samburu's sister reserve — palm-fringed springs, doum palms, and classic northern-frontier game.
🗓 Best: June–October and December–MarchMaasai Mara Game Reserve
Kenya's flagship reserve — the northern extension of the Serengeti and stage of the Great Migration.
🗓 Best: July–October (migration); Dec–F…
☁ 32°
★ 7 tours
Samburu National Reserve
Arid northern frontier reserve famous for the 'Samburu 5' and the Ewaso Ng'iro river.
🗓 Best: June–October; December–MarchAmboseli National Park
Iconic elephants in front of Mt Kilimanjaro — the classic Africa postcard.
🗓 Best: June–October; January–February
🌦 24°
★ 8 tours
Lake Nakuru National Park
Ramsar wetland famous for flamingos, rhinos and Rift Valley viewpoints.
🗓 Best: June–SeptemberTsavo East National Park
One of the world's largest wildlife reserves — famous red-dust elephants and the Yatta Plateau.
🗓 Best: June–October; January–FebruaryTsavo West National Park
Volcanic landscapes, Mzima Springs hippos, and rhino sanctuary.
🗓 Best: June–October; January–FebruaryChyulu Hills National Park
Green rolling volcanic hills — Hemingway's 'Green Hills of Africa'.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberMeru National Park
Born Free country — the reserve where Joy Adamson raised Elsa the lioness.
🗓 Best: June–SeptemberAberdare National Park
Misty mountain forest, waterfalls and tree-hotel game viewing.
🗓 Best: July–MarchSolio Ranch
Private sanctuary with the highest rhino density in Kenya.
🗓 Best: Year-roundOl Pejeta Conservancy
Home of the last northern white rhinos and Africa's largest black-rhino sanctuary.
🗓 Best: Year-roundOl Jogi Conservancy
Exclusive Laikipia private conservancy — rhino rescue, big cats and low-volume safaris.
🗓 Best: Year-roundSamburu Reteti Elephant Sanctuary
The first community-owned elephant sanctuary in Africa.
🗓 Best: Year-round
☁ 23°
★ 8 tours
Mount Kenya National Park
UNESCO-listed equatorial snow peak — Africa's second-highest mountain.
🗓 Best: January–February; July–SeptemberMount Elgon National Park
Ancient shield volcano straddling Kenya and Uganda, with elephant caves and caldera trekking.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberHell's Gate National Park
Kenya's only park where you can cycle, walk and rock-climb among wildlife.
🗓 Best: Year-roundLake Naivasha
Freshwater Rift Valley lake — Crescent Island walking safaris, hippos and birders' paradise.
🗓 Best: Year-roundRift Valley Viewpoint
Iconic escarpment overlook — vast volcanic valley floor stretching to the horizon.
🗓 Best: Year-roundThomson's Falls (Nyahururu)
A 74m waterfall on the Ewaso Ng'iro — classic Kenya road-trip stop.
🗓 Best: Year-roundNairobi National Park
Big-Five savannah within sight of the Nairobi skyline.
🗓 Best: Year-round
🌦 22°
★ 4 tours
Giraffe Centre Nairobi
Hand-feed endangered Rothschild's giraffes on the outskirts of Nairobi.
🗓 Best: Year-round
🌦 21°
★ 2 tours
Karen Blixen Museum
The 'Out of Africa' farmhouse beneath the Ngong Hills.
🗓 Best: Year-roundNational Museums of Kenya (Nairobi)
Kenya's national museum — paleontology, cultures, and Kenyan art history.
🗓 Best: Year-roundDiani Beach
White-sand coral beach — kite-surfing, diving and Colobus monkeys.
🗓 Best: July–October; January–FebruaryMombasa
Kenya's 2,000-year-old port city — Swahili culture, Fort Jesus and the Old Town.
🗓 Best: Year-roundFort Jesus Mombasa
UNESCO-listed 16th-century Portuguese fort guarding Mombasa's old harbour.
🗓 Best: Year-roundLamu Old Town
UNESCO-listed Swahili island town — no cars, just dhows and donkeys.
🗓 Best: July–October; January–MarchWatamu
Turquoise coral-reef marine park — turtles, dolphins and the Mida Creek mangroves.
🗓 Best: July–October; January–MarchGede Ruins
The 12th-century ruins of a mysterious Swahili city swallowed by forest.
🗓 Best: Year-roundHell's Kitchen (Marafa Depression)
A technicolour eroded canyon of pink, orange and white sandstone outside Malindi.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberMambrui
Sleepy Swahili fishing village at the mouth of the Sabaki — dunes, dhows and birdlife.
🗓 Best: Year-roundShimba Hills National Reserve
Only Kenya home of the sable antelope — coastal rainforest within sight of the sea.
🗓 Best: July–OctoberRusinga Island
Lake Victoria island — Mbita causeway, Thomas Mboya memorial and Suba culture.
🗓 Best: Year-roundMfangano Island
Lake Victoria island with ancient rock art and the Abasuba community.
🗓 Best: Year-roundTakawiri Island
Tiny palm-fringed Lake Victoria island — a Kenyan castaway experience.
🗓 Best: Year-roundRuma National Park
Kenya's only home of the roan antelope — remote, rarely visited, Lambwe Valley.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberKakamega Forest
Kenya's only tropical rainforest — Congo Basin relict with endemic birds and monkeys.
🗓 Best: Year-roundLoisaba Conservancy
A 23,000-hectare Laikipia conservancy with private wildlife viewing, horseback and mountain-bike safaris.
🗓 Best: Year-roundIl Ngwesi Community Conservancy
Maasai community-owned conservancy with a famous eco-lodge — 100% profits stay with the community.
🗓 Best: June–October, January–FebruaryShaba National Reserve
Joy Adamson's final home — the 'third sister' of Samburu and Buffalo Springs reserves.
🗓 Best: June–October, January–MarchKericho Tea Country
Rolling green tea fields of western Kenya — home to the world's finest black tea.
🗓 Best: Year-round (dry July–March)Thika Coffee Country
Kenya's historic coffee belt — Karen Blixen's original estate and the Chania Falls.
🗓 Best: Year-roundBomas of Kenya
A living cultural village showcasing traditional homesteads of Kenya's 44+ ethnic communities.
🗓 Best: Year-roundDavid Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Elephant and rhino orphanage inside Nairobi National Park — visit the babies during the 11am feeding.
🗓 Best: Year-round (11am daily public f…Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park
Kenya's finest coral reef — dolphins, turtles, and some of the best snorkelling in East Africa.
🗓 Best: October–MarchTiwi Beach
Quieter, family-friendly alternative to Diani — same coral beach, half the crowd.
🗓 Best: December–March, July–OctoberBwindi Impenetrable National Park
UNESCO forest with half the world's mountain gorillas.
🗓 Best: June–September; December–Februa…Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Virunga volcanoes crossing — gorillas and golden monkeys on the Rwanda border.
🗓 Best: June–SeptemberKibale National Park
The primate capital of Africa — 13 primate species including chimpanzee trekking.
🗓 Best: June–September; December–Februa…Queen Elizabeth National Park
Ishasha tree-climbing lions, the Kazinga Channel and crater-lake country.
🗓 Best: June–SeptemberMurchison Falls National Park
The 'world's most powerful waterfall' — the Nile blasted through a 7-metre gap.
🗓 Best: December–February; June–Septemb…Source of the Nile — Jinja
Where the White Nile flows out of Lake Victoria — Uganda's adventure capital.
🗓 Best: Year-roundKazinga Channel
Africa's largest concentration of hippos and Nile crocs on a 40-km natural channel.
🗓 Best: Year-roundRwenzori Mountains National Park
The legendary Mountains of the Moon — glaciated equatorial peaks.
🗓 Best: June–August; December–FebruarySemliki National Park
Sempaya hot springs and the only Congo-Basin lowland rainforest in East Africa.
🗓 Best: June–September; December–Februa…Kidepo Valley National Park
Remote Karamoja frontier park with huge buffalo herds and dramatic Narus Valley.
🗓 Best: December–February; June–AugustSipi Falls (Kapchorwa)
A trio of waterfalls on the flanks of Mt Elgon — Uganda's signature coffee country.
🗓 Best: December–MarchMount Elgon National Park (Uganda)
Ancient shield volcano with cave paintings, giant caldera and mountain elephants.
🗓 Best: June–August; December–FebruaryLake Bunyonyi
Africa's deepest lake of 29 islands — the 'Switzerland of Africa'.
🗓 Best: Year-roundLake Mburo National Park
Uganda's smallest savannah park — zebras, impala and endemic papyrus birds.
🗓 Best: Year-roundSsese Islands
Archipelago of 84 Lake Victoria islands — beaches, forests and cultural roots.
🗓 Best: June–SeptemberCrater Lakes of Fort Portal
Emerald-rimmed volcanic crater lakes hidden in tea country.
🗓 Best: Year-roundKaramoja (Ik people)
Remote Karamoja highlands — home of the Ik, Karamojong and vast open landscapes.
🗓 Best: Year-roundKasubi Tombs (Kampala)
UNESCO-listed royal burial site of the Buganda kings.
🗓 Best: Year-roundNamugongo Martyrs Shrine
Uganda's most-visited pilgrimage site — memorial to the 1886 Uganda Martyrs.
🗓 Best: Year-roundUganda Museum & Old Kampala Mosque
Kampala cultural loop — national museum plus the 17,000-worshipper Gaddafi Mosque.
🗓 Best: Year-roundSerengeti National Park
The endless plains — theatre of the Great Migration.
🗓 Best: June–September (migration in th…Ngorongoro Crater
The Big-Five-packed 'Eden of Africa' — largest unbroken volcanic caldera on Earth.
🗓 Best: Year-roundMount Kilimanjaro
Africa's highest peak — 5,895m free-standing equatorial snow mountain.
🗓 Best: January–March; June–OctoberZanzibar & Stone Town
Spice islands off Tanzania — UNESCO Stone Town plus white-sand beaches.
🗓 Best: June–October; December–FebruaryTarangire National Park
Giant baobabs and seasonal elephant superherds.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberPemba Island
Zanzibar's quieter sister island — clove plantations, pristine coral reefs, flying fox colonies.
🗓 Best: June–October, December–FebruaryMafia Island
Pristine marine park famous for whale shark encounters, untouched reefs and sleepy Swahili villages.
🗓 Best: October–March (whale sharks pea…Lake Manyara National Park
Tree-climbing lions, flamingo-fringed soda lake and the Great Rift Valley escarpment backdrop.
🗓 Best: June–October, January–FebruarySelous Game Reserve (Nyerere NP)
Africa's largest protected wildlife area — 50,000 km² of rivers, miombo woodland and boat safaris.
🗓 Best: June–October (dry season)Ruaha National Park
Tanzania's second-largest park — remote, wild, and one of the last great lion strongholds.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberMahale Mountains National Park
Chimpanzee tracking on the white-sand shore of Lake Tanganyika — reached only by boat or bush flight.
🗓 Best: May–October (dry)Gombe Stream National Park
The smallest Tanzanian park — and the birthplace of modern chimpanzee research under Jane Goodall.
🗓 Best: May–OctoberLake Tanganyika
The world's second-deepest lake — 1,470 m, 673 km long, home to 250+ cichlid species.
🗓 Best: Year-roundLake Victoria (Mwanza)
Africa's largest lake — fishing villages, Bismarck Rock and the gateway to Rubondo and Saanane islands.
🗓 Best: Year-roundMount Meru
4,566 m dormant volcano — the best Kilimanjaro acclimatisation climb with wildlife to boot.
🗓 Best: June–FebruaryOlduvai Gorge
'The Cradle of Humankind' — paleoanthropological site with 1.9-million-year-old hominid fossils.
🗓 Best: Year-round (dry season easier a…Arusha National Park
Compact park with Mt Meru, Momella Lakes (flamingos), and the Ngurdoto Crater — all in one day.
🗓 Best: June–October, December–FebruaryKatavi National Park
Tanzania's wildest park — huge hippo pools, buffalo superherds and zero tourists.
🗓 Best: July–October (dry season only)Usambara Mountains
Scenic hiking trails, waterfalls and viewpoints in the cool highlands above Tanga.
🗓 Best: June–October, December–FebruaryKilwa Kisiwani
UNESCO-listed ruins of a medieval Swahili trading empire — coral-stone mosque + palace.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberBagamoyo
Historic Swahili coast town — former slave-trade port and German East African capital.
🗓 Best: Year-roundMikumi National Park
Tanzania's fourth-largest park — 'Serengeti-lite' with giraffes, zebras and easy Dar es Salaam access.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberSaanane Island National Park
Africa's first aquatic national park — tiny forested island in Lake Victoria near Mwanza.
🗓 Best: Year-roundRubondo Island National Park
Remote 457 km² Lake Victoria island — chimpanzee sanctuary + sitatunga + birding.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberPangani
Historic Swahili coast town at the Pangani River mouth — ancient ruins + pristine beaches.
🗓 Best: June–October, December–FebruaryDar es Salaam
Tanzania's largest city — Swahili culture, National Museum, Kariakoo market, Coco Beach nightlife.
🗓 Best: Year-roundArusha City
Safari gateway at 1,400 m — ICTR memorial, Arusha Declaration Museum, cultural heritage centre.
🗓 Best: Year-roundKondoa Rock-Art Sites
UNESCO-listed 2,000-year-old ochre + white rock paintings — 150 documented sites.
🗓 Best: June–OctoberVolcanoes National Park (Rwanda)
Mountain-gorilla trekking on the Virunga volcanoes — Dian Fossey's legacy.
🗓 Best: June–September; December–Februa…Nyungwe Forest National Park
Montane rainforest — chimpanzees, Colobus superbands and a canopy walkway.
🗓 Best: Year-roundAkagera National Park
Big-Five savannah park — Rwanda's recently reintroduced lions and rhinos.
🗓 Best: June–SeptemberLake Kivu
Rift-Valley lake beach towns — Rubavu, Kibuye, Rusizi.
🗓 Best: Year-roundKigali Genocide Memorial
Rwanda's most important memorial — the 1994 Genocide museum and burial site.
🗓 Best: Year-roundKarongi (Kibuye)
Scenic lakeside town on Lake Kivu — peaceful shoreline, memorial sites and island-hopping by boat.
🗓 Best: Year-round (June–September & De…Congo Nile Trail
227 km multi-day hiking/biking route along Lake Kivu from Rubavu to Rusizi.
🗓 Best: June–September (dry season for …Mount Bisoke
3,711 m volcano with a perfect crater lake at the top — the best day-trek in Volcanoes NP.
🗓 Best: June–September, December–Februa…Mount Karisimbi
Rwanda's highest peak at 4,507 m — a demanding 2-day summit with snow at the top.
🗓 Best: June–September, December–Februa…Dian Fossey Grave & Karisoke Research Camp
Hike to the former research camp and burial site of the mountain-gorilla pioneer.
🗓 Best: June–September, December–Februa…Nyamata Genocide Memorial
A former Catholic church preserved as it was found after 10,000 refugees were killed inside in 1994.
🗓 Best: Year-roundMurambi Genocide Memorial
Former technical school with preserved remains — one of the most difficult memorials to visit.
🗓 Best: Year-roundKing's Palace Museum (Nyanza)
Re-creation of the pre-colonial royal palace with the long-horned Inyambo cattle tradition.
🗓 Best: Year-roundEthnographic Museum (Huye)
Rwanda's best museum — seven galleries covering geology, crafts, culture and history.
🗓 Best: Year-roundIby'Iwacu Cultural Village
Reformed-poachers cultural village — community-run Rwandan heritage experience at the foot of the volcanoes.
🗓 Best: Year-roundLake Burera & Lake Ruhondo
Twin volcanic lakes at the foot of the Virunga volcanoes — Rwanda's most photographed landscape.
🗓 Best: June–September, December–Februa…Gishwati-Mukura National Park
Rwanda's newest national park — a reforested montane rainforest with chimpanzees and golden monkeys.
🗓 Best: Year-round (drier June–Septembe…Nyabarongo River & Wetlands
The most distant source of the Nile — wetlands, birding and the Nile's southernmost headwaters.
🗓 Best: Year-roundRubavu (Gisenyi)
Lake Kivu beach town with black-sand beaches, hot springs and DRC border views.
🗓 Best: June–September, December–Februa…Camp Kigali Memorial
Memorial to the 10 Belgian UN peacekeepers murdered in 1994 — a short, moving stop in central Kigali.
🗓 Best: Year-roundLalibela Rock-Hewn Churches
UNESCO-listed 12th-century churches carved downward from solid rock.
🗓 Best: October–MarchSimien Mountains National Park
UNESCO alpine wilderness — gelada baboons and the Ras Dashen summit.
🗓 Best: October–MarchAxum Stelae
Ancient capital of the Axumite Empire — granite obelisks and the Ark of the Covenant tradition.
🗓 Best: October–MarchDanakil Depression
One of Earth's hottest, lowest places — active volcanoes and salt flats.
🗓 Best: November–FebruaryBale Mountains National Park
Home of the Ethiopian wolf — Afro-alpine moorland trekking.
🗓 Best: November–MarchErta Ale Volcano
Active shield volcano with one of only five persistent lava lakes on Earth — 613 m summit over salt desert.
🗓 Best: November–February (avoid April–…Gondar
The 'Camelot of Africa' — Fasil Ghebbi royal enclosure of 17th-century castles, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
🗓 Best: October–April (dry season)Harar Jugol
Ancient walled Islamic city — the fourth-holiest city in Islam, UNESCO site with 82 mosques and the nightly hyena feeding.
🗓 Best: Year-round (coolest December–Fe…Lake Tana
Ethiopia's largest lake and the source of the Blue Nile — 37 islands hold ancient monasteries with frescoed churches.
🗓 Best: September–April (boat trips saf…Blue Nile Falls (Tis Abay)
A thunderous 45-metre waterfall 30 km from Bahir Dar — 'Tis Abay' means 'water that smokes'.
🗓 Best: August–September (peak flow); O…Omo Valley
Cultural frontier in southern Ethiopia — home to Mursi lip-plates, Hamer bull-jumping, Karo body paint and 50+ tribes.
🗓 Best: October–March (dry season)Tiya Megalithic Stelae
UNESCO-listed archaeological site — 45 carved stelae of mysterious origin, possibly 12th–14th century.
🗓 Best: Year-roundAddis Ababa
Africa's diplomatic capital at 2,355 m — home of Lucy, Africa's largest open-air market, and the birthplace of the coffee ceremony.
🗓 Best: Year-round (mild 2,355 m altitu…Bahir Dar
Lakeside Amhara capital at 1,840 m — palm-lined boulevards, Lake Tana monastery boats, and the gateway to Blue Nile Falls.
🗓 Best: September–AprilDebre Damo Monastery
6th-century cliff-top monastery — the only way up is a 15-metre climb with a hand-hoisted rope. Men only.
🗓 Best: October–March (access closed in…Sof Omar Caves
15 km labyrinth carved by the Weyb River — one of Africa's largest cave systems, a Muslim pilgrimage site.
🗓 Best: October–May (river low)Nechisar National Park
Scenic park wedged between Lakes Abaya and Chamo — Burchell's zebra on the Nechisar plains and 'crocodile market' on Lake Chamo.
🗓 Best: October–MarchAwash National Park
Ethiopia's oldest national park (1966) — Awash River gorge, the dormant Fentale volcano, and the classic beisa oryx.
🗓 Best: October–AprilRift Valley Lakes
A 500 km chain of lakes between Addis and Arba Minch — Ziway, Langano, Abijatta, Shalla — each distinct.
🗓 Best: Year-round (birding peak Novemb…Yabelo Wildlife Sanctuary
Remote sanctuary for two Ethiopian endemic birds — Stresemann's bush-crow and the white-tailed swallow.
🗓 Best: October–MarchChebera Churchura National Park
Remote, under-visited park with Ethiopia's largest untouched elephant population — a raw wilderness experience.
🗓 Best: October–FebruaryKonso Cultural Landscape
UNESCO-listed terraced farming culture — 400-year-old dry-stone terraces, fortified villages and carved waka grave markers.
🗓 Best: October–FebruaryMago National Park
Gateway to the Mursi lip-plate villages — also home to lion, elephant, buffalo and the rare lesser kudu.
🗓 Best: October–FebruaryWenchi Crater Lake
A perfect circular crater lake at 3,000 m — horseback or boat tours, hot springs, and an island monastery.
🗓 Best: October–AprilChencha / Dorze Village
Traditional weaving village at 2,900 m — 12-metre-tall bamboo beehive homes and the false-banana (enset) culture.
🗓 Best: Year-round