--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Gaborone, Botswana | Wimup" description: "The 10 best things to do in Gaborone, ranked: Kgale Hill, Mokolodi, the Three Dikgosi Monument, the Matsieng rock art and the Oodi weavers." url: https://wimup.com/city/gaborone type: City guide updated: 2026-09-05 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10 Things To Do in Gaborone Gaborone, Botswana · Africa · By Wimup Editorial, 12 min read Gaborone was farmland in 1964 and a national capital by 1966, built from nothing in three years because independence needed a seat inside the country. It reads that way: low, planned, spread wide, and short on the old quarter most visitors go looking for. What it has instead is bush at the edge of the suburbs. ## Quick answer The best things to do in Gaborone are Kgale Hill at sunrise, Mokolodi Nature Reserve, the Three Dikgosi Monument in the CBD, the game reserve off Limpopo Drive, and the rock engravings at Matsieng and Manyana. Two days covers the city and its edges. Most of the good things sit outside town, so a hire car earns its keep, and May to August is the window. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** May–Aug - **Ideal length:** 2 days - **Budget per day:** $70–150 - **Language:** Setswana and English - **Getting around:** Combis, taxis and a hire car - **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## The 10 best things to do in Gaborone ### 1. Climb Kgale Hill at first light Hike · Kgale Hill, off the A1 Lobatse road, southwest Gaborone The Sleeping Giant tops out at 1,287 metres and hands you the city, the dam and the border hills in one turn of the head. An hour up a rocky path, less coming down. The resident chacma baboons keep their distance if you keep yours. - **Time:** 2 hr return - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Sunrise, before the heat - **Tip:** No shade and no water on the hill. Carry your own and go with company. ### 2. Track rhino at Mokolodi Nature Reserve Nature reserve · Mokolodi Nature Reserve, Lobatse road (A1), 10 km south of Gaborone The closest real bush to the capital, ten kilometres down the Lobatse road. Game drives, guided walks and rhino tracking all leave from the gate. It is a working sanctuary rather than a park with guarantees, so a sighting is earned. - **Time:** Half a day - **Cost:** Entry plus a fee per activity - **Best at:** The early morning game drive - **Tip:** Book activities ahead. The reserve takes bookings by phone on +267 316 1955. Links: [Website](https://mokolodi.co.bw/activities/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 3. Read the Three Dikgosi Monument Monument · Khama Crescent, Central Business District, Gaborone Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I sailed to London in 1895 and talked the British out of handing Bechuanaland to Cecil Rhodes and his company. The three bronzes stand 5.4 metres each, unveiled in 2005, ringed by six plinths that carry the story to independence. - **Time:** 30 min - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Late afternoon, once the CBD empties - **Tip:** The plinth texts are the point. Walk the full circle before you photograph it. ### 4. Drive the loop at Gaborone Game Reserve Game reserve · Limpopo Drive, east of Broadhurst, Gaborone One of the smallest protected areas in Botswana, opened in 1988 and set a kilometre from a shopping centre. A single gravel loop takes under an hour in an ordinary car, and the birdlife alone justifies the binoculars in the glovebox. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** P10 an adult, P5 a child, plus P10 for the vehicle - **Best at:** The last hour before the gate closes - **Tip:** No 4x4 needed. Bring small notes; the gate deals in cash. ### 5. Find the Matsieng Footprints Heritage site · Matsieng, off the A1 about 10 km north of Rasesa, Kgatleng District A national monument half an hour north of the city: up to 117 engravings of human and animal tracks cut into a sandstone pan around three natural rock holes. Setswana tradition holds this is where the first people and their cattle climbed out of the earth. - **Time:** 1 hr on site - **Cost:** Small entry fee - **Best at:** Morning, before the rock glares - **Tip:** The Botswana National Museum administers the site. Sign in at the gate. Links: [Website](https://botswanatourism.co.bw/explore/matsieng-footprints?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 6. Walk the National Botanical Garden Garden · Okwa Road, The Village, Gaborone Seven hectares along the Notwane, planted by plant community rather than by flowerbed, so you cross from Kalahari sandveld to riverine woodland in twenty minutes. The quietest green in the city and the easiest birding in it. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Small entry fee - **Best at:** A weekday morning - **Tip:** Closed at weekends and on public holidays, and it shuts between 12:30 and 14:00. ### 7. See the Manyana rock paintings Rock art · Manyana village, about 45 km west of Gaborone Giraffe, antelope, human figures and geometric marks spread over five panels of cliff face, made by Khoe herders somewhere between 1100 and 1700. The tree where David Livingstone taught reading stands in the same village. - **Time:** 2 hr with the drive - **Cost:** Guide fee - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Ask at the village kgotla for a guide. The fainter panels are hard to read alone. ### 8. Watch the looms at Lentswe-la-Oodi Weavers Craft workshop · Oodi village, about 20 km north of Gaborone off the Francistown road A weaving cooperative founded in 1973 and owned outright by the women who run it. They spin, dye and weave wall hangings of rural scenes on floor looms you can stand beside, and the shop sells whatever has just come off the frame. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Free to watch - **Best at:** Weekday working hours - **Tip:** Buy here rather than in town. The money goes straight to the cooperative. ### 9. Buy baskets at Botswanacraft Craft market · Plot 20716, Magochanyama Road, off Western Bypass, Block 3, Gaborone Set up in 1970 to sell rural craft at a fair price, and still the deepest stock in the country: coiled Ngamiland baskets, San ostrich-shell work, carving and textiles. The Courtyard restaurant sits behind the shop. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Free entry - **Best at:** Late morning, then lunch next door - **Tip:** Pair it with the Courtyard behind the store, one of the few kitchens in town cooking Setswana food. Links: [Website](https://botswanacraft.com/the-craft-shop?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 10. Walk Main Mall end to end Street · Main Mall, Gaborone Central The original spine of the planned city: a pedestrian street under jacarandas with no cars on it, government offices at the far end, craft and curio vendors set up down the middle. The best half hour anywhere for reading the capital. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Weekday lunchtime, when it fills - **Tip:** Quiet at weekends. Come on a working day if you want the stalls open. ## Best outdoors & sport in Gaborone Where the city goes when the working week stops. 1. **Gaborone Dam and the Yacht Club** (Sailing, birding, fishing · South of the city): The largest man-made water in Botswana. The yacht club sits on an island reached by causeway, with an open-air bar over the water. 2. **Phakalane Golf Estate** (18 holes, par 72 · Phakalane): The only 18-hole championship course in the country, fifteen kilometres north of the centre and open to visitors. 3. **Gaborone Golf Club** (Par 71, founded 1967 · Extension 9): Built in 1967, a year after the capital itself, and the shorter, older, closer-in alternative at 6,361 yards off the back tees. ## Best restaurants in Gaborone Six kitchens worth crossing the city for, from Setswana staples to South Indian. 1. **Caravela Portuguese Restaurant** (Portuguese, seafood · The Village): The steady favourite in Gaborone for two decades. Portuguese cooking, seafood the house specialty, quiet garden tables. 2. **The Courtyard at Botswanacraft** (Setswana and continental · Block 3): Tucked behind the craft store and one of the few kitchens in town serving Setswana food to visitors rather than to a kgotla. [Website](https://botswanacraft.com/the-courtyard?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 3. **Chutney** (South Indian · Westgate Mall): South Indian cooking with a Chinese menu alongside it, and the vegetarian list that residents name first. 4. **Sanitas** (Garden cafe · Off Machel Drive): A garden restaurant inside the oldest nursery in Botswana, on a farm near the dam. Breakfast and lunch under shade cloth. [Website](https://www.sanitas.co.bw/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 5. **The Beef Baron** (Grill room · Grand Palm, Molepolole Road): The formal grill room at the Grand Palm, built around Botswana beef, which is the one thing this country exports to fussy markets. [Website](https://grandpalm.bw/restaurants/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 6. **Jarateng Lounge** (Braai and grill · Riverwalk Mall): Braai, Tswana plates and American-style barbecue in a backyard setting, upstairs at the oldest mall in the country. ## Best bars & nightlife in Gaborone Three rooms that carry the city between Thursday and Saturday. 1. **Bull & Bush** (Pub and club · Near Gaborone Sun): Three venues in one: a pub, an outdoor bar and a dance floor. Live music, quiz nights and the sport on screens. The default answer. 2. **News Café** (Bar and cocktails · Riverwalk Mall): A restaurant that becomes a bar, and the reliable Thursday. Happy hour runs from five to seven. 3. **Chez Nicolas Lounge** (Lounge and dancing · CBD): In the iTowers block in the CBD, and the one venue in Gaborone people go to for the music programming rather than the room. ## Best markets & malls in Gaborone The capital shops in malls, and each of the five reads as a different Gaborone. 1. **Riverwalk Mall** (Opened 2002 · The Village): The first mall in Botswana, opened in 2002 and small enough to still feel like a place rather than a floor plan. 2. **Game City** (100+ stores · Kgale): The largest in Gaborone, over a hundred stores after the 2023 expansion, sat under Kgale Hill on the southwest edge. 3. **Airport Junction** (Opened 2012 · Airport road): Opened in 2012 with 45,800 square metres of retail, on the road in from the airport. The last stop before a flight. 4. **Fairground Mall** (Friday craft market · Fairgrounds): Local businesses rather than chains, and a craft market on Fridays that is the best browse in the city outside Main Mall. 5. **Westgate Mall** (Western Bypass · Gaborone West): Western Bypass, unglamorous, and where a working week actually gets its groceries. Chutney is upstairs. ## Best art & culture in Gaborone A small scene, and all three of these are working venues rather than displays. 1. **Thapong Visual Arts Centre** (Founded 1998 · The Village): A membership organisation founded in 1998, running studios, residencies and shows out of an old house in The Village. 2. **Maitisong** (Theatre and festival · Maruapula Way): The theatre at Maru-a-Pula school, and the home of the festival that carries its name. Check the programme before you plan a night. [Website](https://www.maruapula.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 3. **National Museum and Art Gallery** (Under redevelopment · Gaborone Central): On Independence Avenue and rebuilding since 2016. Parts remain closed, so treat it as a stop to check rather than to plan around. ## Best neighborhoods in Gaborone A planned city labels its districts by extension number, which tells outsiders nothing. Here is what they are. 1. **Main Mall and the CBD** (Government and offices · Gaborone Central): The pedestrian street, the ministries and the Three Dikgosi Monument. Busy at lunchtime, empty by seven. 2. **The Village** (Extension 15 · Southeast): Extension 15, out by Riverwalk. Older trees, embassies, the botanical garden and most of the restaurants worth a taxi. 3. **Broadhurst** (Northeast · Broadhurst): An older suburb northeast of the centre, cheaper, more local, and the way in to the game reserve off Limpopo Drive. 4. **Phakalane** (15 km north · Phakalane): Fifteen kilometres north up the A1 and effectively its own town: two malls, schools, a cinema and the golf estate. 5. **Tlokweng** (East of the river · Tlokweng): Across the Notwane on the road to the South African border at Tlokweng Gate. Guesthouses rather than hotels. ## Best day trips in Gaborone Four villages within ninety minutes, each of which explains something the capital cannot. 1. **Bahurutshe Cultural Village** (About 35 km west · Mmankgodi): A recreated Hurutshe village near Mmankgodi, with dancing, craft and a Sunday brunch of Setswana food. Rondavels if you stay. 2. **Mochudi and the Phuthadikobo Museum** (About 40 km north · Mochudi): The Bakgatla capital, and a museum in the 1923 schoolhouse on the hill holding photographs from the early 1900s. 3. **Otse and Mannyelanong** (About 40 km south · Otse): A reserve declared in 1985 around one red sandstone hill, protecting a Cape vulture colony that has nested there for centuries. 4. **Kanye** (83 km southwest · Kanye): The Bangwaketse capital, 83 km southwest and continuously occupied. Kgwakgwe Hill, the gorge and the main kgotla. ## Festivals & annual events in Gaborone (2026) - **Diacore Gaborone Marathon** (Apr): Marathon, half and 10K on closed city roads. The 2026 edition ran on 26 April. - **Easter weekend** (Mar/Apr): Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday are all public holidays, so the capital runs on a four-day weekend. - **Sir Seretse Khama Day** (1 Jul): A public holiday on the first president’s birthday. Wreath-laying, and everything official shuts. - **Presidents' Day** (Jul): A mid-July public holiday with a second day off attached. Banks and government offices close for both. - **Maitisong Festival** (Aug): The country’s main performing arts festival, run out of the Maitisong theatre. Recent editions have fallen in August. - **Gaborone International Music and Culture Week** (Aug/Sep): Seven shows in seven days since 2014: jazz, theatre, poetry, comedy and fashion, closing in the first week of September. - **Botswana Day** (30 Sep): Independence, declared on 30 September 1966. A public holiday, and a second one the following day. - **Jacaranda bloom** (Oct): The trees along Main Mall and the older extensions turn purple at the end of the dry season. ## Must-try dishes in Gaborone, Botswana - **Seswaa**: Beef or goat simmered in salt and water, then pounded soft in a three-legged pot. The national dish. - **Bogobe**: Sorghum or maize porridge, stiff enough to eat by hand. The plate under almost everything else. - **Ting**: Sorghum left to ferment before it is cooked, so the porridge arrives sour. Usually breakfast. - **Morogo**: Wild greens, pumpkin or cowpea leaves, cooked down with onion and tomato. - **Phane**: The caterpillar of the mopane moth, dried then fried or stewed. Chewy, smoky and very high in protein. - **Madila**: Soured milk, thick as yoghurt, drunk on its own or stirred through porridge. - **Dikgobe**: Samp cooked with beans or cowpeas until the pot holds together. The everyday side. - **Serobe**: Tripe and offal cleaned and slow-cooked. Feast food, and a test of how local a menu really is. ## Gaborone transport & airports - **Sir Seretse Khama International Airport** (GBE): The busiest airport in the country, 15 km north of the centre and about twenty minutes in. Air Botswana is based here, and regional carriers link Johannesburg and the East African hubs. [Website](https://www.caab.co.bw/sir-seretse-khama-international-airport/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Botswana Railways** (BR Express): Two overnight passenger trains cross each night between Lobatse and Francistown, calling at Gaborone, Mahalapye, Palapye and Serule. Book at the station rather than online. [Website](https://www.botswanarailways.co.bw/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Combis** (Minibus): Fifteen-seat minibuses run fixed routes across the city for a flat fare of a few pula, set by the Department of Transport. Flag one down, pay on board, say where you want off. - **Taxis and ride-hailing** (Door to door): Meters are rare, so agree the fare before you get in. Ride-hailing apps operate in Gaborone and are the simpler option after dark or out to Mokolodi. ## Gaborone at a glance - **Country:** Botswana - **Region:** South-East District, on the Notwane River - **Population:** 246,325 in the city (2022 census), about 535,000 in the metropolitan area - **Founded:** Construction began in 1964; capital of Botswana from 30 September 1966 - **Nickname:** Gabs. Named for Kgosi Gaborone of the Batlokwa, who settled here in 1880 - **Language:** Setswana and English are both official; English is the language of business and signage - **Currency:** Botswana pula (BWP), divided into 100 thebe - **Time zone:** UTC+2, Central Africa Time, no daylight saving - **Calling code:** +267, with no area codes - **Airports:** Sir Seretse Khama International (GBE), 15 km north of the centre - **Power:** 230V, 50Hz, type D, G and M plugs - **Emergency:** 999 police, 997 ambulance, 998 fire ## Interesting facts - Gaborone was raised from open farmland in three years so that Botswana would have a capital inside its own borders at independence. - Until then the Bechuanaland Protectorate was administered from Mafeking, a town that sat outside the protectorate, in South Africa. - The currency is named for rain. Pula is the Setswana word for it, and thebe, the coin, means shield. - Alexander McCall Smith set the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels here, which is how most readers first meet the city. - Kgale Hill rises to 1,287 metres, about 300 metres above the streets below it, and is known locally as the Sleeping Giant. ## Gaborone travel FAQ ### How many days do you need in Gaborone? Two. One for the city: Kgale Hill at sunrise, the Three Dikgosi Monument, Main Mall and Botswanacraft. A second for what sits outside it, either Mokolodi and the game reserve or the rock art at Matsieng and Manyana. Most visitors arrive on business and see only the first. ### Is Gaborone safe for visitors? Botswana is among the calmer countries in the region and Gaborone is unremarkable by day. Petty theft is the real risk. Keep a phone out of sight, leave nothing visible in a parked car, and take a taxi rather than walk after dark, including in the CBD, which empties at night. ### What is the best time to visit Gaborone? May to August. The rain falls between November and March, and the dry winter months are clear and warm by day, in the mid-twenties. Nights are the catch: June and July can drop close to freezing, so pack a jacket for a forecast that reads like summer. ### How do you get around Gaborone? Combis, the fifteen-seat minibuses, run fixed routes across the city for a flat fare of a few pula, and they are how most residents move. They do not reach Mokolodi, Matsieng or Manyana. For those, hire a car or agree a day rate with a taxi driver. ### Is Gaborone worth a stop on a Botswana trip? It is the arrival city for the delta and the Kalahari rather than a rival to them. Give it the day you would otherwise lose to an airport hotel: the monument, the hill, the craft shops and one reserve. A longer wait is worth driving out to Matsieng or Manyana. ## Nearby guides - [Kimberley](https://wimup.com/city/kimberley.md): South Africa · 10 picks - [Maseru](https://wimup.com/city/maseru.md): Lesotho · 10 picks - [Mbabane](https://wimup.com/city/mbabane.md): Eswatini · 10 picks - [All of Africa →](https://wimup.com/africa): 69 cities Part of the [Botswana guide](https://wimup.com/country/botswana.md) · [Africa](https://wimup.com/africa.md) ## Sources - [Gaborone tourism board](https://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Track rhino at Mokolodi Nature Reserve (official site)](https://mokolodi.co.bw/activities/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Find the Matsieng Footprints (official site)](https://botswanatourism.co.bw/explore/matsieng-footprints?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Buy baskets at Botswanacraft (official site)](https://botswanacraft.com/the-craft-shop?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [The Courtyard at Botswanacraft (official site)](https://botswanacraft.com/the-courtyard?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Sanitas (official site)](https://www.sanitas.co.bw/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [The Beef Baron (official site)](https://grandpalm.bw/restaurants/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Maitisong (official site)](https://www.maruapula.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (official site)](https://www.caab.co.bw/sir-seretse-khama-international-airport/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Botswana Railways (official site)](https://www.botswanarailways.co.bw/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.