The best things to do in Lusaka are the orphaned elephants at the GRI Wildlife Discovery Centre, the rhinos of Lusaka National Park, the National Museum, Kabwata Cultural Village and the Sunday craft market at Arcades. Two or three days is enough, with a day trip to the Kafue River or Lake Kariba. May to August is dry and cool.
Lusaka was planned in the 1930s as a garden city and made capital of Northern Rhodesia in 1935. It is a working capital rather than a showpiece, but it rewards a few days: rhinos and orphaned elephants inside the city limits, a strong art scene and Zambia's best markets.
Game Rangers International raises orphaned elephant calves here for release in Kafue National Park. The nursery moved from Lilayi into Lusaka National Park in 2022, and the midday feed is the moment to be there.
A former forest reserve of about 46 square kilometres, opened to the public in 2015. White rhino, giraffe, zebra, eland and sable graze a short drive from the city centre, the easiest safari in Zambia.
Opened in 1996, the museum covers Zambian ethnography, history and the independence struggle, with a gallery of contemporary art upstairs. It is compact and the best single primer on the country.
Rondavels built in the 1930s and 1940s to house the city's first African labourers, now a national monument. Carvers and craft sellers work in the huts, and buying here goes straight to the maker.
Every Sunday the car park fills with stalls of wood carvings, malachite, baskets and chitenge cloth. It is the best single place in the city to buy crafts from across the country.
The mausoleums of five presidents, Kenneth Kaunda among them, set in formal lawns. Frederick Chiluba's is shaped like a chapel, a nod to his 1991 declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation.
A converted tobacco shed on the Showgrounds, opened in 1995 as the home of the Zambia National Visual Arts Council. Rotating shows of Zambian painters and sculptors, most of it for sale.
The trust was founded in 1986 by the artists Cynthia Zukas, Henry Tayali and Bente Lorenz, and its gallery opened in 2018. It holds more than 340 works, the deepest collection of modern Zambian art anywhere.
The Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross went up between 1957 and 1962. Across the avenue the Freedom Statue, a man breaking his chains, honours those who died for independence.
Parliament has sat on this low hill since 1967, on land that was once the village of the headman Lusaaka, who gave the city its name. The public gallery is open during sittings.
A botanical garden from 1950 with close to 500 plant species, now showing its age.
A public holiday marking the young people killed in the 1962 struggle.
A public holiday for the founding of African unity.
Two public holidays, the first Monday of July and the day after.
Polo, fashion and a crowd dressed for both.
Livestock, trade stands and crowds at the Showgrounds, for about a week.
A public holiday that falls during the Show.
Full, half and 10 km races from the Mulungushi conference centre.
Zambia's independence from Britain in 1964, the biggest national day.
About 27 km northeast of the centre. Terminal 2 opened in 2021. Take a hotel transfer or a metered taxi into town.
Long-distance coaches leave the Intercity Bus Terminus on Dedan Kimathi Road early each morning. Livingstone is about seven hours.
The Livingstone to Kitwe passenger service resumed in 2025 and stops in Lusaka. Trains run weekly, so book ahead.
Yango works across the city and fixes the fare upfront. Minibuses are cheap but crowded, and walking after dark is not advised.
Stiff maize porridge, the national staple, eaten by hand.
Greens stewed in groundnut sauce, served with nshima.
Small dried fish from Lake Kariba, fried with tomato and onion.
Freshwater fish, grilled whole or served in gravy.
"African polony", ground orchid tubers with groundnuts and chilli.
Dried caterpillars, fried crisp and high in protein.
Pumpkin leaves cooked with tomato, onion and groundnuts.
Sweet fried dough balls from roadside stalls.
Get our one-page Lusaka cheat sheet plus a fresh destination every Thursday.
Zambia 