--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Zimbabwe (City Guides) | Wimup" description: "Wimup's Top 10 guides across Zimbabwe, mapped and ranked: Victoria Falls, Hwange, Great Zimbabwe, the Matobo Hills, the Eastern Highlands and when to travel." url: https://wimup.com/country/zimbabwe type: Country guide updated: 2026-11-03 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10s across Zimbabwe The **Zambezi** at one end, the granite hills of the **Matobo** at the other, and the largest sheet of falling water on the planet in between. Zimbabwe is a safari country that also does ruins, rock art and rail. ## Quick answer Start at **Victoria Falls** for two nights, then drive south to **Hwange** for the elephant herds. West: **Bulawayo** and the **Matobo Hills** for boulders, rhino tracking on foot and rock art. East: **Harare**, with **Mana Pools** to the north for walking safaris. **Great Zimbabwe** near **Masvingo** earns extra days. The **Eastern Highlands** around **Mutare**, **Nyanga** and **Chimanimani** are pine and mist. Two weeks does the loop. Ten days does the falls, Hwange and the Matobo. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** May–Jun · Sep–Oct - **Ideal length:** 10–14 days - **Budget per day:** $60–150 - **Language:** English is official alongside Shona, Ndebele and thirteen others - **Getting around:** A hired car, intercity coaches, short hops by air - **2** City guides - **15,178,979** People Zimbabwe travels as a loop rather than a single base. Victoria Falls is the entry point for most visitors and the one place that needs no argument, with Hwange National Park two and a half hours south for elephants and wild dogs. Beyond that the country opens up: Bulawayo for the Matobo Hills and the National Gallery, Great Zimbabwe near Masvingo for the stone city that named the country, Mana Pools on the middle Zambezi for walking safaris, and the Eastern Highlands around Mutare for cool air and hiking. English is one of sixteen official languages and is used everywhere in tourism, the US dollar is accepted alongside the local currency, and the main tourist roads are in reasonable condition. ## 2 Zimbabwe city guides 1. [Victoria Falls](https://wimup.com/city/victoria-falls.md): Zimbabwe · 10 picks 2. [Bulawayo](https://wimup.com/city/bulawayo.md): Zimbabwe · 10 picks ## Know before you go - **Population:** 15,178,979 - **Area:** 390,757 km² - **Density:** 39 / km² - **Capital:** Harare - **Major cities:** Harare, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Mutare, Epworth - **Tourism board:** Official site - **Currency:** US dollar and ZiG, side by side The gold-backed Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), launched in April 2024, circulates beside the US dollar, which prices tourism. Bring clean small notes, as change comes in ZiG. Cards work in lodges and Harare. - **Language:** English, Shona and Ndebele lead sixteen Sixteen languages are official. Shona is the most spoken, Ndebele leads in Bulawayo and the south west, and English runs government and tourism. Mhoroi or sawubona still changes the room. - **Calling code:** +263 - **Power:** 240V · Types D and G Type G three-pin is standard, with older round-pin Type D in many buildings, so bring an adapter for both. Load shedding is routine and better hotels run generators. Pack a power bank. - **Emergency:** 999 general · 995 police · 994 ambulance · 993 fire 999 works best in Harare. Elsewhere, rely on private medical services and your lodge's radio or satellite link. Confirm your insurance covers air evacuation before booking a remote park. - **Visa:** e-visa, visa on arrival, and the KAZA UniVisa Apply on the government e-visa portal or buy one on arrival. The KAZA UniVisa covers Zimbabwe and Zambia plus Botswana day trips, made for the falls. Check your nationality on the official portal. - **Getting around:** A hired car, intercity coaches, short flights Most trips mix a hire car with flights between Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. Coaches are cheap and comfortable, and the slow Bulawayo sleeper is the best train. Parks need high clearance. - **Driving:** On the left Tarred main roads are fair and side roads potholed. Roadblocks are routine, so carry your licence, hire papers, reflective triangles and fire extinguisher. Never drive between towns after dark. - **Tipping:** Ten percent, and in cash Ten percent in restaurants without a service charge. Guides, trackers and camp staff rely on tips, and lodges explain their system at check-in. Bring plenty of small US dollar notes. - **Time zone:** CAT (UTC+2) Central Africa Time all year, with no daylight saving. That puts Zimbabwe an hour ahead of London in winter and level with it in summer, and on the same clock as Johannesburg year round. - **National parks:** Run by ZimParks ZimParks runs about a ninth of the country, including Hwange, Mana Pools, Matobo and Gonarezhou. Gate fees are in US dollars, and park-run lodges and campsites are the affordable way in. ## When to visit - **Jan** - **Feb** - **Mar** (good) - **Apr** (good) - **May** (best) - **Jun** (best) - **Jul** (peak) - **Aug** (peak) - **Sep** (best) - **Oct** (good) - **Nov** - **Dec** ## Fun fact Zimbabwe recognises sixteen official languages in its 2013 constitution, among them Shona, Ndebele, Tonga, Kalanga, Nambya, Koisan and sign language. ## Stereotypes, sorted out - **Myth:** Zimbabwe is Victoria Falls and nothing else **Reality:** The falls are one of five UNESCO World Heritage sites. Great Zimbabwe is the largest ancient stone structure in sub-Saharan Africa, Khami was the Torwa capital after it, the Matobo Hills hold rock art, and Mana Pools lets you walk unaccompanied. Most falls visitors see none of them. - **Myth:** The economy collapsed, so nothing works **Reality:** Hyperinflation ended in April 2009, when the country dropped its own dollar for a multi-currency system. Visitors in 2026 meet a dollarised tourism trade with excellent guides, working lodges and reliable park gates. Load shedding is real; hotels run generators. Daily life is hard. A holiday is not. - **Myth:** Nobody believed Africans built Great Zimbabwe **Reality:** The Rhodesian government suppressed the archaeology for decades, crediting the site to Phoenicians, Arabs or the Queen of Sheba. Peter Garlake's 1973 study confirmed what digs had shown since 1905: ancestral Shona built it from the eleventh century, and the country took its name from it. - **Myth:** It is unsafe for travellers **Reality:** Violent crime against visitors is rare, and Zimbabwe is one of the calmer countries in the region. The hazards are ordinary: petty theft in city centres, driving after dark, and police roadblocks that want your paperwork. Stay away from political demonstrations. - **Myth:** Safari here means sitting in a vehicle **Reality:** Zimbabwe trains what are widely reckoned Africa's toughest professional guides, and walking is the house style. Mana Pools is famous for it, Matobo does rhino tracking on foot, and canoe trips run the Zambezi past hippo and elephant. - Greet before anything else. A handshake and an unhurried how are you come before the question, and going straight to the request reads as rude however friendly your tone. Two hands, or a hand supported at the wrist, is the respectful version. - Clapping is a thank you. Cupped hands clapped softly acknowledge food, a gift or a favour, with the hand shapes differing for men and women. Follow whoever is beside you and the gesture lands correctly. - Photograph people only after asking. Government buildings, police, the presidential residence, airports and military sites are firm no, and it is enforced. - Age is seniority. Elders are greeted first and addressed with a title, and interrupting one carries a weight it does not carry at home. - Politics is for listening. Zimbabweans discuss their own government freely and pointedly. A visitor arriving with verdicts, particularly about Mugabe, lands badly, and the conversation is more interesting if you let it come to you. - The Matabeleland massacres of the 1980s, known as Gukurahundi, are still a live wound in the south west and not small talk. If it comes up, it is because someone chose to raise it. - Dress is modest by regional standards, especially in rural areas and small towns. Beachwear at the falls is fine; the same outfit in a village is not. - Bargaining belongs in craft markets and nowhere else. Shops, restaurants and lodges are fixed price, and haggling over a park fee or a guide's rate reads as an insult. ## Famous Zimbabwean faces - **Kirsty Coventry**: Twice Olympic champion, and from June 2025 the first woman and African to lead the IOC. - **Oliver Mtukudzi**: Tuku. Six decades of his own guitar style, and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador until 2019. - **Thomas Mapfumo**: The Lion of Zimbabwe, who put mbira lines on electric guitar and called it chimurenga. - **Tsitsi Dangarembga**: Her Nervous Conditions (1988) was the first English novel by a Black Zimbabwean woman. - **Danai Gurira**: Harare-raised actor (Okoye in Black Panther) and playwright of Broadway's Eclipsed. - **NoViolet Bulawayo**: Twice Booker-shortlisted, for We Need New Names in 2013 and Glory in 2022. - **Nick Price**: World number one in the mid-1990s, with three majors between 1992 and 1994. - **Mbuya Nehanda**: Spirit medium and figurehead of the First Chimurenga, executed in 1898. - **Stella Chiweshe**: The mbira queen, who played an instrument women were barred from and took it to Europe. - **Winky D**: Wallace Chirumiko, Zimdancehall's Ninja President and its most political songwriter. - **Jah Prayzah**: The biggest crossover act of his generation, in military regalia over traditional rhythms. - **Dambudzo Marechera**: His The House of Hunger is the only African winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize, 1979. - **Petina Gappah**: Lawyer and writer, Guardian First Book Award winner in 2009 for An Elegy for Easterly. - **Peter Ndlovu**: The first African to play and score in the Premier League, for Coventry City in 1992. - **Andy Flower**: Zimbabwe's finest batter, who mourned its democracy with a black armband in 2003. - **Cara Black**: Doubles specialist with sixty WTA titles and long spells at world number one. - **Joshua Nkomo**: Father Zimbabwe. Led ZAPU, signed the 1987 Unity Accord and became vice-president. - **Robert Mugabe**: Prime minister from 1980, then president until the army removed him in November 2017. ## Must-try Zimbabwean food - **Sadza**: Stiff white maize meal torn by hand. The centre of almost every meal, for everyone. - **Dovi**: Chicken or beef simmered in peanut sauce. The dish most people name first. - **Muriwo une dovi**: Collard greens cooked with peanut butter beside sadza. Vegetarians eat well here. - **Nhedzi**: Thick wild mushroom soup after the rains, best from the Victoria Falls spray forest. - **Chimodho**: Dense, faintly sweet cornmeal bread for breakfast or tea, made at home. - **Maputi**: Maize roasted in hot sand until it bursts, sold in bags at every bus stop. - **Braai**: Beef and boerewors over coals, slow and serious, with sadza. It takes the afternoon. - **Madora**: Mopane worms, the emperor moth caterpillar, dried and fried with onion and tomato. - **Kapenta**: Tiny Kariba sardines netted at night, sun-dried and cooked with tomato and onion. - **Bream from Kariba**: Whole tilapia, grilled or fried. The standard order near the lake or the Zambezi. - **Biltong**: Air-dried spiced beef or game, bought by weight and eaten on every long drive. - **Mazhanje**: Wild loquat, honey-sweet, sold by the bucket in the wet months. The favourite wild fruit. - **Matamba**: Monkey orange: sharp, sticky pulp in a hard green shell. Eaten raw or in sauces and teas. - **Masau**: Tart Indian jujube from the Zambezi valley, eaten fresh, dried or fermented. - **Maheu**: Thick, slightly sour fermented maize drink, served cold and sold everywhere in cartons. - **Mazoe Orange Crush**: Orange cordial that Zimbabweans abroad ask visitors to bring. The taste of childhood. - **Chibuku**: Sour opaque sorghum or maize beer, still fermenting in the carton. Shake it and share. ## By theme - [Adventure capitals](https://wimup.com/adventure.md) - [Waterfalls](https://wimup.com/waterfalls.md) ## Films - [Victoria Falls Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/victoria-falls.md), 14:09 ## FAQs ### How many days do you need in Zimbabwe? Ten days covers the classic run: two nights at Victoria Falls, three in Hwange, then Bulawayo and the Matobo Hills. Two weeks lets you add Great Zimbabwe and either Mana Pools for walking safaris or the Eastern Highlands for cool air and hiking. Under a week, stay in the west and treat the falls and Hwange as the whole trip, since the full loop involves serious driving. ### When is the best time to visit Zimbabwe? May to October is the dry season and the answer for most trips, with May, June and September the sweet spot: cool mornings, no rain, and wildlife concentrated on shrinking water. July and August are the same weather with more people and higher prices. If the waterfall itself is the reason you are going, March and April are when the Zambezi peaks, though the spray is heavy enough to hide the view. October is superb for game and properly hot. ### Do you need a visa for Zimbabwe? Most visitors do, and getting one is straightforward: apply through the government e-visa portal before you travel, or buy a visa on arrival at the airport or land border. If your trip crosses to the Zambian side of the falls, ask for the KAZA UniVisa instead, which covers both countries and day trips into Botswana on one permit. Which category you fall into depends on your nationality, so check the official portal. ### What money should you take to Zimbabwe? US dollars in cash, in small denominations. Tourism is priced in dollars, the local ZiG circulates alongside them and is what you will get as change, and card acceptance thins out fast once you leave the lodges and the capital. Notes need to be clean and untorn to be accepted, and hundreds are hard to break, so arrive with a stack of fives, tens and twenties. ### Is Victoria Falls better from the Zimbabwe or the Zambia side? Zimbabwe holds roughly three quarters of the waterfall's face and the viewpoints look straight at it, so the panorama is better here and it holds up even in low water. Zambia's side puts you on top of it, at the lip and at Devil's Pool, which is thrilling in the dry months and closed when the river is high. The town on the Zimbabwean side is also the better base. The honest answer is to walk the bridge and do both, which is what the KAZA UniVisa exists for. ## Related countries - [Egypt](https://wimup.com/country/egypt.md) - [Morocco](https://wimup.com/country/morocco.md) - [All of Africa](https://wimup.com/africa) Part of [Africa](https://wimup.com/africa.md) ## Sources - [Tourism board](https://zimbabwetourism.net/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Visa](https://www.evisa.gov.zw/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Getting around](https://nrz.co.zw/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [National parks](https://www.zimparks.org.zw/?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.