The gorillas are the reason. Uganda is the trip.
Which Bwindi trek fits the permit you can get. What a Murchison three-day really costs. Whether Kampala earns two days on foot. Every tour in Uganda, reviewed.
The days Uganda is known for.
The forest treks, the falls, the savannah parks and a capital that is worth walking. The handful of days most Uganda trips are built around, and the best way to book each one.
Gorilla trekking: get the permit, then pick the trip.
Every gorilla trek →
Three days out of Kampala, five with the chimps added, or eight that take the parks on the way. These three carry the most travellers; the full list splits the rest by how many days you have.
Three days: Kampala, Bwindi, back
Out of the capital before dawn, a break at the equator line, the trek the next morning, and back in Kampala the following night with mud on your boots.
Chimps in Kibale, gorillas in Bwindi
Kibale in the morning mist for the chimpanzees, then the long road south to Bwindi. The two treks most people fly in for, on one route.
Eight days: falls, chimps, gorillas
Murchison first for the Nile and the giraffes, Kibale for the chimps, Bwindi last, when your legs have the miles in them.
Two days in Kampala is not a layover.
Seven hills, a taxi park you can hear from the next ridge, a national mosque with a minaret you climb for the view, and street food that only starts at dusk. The capital pays back the people who walk it.
The tours travellers in Uganda book most.
Every review →From a three-hour ride along the Lake Victoria shore to eight days of parks — the trips that fill first, and what each is actually like.
1
3 Hours Guided Cycling Tour Across Lake Victoria
Cycle Lake Victoria from Kampala on dirt trails, local boats, lake views, snacks, and a Rolex with an English-speaking guide.
From · $60
Read our review →
2
Kampala’s Best Experience walking tour
from $33
3
3 Days gorilla trekking Safari tour in Uganda
from $2,600
4
Lake Victoria Island Cycling Tour from Kampala
from $62
5
Kampala Walking City Tours (Women Guided)
from $34
6
Kampala Walking Tour (3 Hours) with Optional Gaddafi Mosque Visit
from $32
7
1 Day Sipi falls hike
from $20
8
Steve Kampala Walking tours (Airpals Safaris tour)
from $28
What a day in Uganda costs.
Uganda splits cleanly. A capital day out costs less than dinner at home; a permit day costs more than the flight. Every tour on the site, cheapest first.
Kampala on foot or by boda, the lake shore by bike, the Sipi hike. Whole days that cost less than an airport transfer at home.
Two- and three-day runs to Murchison, Queen Elizabeth and Lake Mburo, with the driver, the park fees and the nights already in the price.
- 13-Day Safari Murchison Falls Safarifrom $780
- 23-Day Ultimate Big Five Safari – Murchison Falls & Rhinosfrom $995
- 3Ziwa Rhino Sanctuaryfrom $580
Gorilla and chimpanzee permits, and the long loops that string the parks together. The permit is the line that sets the price.
Three things you can only do in Uganda.
Lake sunsets and big cats belong to half the continent. Half the world’s mountain gorillas, a chimp forest you can hear before you see, and rhinos you track on foot do not.
The Bwindi Hour
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest holds around half of every mountain gorilla alive, and the rules are the same for everybody: eight visitors to a habituated family, one hour on the clock once the trackers find them, and a permit carrying your own name, bought long before you land. The walk in takes twenty minutes on a lucky day and most of the morning on the others.
- 13 Days gorilla trekking Safari tour in Uganda★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 121 reviews
- 28-Day Murchison Falls, Chimp and Epic Gorilla Trekking Safari★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 72 reviews
- 35-Day Pearl of Africa Chimps and Gorilla Trekking Safari★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 52 reviews
The Chimp Morning
Kibale Forest carries the densest primate population in East Africa, and the chimpanzees announce themselves long before you see one: a scream that travels through the canopy and takes the whole group with it. Trackers leave at dawn to find where the group slept, and each morning and afternoon session releases a counted number of places.
- 18-Day Murchison Falls, Chimp and Epic Gorilla Trekking Safari★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 72 reviews
- 25-Day Pearl of Africa Chimps and Gorilla Trekking Safari★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 52 reviews
- 38-Day Murchison Falls, Chimp and Epic Gorilla Trekking★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 32 reviews
The Rhino Walk
Uganda lost its rhinos entirely, and the ones it has now all live at Ziwa, a sanctuary on the road north that restarted the population with six animals. You track them on foot with a ranger, which is exactly as close as that sounds, and it cuts the long drive to Murchison neatly in half.
- 13-Day Ultimate Big Five Safari – Murchison Falls & Rhinos★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 55 reviews
- 2Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 40 reviews
- 3Day Tour Of Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and Wildlife Ranch – ZIWA RHINO TREKKING★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 10 reviews
Murchison: the whole Nile through a gap you could jump.
The river forces itself through a seven-metre cleft and drops into the gorge below. The launch takes you to the foot of it, the north-bank game drive gives you the giraffes, and two nights out of Kampala is the realistic minimum.
All 28 Murchison trips →
Queen Elizabeth, Mburo and the crater country.
The Kazinga Channel holds one of the heaviest hippo populations anywhere, the Ishasha fig trees hold lions that climb them, and Lake Mburo — close enough to Kampala for a weekend — is where the zebras are.
- 12 Days Safari To Queen Elizabeth National Park with Cruisefrom $1,350
- 23 Days Wild Tour Queen Elizabeth National Park Safari Ugandafrom $1,300
- 3Private 3-Day Tour in Queen Elizabeth Park Safarifrom $885
Book these before you fly to Uganda.
Most of Uganda can be arranged from a Kampala guesthouse the night before. These cannot. They run on permit quotas, ranger rosters and a counted number of places per day.
- 013 Days gorilla trekking Safari tour in UgandaPermits are capped per gorilla family per day and carry the holder’s name. They are bought ahead, never at the park gate.
- 028-Day Murchison Falls, Chimp and Epic Gorilla Trekking SafariKibale releases a counted number of tracking places for each morning and afternoon session, and the dry-season slots go first.
- 03Uganda Jungle RaftingThe Nile day runs to a set departure from Jinja, with the Kampala pickup fixed the night before at the latest.
- 04Gorilla Tracking & Batwa Culture ExperienceThe forest-edge community visits are arranged with the villages in advance and usually pair with a trekking day already on your permit.
Two wet seasons, and the Uganda days that run anyway.
March to May and September to November, the afternoon rain is a fact rather than a forecast. The forest treks go out in it — boots, a poncho, a quieter trail. When you would rather stay dry, the capital keeps its kitchens, its markets and its long verandas.
By place — where the trip actually goes
Kampala149 tours
Entebbe7 tours
Murchison Falls28 tours
Queen Elizabeth8 tours
Lake Mburo8 tours
Ziwa7 tours
Sipi Falls & Elgon6 tours- Every tour in Uganda →
How a first Uganda trip is usually strung together.
BwindiThe newest Uganda reviews.
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1 Day Lake Mburo National Park Short Safari from Kampala
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Full-Day Lake Mburo National Park Safari with Boat trip (2 day option available)
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1 Day Budget Rhino Trekking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
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The Big5 3 Days Wildlife Adventure Experience in Uganda.
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