Things to do in Bulawayo
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Bulawayo
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months overall for weather, festivals and Matobo conditions.
Rains end, green and around 25 to 27C, with ZITF in April.
Dry with cold mornings around 7 to 9C, perfect for walking, and Mine Entra fills hotels.
August is dry at 26C, September brings Intwasa, and October is hottest at 31C and above so dawn starts are essential.
Wet season, hot and stormy with muddy Matobo trails, worst in January and February.
What's on
- ZITF April
Trade fair week that spikes citywide rates and fills flights.
- Mine Entra around July/August
Mining conference period that fills hotels and spikes citywide rates.
- Intwasa Arts Festival September
Arts festival staged at the National Gallery, Bulawayo Theatre and City Hall. Confirm dates, as a recent edition moved to late November.
Best things to do in Bulawayo
Matobo Hills
Granite kopjes, World's View and San rock art caves that together form the essential Bulawayo cultural day.
Khami Ruins
A quiet UNESCO dry stone city west of Bulawayo, with terraced platforms and patterned walls and few visitors.
Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's standout museum for wildlife, gems and archaeology, and the best context before Khami and Matobo.
Bulawayo Railway Museum
Steam locomotives, Rhodes's coach and signalling kit you can climb around, by the station in the city centre.
National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo
The city's best window onto contemporary Ndebele and Zimbabwean art, in historic Douslin House.
The Nesbitt Castle
A 1920s medieval style castle folly in Hillside, visited for tours, afternoon tea, Sunday lunch and gardens.
Historic CBD walking
A morning walk past City Hall, the Joshua Nkomo statue and wide avenues that explains how the city was laid out.
Queens Sports Club
A pretty Test cricket ground with tree shaded grass banks, best on a match day for a local day out.
Where to stay in Bulawayo
Suburbs / Parkview / Khumalo
first trip, all-round base
Leafy streets east of the CBD near the museum and cafes, quiet and walkable by day and close to Matobo Road.
Hillside / Burnside
longer, quieter, self-driving stays
Large garden plots in a very residential area, lovely and safe feeling but completely car dependent for dinner.
City Centre / CBD
transit and business trips
Walk to the gallery and museums by day, but the centre empties at night and the big hotels are the most tired.
Matobo Hills
splurge base, not a city base
Sleeping among granite and bush is magical, but it is useless for Bulawayo's museums, galleries and restaurants.
Think twice about
- Western high-density suburbs (Nkulumane, Cowdray Park, Luveve)
No visitor accommodation stock there, the most strained power, water and street lighting in the city, and lifts needed for every meal and sight.
- Industrial south-western fringe (Belmont, Donnington) and the long-distance bus ranks
Noise, truck traffic, few pavements and nowhere to eat at night, an infrastructure and amenity problem for a visitor base.
- Unlit CBD side streets at night
The named centre hotels are fine and secure, but arriving back on foot after dark is not. Take the taxi the hotel offers, even for a short hop.
Best restaurants in Bulawayo
Indaba Book Café
A bookshop cafe for breakfasts, lunches, coffee and cheesecake, with a library and art events in the Suburbs.
Deja Vu Restaurant & Coffee Shop
The safest pick for mixed diet groups in a meat heavy city, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options.
Mozambik Bulawayo
Mozambican Portuguese seafood and peri peri, with prawns, platters and cocktails for a special occasion dinner.
The Smokehouse
The grill locals name first, for smoked and grilled meats, ribs and draught beer, open late on weekends.
Rooster's Pub & Grill
A suburban pub grill in Hillside that over delivers on seafood for an inland city, especially the prawns.
Middy's Coffee Shop
A heavily used local coffee shop for coffee, breakfasts and light lunches, easy to pair with the museum.
Brooks Café & Deli
A popular deli cafe for lunches and good coffee, and the walk to alternative when Indaba is full.
Haefelis
A bakery institution for pies, milk tart, pastries and ice cream, and the cheapest essential eat in town.
Outdoor things to do in Bulawayo
White rhino tracking on foot in Matobo
Walk in single file behind a licensed guide to approach white rhino on foot, Bulawayo's flagship experience.
Matobo game drive + kopje hiking
A game drive with short kopje walks and cave stops, the easier vehicle based way into Matobo's scenery.
Bulawayo Golf Club
Zimbabwe's oldest golf club, founded in 1895, with a shaded parkland championship course and clubhouse lunch.
Hillside Dams Conservancy
Local dams, woodland and trails for morning walks, birding and picnics, a short drive from the guesthouse belt.
Great Zimbabwe
The country's greatest archaeological site, worth it only as an overnight rather than a long day return.
Hwange National Park
A superb two night safari extension from Bulawayo, timed for dawn and dusk wildlife rather than a day trip.
Best hotels in Bulawayo
The Nesbitt Castle
A stone castle stay with gardens, armour and antiques, the luxury pick for couples and occasion stays.
Cresta Churchill Hotel
The safest full service recommendation in the city, on Matopos Road with gardens, a pool and praised staff.
Holiday Inn Bulawayo
The only international brand full service hotel in town, with a pool, gym and predictable standards.
Travellers Guest House
A much loved guesthouse with en suite rooms, a pool, gardens and backup power and water at strong value.
Selborne Hotel
Quiet rooms in a colonial building near the centre, with helpful front desk staff and strong value on good rates.
Bulawayo Club
A historic members club that takes residents, with simple rooms, a dining room and a veranda in the centre.
Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel
A big, central and cheap conference hotel that is secure but tired, best booked knowingly for a transit night.
Burke's Paradise
The backpacker institution in Burnside, valued for its gardens, pool, Wi Fi and sociable hosts over polish.
Is Bulawayo expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $50 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $130 a person |
| Splurge | $300 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Matobo Hills: a few days ahead
- White rhino tracking on foot in Matobo: a few days ahead
- Matobo game drive: a few days ahead
- Bulawayo Golf Club: a few days ahead
- The Nesbitt Castle: weeks ahead
- Travellers Guest House: weeks ahead
- Amalinda Lodge: weeks ahead
- Mozambik Bulawayo: a few days ahead
- Book Matobo rhino tracking at least 2 to 3 days ahead, longer in peak season, and request a named professional guide.
- Book Amalinda and the best Suburbs guesthouses weeks ahead for dry season weekends.
- Book Friday and Saturday tables at Mozambik, The Smokehouse and The Nesbitt Castle. Lunch cafes are walk in.
- ZITF week in April and Mine Entra around July and August spike rates and fill flights, so book everything early if dates collide.
Is Bulawayo safe?
- Keep valuables close in crowded CBD and market areas, with your phone in a zipped pocket and no flashy display.
- Do not walk alone after dark on empty or unlit streets. Take taxis, even for short distances.
- Do not photograph military installations, government buildings, police or security personnel, and ask before photographing people.
- Drink sealed bottled or properly boiled or filtered water, carry cash in small US dollar notes, and expect power and water cuts.
Bulawayo travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Old blog Bulawayo, which still routes travellers to the permanently closed Cattleman and quotes old prices as current.
- A day trip to Great Zimbabwe or Hwange, which means 8 to 10 hours of driving and misses the best light and wildlife.
- Matobo without a guide, where you will see rocks but miss the caves, the stories and probably the rhino.
- A bargain Rainbow or N1 rate only slightly below a guesthouse, which buys a tired room in the empty centre.
- Expecting Victoria Falls energy, when Bulawayo has no falls strip or backpacker bar street and its quietness is the point.
Getting around Bulawayo: public transport and more
- You need a driver, not a bus pass. Use hotel taxis for hops, agree the fare before you set off, and keep a named driver's number.
- Ride hailing coverage is patchier than in Harare, so do not build a tight itinerary around an app car arriving quickly.
- Self drive only if experienced in southern Africa, with potholes, livestock on rural roads and no night driving outside the city.
- Arrange an airport transfer in advance for Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport, about 20 km north east of the city.
Who Bulawayo suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Bulawayo your trip
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