Things to do in Harare
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Harare
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, the best window: clear skies, best excursions and golf, animals concentrated at Chivero and Imire.
Green and fresh just after the rains, with fewer visitors. HIFA runs late April to early May when it runs.
Winter core: nights around 5-10C, crisp beautiful mornings, aloes in flower at Ewanrigg.
Hot, jacarandas peak in October, and Shoko and the Jacaranda Music Festival land back to back.
Rainy season and the worst window: thunderstorms, muddy trails and poor roads, but cheaper emptier hotels.
What's on
- Shoko Festival 23-26 September
Zimbabwe's urban-culture festival of comedy, hip-hop and talks across Harare Gardens and Chitungwiza.
- Jacaranda Music Festival 2-4 October
Three days at Thornpark Polo Club, the country's biggest popular-music weekend.
- Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) late April / early May
Six days of music, theatre, dance and art around Harare Gardens when it runs. Editions are intermittent, verify this year.
- Zimbabwe Agricultural Show late August
Huge national fair at the Showgrounds, fascinating and not tourist-facing.
Best things to do in Harare
Wild Is Life
Harare's best conservation visit: rescued elephants, pangolins and big cats in small pre-booked groups.
National Gallery of Zimbabwe
The country's defining Shona stone sculpture collection, plus strong contemporary shows and a sculpture garden.
Chapungu Sculpture Park
Monumental Shona stone sculpture along paths through indigenous trees, with sculptors working on site.
Shona Sculpture Gallery
Free-entry garden gallery for the finest contemporary Shona carving, minutes from the airport.
First Floor Gallery Harare
Artist-run contemporary space championing young Zimbabwean painters and mixed-media artists.
Harare Botanical Gardens
A slow morning among indigenous woodland, cycads and lawns on the northern edge of the centre.
Mbare Musika
Harare's oldest, largest market and the best window into everyday life, best visited guided in the morning.
Avondale Flea Market
Low-stress rows of Shona sculpture, baskets, textiles and books, with friendly bargaining.
Where to stay in Harare
Borrowdale / Borrowdale Brooke / Chisipite
first trip, luxury base, most visitors
Leafy northern arc with Sam Levy's Village, garden lodges and the strongest security, 20 minutes from the centre.
Avondale / Mount Pleasant / Highlands / Alexandra Park
all-round balance, repeat visitors, longer stays
Older northern suburbs with cafes, the flea market and Botanical Gardens, better value and 10 minutes central.
Belgravia / The Avenues
character base, walkable dinners
Embassy streets and jacaranda avenues just north-east of the centre, five minutes from the National Gallery.
City Centre / Gardens
festivals, business, one-night transit
For Harare Gardens festivals or CBD business and the Meikles' grandeur, but the centre empties after dark.
Newlands / Eastlea / Greendale
quiet east, work or friends in the east
Residential embassy and NGO guesthouse country near Garwe and Chapungu, with good value and fewer restaurants.
Think twice about
- Mbare and the high-density south-western suburbs
Dense, under-serviced areas including Highfield, Glen View and Budiriro, with no visitor accommodation worth basing in. Visit Mbare market guided, in the morning.
- CBD south of Jason Moyo and around Rezende Street and the main bus ranks
Budget hotels here face streets that empty completely at night, with petty crime and touting around ranks and bottle stores.
- Chitungwiza
A satellite town 25 km south, sometimes sold as Harare accommodation, with a long traffic-choked commute to everything. Epworth and the far industrial south have the same problem.
Best restaurants in Harare
Amanzi Restaurant
Inventive fine dining on a veranda over gardens and a waterfall pool, widely called the city's best table.
Victoria 22
Family-run special-occasion house with white linen, a fireplace and European technique on African dishes.
La Fontaine
The Meikles' French-leaning grill room, the one white-tablecloth dinner in the CBD.
Coimbra
Beloved Portuguese institution whose peri-peri chicken is the benchmark others in Harare are judged by.
Gava's
Sadza and the full traditional spread in a big sports-club garden, often with a live band.
Garwe Restaurant
Traditional Zimbabwean cooking including road-runner chicken and oxtail, dressed up in a smarter garden.
Paula's Place
Generous family Portuguese cooking with peri-peri, calamari and waiters reviewers praise by name.
Queen of Hearts
Garden cafe Harare lives in, from breakfasts and curries to pizza Fridays and live-band evenings.
Outdoor things to do in Harare
Mukuvisi Woodlands
Protected woodland inside the city with trails, a waterhole platform, giraffe and zebra for a local entry price.
Domboshava
Granite dome climb past lichens to San rock paintings and a summit made for a sunset picnic.
Ngomakurira
Harder, wilder granite hike to bigger views and a rock shelter with a fine painted elephant panel.
Royal Harare Golf Club
Zimbabwe's premier championship course through indigenous trees, remarkably accessible for visitors.
Chapman Golf Club
Cheaper, friendlier club round next to Royal Harare, with coaching pros on site.
Borrowdale Brooke Golf Club
Manicured Peter Matkovich course through a gated estate, the suburban country-club splurge round.
Lake Chivero Recreational Park
Morning game drives with white rhino, zebra and giraffe, then boat, fishing and braai time by the lake.
Imire Rhino & Wildlife Conservation
Full-day rhino immersion with game drives, supervised rhino time, walking elements and a good lodge lunch.
Best hotels in Harare
Amanzi Lodge
Small luxury lodge in tropical gardens with waterfalls, individually styled rooms and the city's best restaurant.
Hyatt Regency Harare The Meikles
Harare's 1915 grande dame opposite Africa Unity Square, the address for festival weeks and centre stays.
Wild Geese Lodge
Thatched lodge in parkland, ideal for groups, weddings and multi-generation trips to be together.
Willow Lodge
Garden lodge with pool and restaurant posting luxury-level guest scores at mid-range prices.
Ballantynes Lodge
Comparable Borrowdale alternative to Willow Lodge, listed as the luxury pick near Borrowdale Brooke golf.
Bronte Hotel
Sprawling garden hotel dotted with Shona sculpture, five minutes from the centre and full of character.
York Lodge
Small elegant east-side lodge known for personal hosting, a good table and a quiet pool garden.
Mt Pleasant Bed and Breakfast
Family-run B&B with pool and parking at a fraction of hotel prices, the genuine cheap tier done well.
Is Harare expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $70 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $180 a person |
| Splurge | $400 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Wild Is Life: a few days ahead
- Royal Harare Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Imire Rhino & Wildlife Conservation: a few days ahead
- Amanzi Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Victoria 22: a few days ahead
- Gava's: a few days ahead
- Garwe Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Queen of Hearts: a few days ahead
- Book before you fly: Wild Is Life, Imire day trips, Amanzi and Victoria 22 dinners, and lodges around festivals.
- Book a day or two ahead: Royal Harare tee times, Queen of Hearts on live-music nights, and Gava's for big groups.
Is Harare safe?
- Do not walk in the city centre after dark. Use taxis door to door.
- Treat Mbare and bus ranks as guided morning territory, valuables at the hotel, because pickpocketing is routine.
- Keep valuables out of sight in cars, avoid demonstrations, and never photograph State House or security installations.
Harare travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Spending your stay in the CBD, where only the galleries and the Meikles reward a base.
- Heroes' Acre as a headline sight and the Balancing Rocks as a half-day trip: both are short stops.
- Eating only in hotels, when the best food is in independent garden restaurants.
Getting around Harare: public transport and more
- No visitor-usable public transport. Use a self-drive rental, a driver booked by the day, or hotel taxis.
- Budget $5-8 for a Borrowdale to centre taxi run. Drive on the left and avoid driving out of town at night.
Who Harare suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Harare your trip
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