Things to do in Juba
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Juba
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season at its most reliable, clear skies, roads at their best and wildlife near water at Nimule.
Still dry but the hottest month pattern begins, with highs approaching 40 degrees. Sightsee early and late.
The rains retreat and the practical season opens. Operator guidance gives November to April as the dry window.
The rains begin, monthly rainfall rises above 100 millimetres, and excursions beyond the paved road become conditional.
Deep wet season, the heaviest rain and the hardest roads, with Independence Day on 9 July in the middle of it.
What's on
- Independence Day 9 July
Anniversary of independence in 2011, with ceremonies at the mausoleum ground, crowds and road closures, in deep wet season.
- Christmas 25 December
A major public celebration in a majority Christian country, with Juba churches at their fullest, in the dry season.
Best things to do in Juba
John Garang Mausoleum
The guarded tomb of the founding father on the Avenue of Nations, the emotional and ceremonial centre of South Sudan.
Konyo Konyo Market
The largest market in Juba and the import hub for the whole country, best walked in the morning with a local guide.
Custom Market
The produce market of Juba, with streets of local fruit, vegetables and staples and cheap eateries at its edges.
St. Theresa Cathedral, Juba
The Catholic cathedral in Kator, begun in 1952, a working parish that sheltered thousands during fighting in Juba.
All Saints Cathedral
Juba's Anglican cathedral, an early church landmark and living parish paired with Kator on every city tour.
Nyakuron Cultural Centre
The cultural centre founded in 1976, with gardens and a stage for dance and music from across South Sudan.
Freedom Bridge
The 560 metre steel arch bridge opened in 2022, crossed with a guide and viewed, never photographed without permission.
Juba Nile Bridge
The older iron crossing of the White Nile on the Nimule road, the lifeline bridge the Freedom Bridge relieved.
Where to stay in Juba
Hai Malakal and the business district
first future-window stay, top tier
Home to the Radisson Blu and Bertarelli on Nimule Street, minutes from the airport and the central sights by car.
Juba Stadium and Hai Cinema area
central hotels across tiers
The Pyramid Continental and Quality Hotel stand in this central band, with AFEX and Konyo Konyo a short drive away.
Airport road, Hai Matar and Gudele
longer stays and compounds
The Crown Hotel and Acacia Village sit on the airport and western side, built for long stay security and quiet.
White Nile riverfront, Kator side
character and the river
AFEX Rivercamp and the Kator riverside restaurants trade hotel polish for the Nile at the end of the garden.
Think twice about
- All of South Sudan today, including Juba, for leisure travel
South Sudan is not a leisure destination today. Save this trip for when that changes.
- The Juba to Nimule road at night or without an operator
There is a documented record of regular attacks by armed groups and accidents on this road. Excursions are daylight, operator run trips only.
- Bridges, the airport and government or military buildings as photo stops
Photographing bridges, airports, checkpoints and government or military sites can lead to detention. View them, do not photograph them.
- Walking the city at night
There is a high risk of robbery and assault in Juba at night, including drive-by robberies. Evenings belong in known compounds and restaurants.
Best restaurants in Juba
Bertarelli Ristorante
The documented splurge table of current Juba, an elegant Italian dining room with a White Nile view in Hai Malakal.
Notos Lounge Bar & Grill
A grill and lounge in a stone building of the first Greek traders of Juba, a dining room that is also city history.
Da Vinci Lodge
A riverside lodge restaurant in Kator for Italian leaning dishes, grills and sundowners by the Nile.
AFEX Rivercamp
The riverside bar and restaurant inside the AFEX compound, for pizza, salads and burgers in front of the Nile.
Konyo Konyo Market
Market stalls for kisra, stews, grilled meats and tea at local pound prices, the cheapest serious lunch in Juba.
Custom Market
Small eateries around the produce streets, where lunch is built on what the market itself is selling that morning.
Outdoor things to do in Juba
Jebel Kujur
The granite hill above Juba, hiked early with a guide for the panorama over the low city to the White Nile.
White Nile
A guided boat ride on the broad, calm Nile at Juba, past fishermen and river gardens in early or late light.
Gondokoro
The 19th century river station across the Nile from Juba, visited with an excellent guide for its layered history.
Nimule National Park
Elephants, hippos and the Fula Rapids on the Nile, 190 km south of Juba, an overnight operator excursion in dry season.
Mundari cattle camps
A permitted, operator led visit to Mundari cattle camps via Terekeka, a way of life organised around long horned cattle.
Best hotels in Juba
Radisson Blu Hotel, Juba
The first international five star hotel in South Sudan, opened in 2022, with Nile views, a pool and a wellness centre.
Pyramid Continental Hotel
The landmark local luxury tower near Juba Stadium, with a fitness centre, garden and concierge in its listings.
Crown Hotel
A long running business hotel with a pool and problem solving staff, the mid range workhorse long stay guests praise.
Acacia Village
A secure, green residential compound of cottages with a pool, built for longer stays and quiet over hotel services.
AFEX Rivercamp
A secure riverfront camp of bungalows and simple rooms, with the Nile garden bar that is the stay guests remember.
Quality Hotel Juba
A central tourist class hotel near Juba Stadium, the honest cheap end of a city with no true budget tier.
Is Juba expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $90 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $210 a person |
| Splurge | $500 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- White Nile: a few days ahead
- Gondokoro: a few days ahead
- Nimule National Park: weeks ahead
- Mundari cattle camps: weeks ahead
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Juba: weeks ahead
- Pyramid Continental Hotel: weeks ahead
- Crown Hotel: a few days ahead
- Acacia Village: a few days ahead
- Book the operator, visa and permits weeks to months ahead. Operators ask for passport copies about a month before travel.
- Hold the top hotels and AFEX early and flexibly, because official and aid travel fills them on no leisure pattern.
- Arrange Nyakuron performances, boats and restaurant tables locally, close to the day, through your guide or hotel.
Is Juba safe?
- Do not travel now: South Sudan is not a leisure destination in present conditions. Save this trip for when that changes.
- A photography permit is required and photographing soldiers, bridges, the airport or government buildings can lead to detention.
- South Sudan is a cash economy for visitors. Cards are almost never accepted and ATMs are unreliable, so carry clean US dollars.
- Take malaria seriously, with prophylaxis and repellent, and drink bottled or properly treated water.
- Never walk off established roads and paths outside the city because of landmines and unexploded weapons.
Juba travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Any offer of a cheap, permit free, escort free Juba trip contradicts the permit and security record.
- Hotel star ratings mislead in Juba. A camp can outrun a tower, so judge operations, power, water and security, not stars.
- Nimule sold as an easy day trip understates a three to four hour road with a documented attack history.
- July sold for Independence Day ignores that July is deep wet season, when travel beyond the city is hardest.
Getting around Juba: public transport and more
- Move by car with a vetted driver arranged by an operator or hotel. Boda bodas are not visitor transport.
- Juba International Airport is about ten minutes by road from the business district. Use hotel or operator pickup.
- Do every excursion as a daylight trip, check conditions that morning, and never travel between towns after dark.
- Carry a colour copy of your passport, with the original secured at the hotel.
Who Juba suits
| Solo travellers | Not ideal |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | OK |
| Couples | Not ideal |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Not ideal |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Juba your trip
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