Things to do in Mutare
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Mutare
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Rainy season, heaviest in December and January in the Eastern Highlands; waterfalls are strongest, trails slippery, mist can erase views and gravel roads need high clearance.
Dry season and the best hiking and driving window, with clear skies and the best views for Castle Beacon, Nyangani and Chimanimani.
Highlands winter, with cold nights, frost possible in Nyanga and the Vumba and temperatures near freezing at altitude; pack real layers.
Warmer days and the Vumba flowering season, with the botanical gardens at their best roughly September to November.
What's on
- Ndau Festival of the Arts Usually late September
Ndau culture festival in Chipinge district, Manicaland, now with conservation and birding events; an excursion area event, not in Mutare city.
- Bridal Veil Mbira Moon Chimanimani November
Outdoor music festival at Bridal Veil Falls, Chimanimani, celebrating culture and conservation, hosted with the parks authority and local conservation network.
Best things to do in Mutare
Mutare Museum
One of Zimbabwe's four national museums, strongest on transport and Manicaland history, and the best orientation in the city.
Cecil Kop Nature Reserve
A 1,500 hectare reserve 3 km from the centre, with a dam, grassland, giraffe and monkeys, and Mutare's best family half day.
Prince of Wales View
A roadside lookout over the Forbes Border Post into Mozambique, worth 20 minutes on a clear day on the way to the Vumba.
Christmas Pass
The steep scenic pass west of the city with the classic panorama back over Mutare, best driven and viewed in daylight.
Mutare Sakubva Musika Market
Mutare's largest food and flea market, a working morning market to visit with a local guide, not a tourist attraction.
Where to stay in Mutare
Mutare centre and Aerodrome Road
practical base, business and first nights
Walkable by day, with the chain hotel, the backpackers, clubs and restaurants, and the museum on Aerodrome Road.
Vumba
couples, scenery and the splurge stay
Mist, gardens and forest 30 minutes above the city, home to Leopard Rock and the Inn on the Vumba, with no fuel pumps.
Eastern Mutare
families and a quieter lodge stay
Garden lodges on the lower eastern slopes above the city, a short drive from the centre and the Vumba road.
Think twice about
- Sakubva
Mutare's poorest high density suburb. Visit the market by day, ideally with a local guide, keep valuables hidden, and do not base there or wander after dark.
- Mutare city centre after dark
Poor lighting, broken traffic lights at times and petty crime risk. Walk by day and use a taxi or your driver after dark.
Best restaurants in Mutare
Tony's Coffee And Chocolate Shop
The Vumba's legendary cake and coffee stop on the Bvumba Road, famous for rich chocolate cakes and mountain views.
Mutare Club
A century old club restaurant with steaks and club cooking in a quiet, faded and welcoming setting.
Hellenic Club Mutare
A Greek club restaurant in the centre, known locally for grilled chicken and unhurried club lunches.
Nando's Mutare
The flame grilled chicken chain on Second Avenue, the most predictable hot meal in the city centre.
Cavery Restaurant Mutare
A cheap local restaurant for traditional Zimbabwean food, with beef and sadza the dish to order at lunch.
Kapoto Restaurant Mutare
An inexpensive African restaurant on Vintcent Avenue, included as the budget local option with thin evidence.
Outdoor things to do in Mutare
Vumba Botanical Gardens and Reserve
Landscaped gardens around streams and a small lake in the Mountains of the Mist, 30 minutes from Mutare.
Bunga Forest Botanical Reserve
Conserved mist forest with trails to valley views, samango monkeys and some of Zimbabwe's rarest forest birds.
Castle Beacon
The highest point in the Vumba at 1,911 m, a clear morning hike to views over the valleys and into Mozambique.
Leopard Rock Golf Course
An 18 hole championship course below Leopard Rock with views from every hole, the Mutare area's one splurge activity.
Nyanga National Park
Highland park of pine forest, trout streams and ancient terraces, 2 hours north of Mutare and worth an overnight.
Mtarazi Falls
Zimbabwe's highest waterfall at about 762 m, inside Nyanga National Park and at its most powerful after rain.
Mount Nyangani
Zimbabwe's highest mountain at about 2,592 m, a serious guided hike where weather closes in fast.
Chimanimani National Park
Quartzite ridges, gorges and mountain pools for multi day wilderness trekking, 2.5 hours south of Mutare.
Best hotels in Mutare
Leopard Rock Hotel
The Eastern Highlands splurge stay in the Vumba, with golf, a game sanctuary and sunset drinks at The Castle.
Holiday Inn Mutare
The reliable chain hotel on Aerodrome Road, the default first night or business base in the city centre.
Musangano Lodge
Chalets and villas in gardens on the eastern slopes, with a pool and mountain views and highly rated service.
Inn on the Vumba
A small hotel at the gateway to the Bvumba with views over wooded valleys toward Mozambique.
Ann Bruce Backpackers
A homestay style backpackers walkable to the shops, with a kitchen and staff who help with buses and Vumba hikes.
Is Mutare expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $45 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $110 a person |
| Splurge | $260 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Leopard Rock Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Mount Nyangani: a few days ahead
- Chimanimani National Park: a few days ahead
- Leopard Rock Hotel: weeks ahead
- Holiday Inn Mutare: a few days ahead
- Musangano Lodge: a few days ahead
- Inn on the Vumba: a few days ahead
- Book Leopard Rock and Nyanga lodges weeks ahead for the dry season, Zimbabwean holidays and December.
- Tony's Coffee and Chocolate Shop is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays on current listings, so plan a Vumba day Wednesday to Sunday.
- Arrange Chimanimani and Nyangani guides before you arrive in the village or park office, not on the trail.
Is Mutare safe?
- Avoid rallies, demonstrations and crowds, and do not display cash.
- Driving standards are very poor; avoid driving outside main towns at night, and avoid overcrowded, poorly maintained kombi minibuses.
- Healthcare can be very poor outside major cities, and private clinics require cash, often in US dollars, before treatment; carry evacuation insurance.
- Never drive the Nyanga, Chimanimani or Vumba roads at night, and keep the fuel tank topped up against shortages and queues.
Mutare travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Being sold Nyanga or Chimanimani as a quick day trip without the 2 to 2.5 hour drive each way.
- Assuming card payment will work at park gates and small lodges; carry small USD notes, with change often given in ZiG.
- Treating Sakubva Market as a photo safari rather than a working market in a poor suburb.
Getting around Mutare: public transport and more
- You need a car, or a hired car with driver, for everything beyond the compact and walkable city centre.
- A private transfer to the Vumba runs roughly USD 20 to 40 return, and there are no fuel pumps in the Vumba hills.
- Mutare is about 265 km east of Harare on the A3, about 115 km south of Nyanga and about 150 km north of Chimanimani.
Who Mutare suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Mutare your trip
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