Things to do in Queen Elizabeth National Park
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Long dry season and main safari season: firm tracks, shorter grass, animals at water, and Katwe salt production peaking July to September.
Short dry season and second peak, with Christmas and New Year the most expensive weeks and salt harvesting again from January.
Long rains: greenest park and best birding, with difficult tracks, especially in Ishasha, dispersed game and lower prices.
Short rains shoulder: fewer visitors, lower prices, migrant birds arriving, and flamingos possible at Lake Munyanyange.
What's on
- Lesser Flamingo at Lake Munyanyange August to November, also recorded in July
Seasonal flamingo presence on the Katwe crater lake, per UWA visitor and monitoring sources; numbers vary with water levels.
- World Tourism Day 27 September
In 2026 UWA opened this park with free entry from 25 to 27 September around this date; whether it repeats is a year by year decision.
Best things to do in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Kazinga Channel
A two hour boat ride past dense hippo pods, crocodiles, buffalo and rich birdlife on the channel between two lakes.
Kasenyi Plains
Open plains full of Uganda kob, and where kob gather lions follow, making this the most reliable northern game drive.
Ishasha Sector
The far southern sector where lions rest in fig trees, on emptier plains with topi, kob, buffalo and elephant.
Kyambura Gorge
A forested gorge holding a small habituated chimpanzee community, tracked on foot with about even to good odds.
Kalinzu Forest Reserve
A forestry reserve east of the park with a larger habituated chimpanzee community than Kyambura and rich forest birding.
Maramagambo Forest
A large forest for guided walks past crater lakes to a bat cave, with primates, forest birds and butterflies.
Lake Katwe
A hypersaline crater lake where community guides explain salt extraction from evaporation pans worked by hand for centuries.
Experiential Lion Tracking
Go out with carnivore researchers using radio telemetry to find collared lions and explain the monitoring work.
Where to stay in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Mweya Peninsula
the boat, crater drive and simplest logistics
Inside the park on the channel, with the jetty, headquarters area and Mweya activities at hand, and park entry charged per 24 hours.
Kasenyi and Kikorongo
dawn game drives and budget nights outside the gate
The north eastern plains sector, with a plains camp, an escarpment lodge and community and budget bases outside the Kasenyi gate.
Kyambura and the Kichwamba Escarpment
chimpanzees, the gorge and Maramagambo
The eastern edge of the park, with the gorge below and lodges on the escarpment above it.
Katunguru and the Kazinga Channel
value, the boat and a single northern base
The gateway cluster on the channel bridge, outside the park boundary, within reach of Mweya, Kasenyi and Kyambura.
Ishasha Sector
tree climbing lions at dawn and dusk
The far southern sector, about two hours from Mweya, with one luxury camp inside it and no mid range bed inside the sector.
Think twice about
- Congo border tracks and crossings near Ishasha
The sector lies close to the Congo border. Stay on park tracks, follow UWA and lodge security guidance, and do not approach crossings independently.
- Kasese town as a game drive base
Kasese is a useful gateway and rest town about an hour north, but daily drives from town waste the dawn hours this park rewards. Sleep in a park sector.
- Lake and channel shores on foot
No swimming and no unguided shore walking anywhere in this park: hippos, crocodiles and bilharzia risk in still lake water.
Best restaurants in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Katara Lodge
Set menus for a handful of guests on the escarpment, the top end table in a park where the best cooking is at lodges.
Mweya Safari Lodge
A channel view restaurant and terrace at the peninsula lodge, where lunch watches hippos in the water below.
Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge
Open air set dinners facing the Kazinga Channel, with hippo sounds and sometimes elephants passing the grounds.
Buffalo Safari Lodge
A mid range Katunguru lodge restaurant serving the solid Uganda safari menu in a garden setting.
Rwenzori International Hotel
Kasese's full service hotel restaurant, for travellers spending a night in town between the park and the Rwenzoris.
Jambo Café
Kasese's traveller cafe for coffee, pancakes, brownies, chapatis, pizza and rolex, cooked to order.
Cafe Olimaco
A local Kasese cafe restaurant for a proper Ugandan lunch of matoke, beans, rice and stew; verify opening locally.
Kazinga Channel View Resort
A budget Katunguru lodge restaurant serving simple Ugandan and traveller dishes where budget trips are organised.
Outdoor things to do in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Specialist Birding
Over 600 bird species where savanna, forest, swamp, crater lakes and two great lakes meet, best with a named bird guide.
Mongoose Tracking
Follow a habituated banded mongoose troop on foot with the researchers who study its complicated social system.
Night Game Drive
A spotlight drive with a mandatory UWA guide for leopard, hyena, bush babies, civets and nightjars after dark.
Katwe Explosion Craters Track
A 27 kilometre rim drive past explosion craters and crater lakes to the Queen's Pavilion, best in clear dawn light.
Kyambura Gorge Rim Walk
Guided rim trails above the forested gorge, with viewpoints, birds and monkeys, without a chimpanzee tracking permit.
Lake Munyanyange
A small crater lake that seasonally holds lesser flamingos and other waterbirds, best combined with a Katwe salt visit.
Sport Fishing
Permitted fishing for Nile perch and other species on the channel and lakes, a half day for keen anglers.
Best hotels in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Mweya Safari Lodge
The historic full service lodge on the peninsula, with channel views, a pool and the boat jetty below it.
Kasenyi Safari Camp
A small tented camp on the Kasenyi Plains, positioned to be on the game tracks at dawn without a long drive.
Elephant Plains Lodge
Cottages and a pool on the escarpment edge, with a large view over the Kasenyi Plains and Lake George.
The Elephant Home
A community run lodge and campsite outside the Kasenyi gate, with simple rooms, camping and community walks.
Simba Safari Camp
A basic budget camp near Kikorongo with dorms, simple rooms and camping, reaching Kasenyi without inside park prices.
Kyambura Gorge Lodge
A Volcanoes Safaris lodge in a converted coffee store on the gorge edge, with a pool and community conservation work.
Parkview Safari Lodge
An escarpment mid range lodge with cottages, a pool and wide views, well placed for Kyambura and Maramagambo.
Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge
Tents and bandas on the Kazinga Channel outside the park, with open dining and hippos and elephants in the grounds.
Is Queen Elizabeth National Park expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | UGX 450,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | UGX 1,200,000 a person |
| Splurge | UGX 3,500,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Kyambura Gorge: weeks ahead
- Kalinzu Forest Reserve: a few days ahead
- Experiential Lion Tracking: weeks ahead
- Specialist Birding: a few days ahead
- Mongoose Tracking: a few days ahead
- Night Game Drive: a few days ahead
- Mweya Safari Lodge: weeks ahead
- Kasenyi Safari Camp: weeks ahead
- Book dry season lodges, Kyambura chimp permits and lion tracking weeks to months ahead.
- Buy permits before fixing lodge nights, and sleep in the sector the permit is for.
- Ask operator quotes to itemise park entry, permits, vehicle entry, vehicle and driver hire, fuel and board basis.
Is Queen Elizabeth National Park safe?
- There is a real terrorism threat in western Uganda, including around national parks, and Allied Democratic Forces operate near the Congo border. Use reputable operators and contact UWA before travelling to parks near that border.
- Malaria is present all year in this low altitude park; take prophylaxis advice, use repellent and nets, and treat any fever as urgent and mention Uganda travel.
- Stay in vehicles on game drives, walk only on guided activities, keep guide distances, and never enter lakes or the channel.
- Use lodge escorts after dark; hippos, elephants and buffalo move through unfenced lodge grounds at night.
- Do long road transfers by day with an experienced driver, and avoid matatus and boda bodas.
Queen Elizabeth National Park travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Day tripping Ishasha from Mweya wastes dawn and dusk on a variable road; sleep there or accept a long day.
- Kyambura chimpanzees are not guaranteed; a small community gives roughly even to good odds, and Kibale is the reliable product.
- Quotes built on a US$50 Kyambura permit and US$100 lion tracking fee use an old tariff; the 2024 to 2026 tariff lists US$100 and US$200.
- The equator sign near Kikorongo is a five minute photo stop, not an attraction.
Getting around Queen Elizabeth National Park: public transport and more
- Drive from Kampala or Entebbe in roughly 6 to 8 hours via Mbarara to Katunguru, or via Fort Portal and Kasese to the north.
- Fly from Entebbe or Kajjansi to Kasese, Mweya or Ishasha airstrips, about an hour, for short trips and families.
- Mweya to Kasenyi is about an hour and Mweya to Ishasha about two hours, much slower after rain; sleep in the sector you visit at dawn.
Who Queen Elizabeth National Park suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Queen Elizabeth National Park your trip
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