Rwanda Destinations

The places between the parks — the lake shore, the capital and the royal south — are where most itineraries find their rhythm.

Lake Kivu

Rwanda's western lake, and the natural break between the northern volcanoes and the southern rainforest.

Kigali

Every itinerary starts and ends here — the arrival city, and a day's worth of history, museums and neighbourhoods in its own right.

Musanze

The base town for Volcanoes National Park, under the volcano wall an hour and a half from Kigali.

Rubavu (Gisenyi)

Rwanda's lakeside resort town at the north end of Lake Kivu, on the Congo border.

Karongi (Kibuye)

The quietest and prettiest of the three Kivu towns — islands, coves and no hurry at all.

Rusizi (Cyangugu)

The southern end of Lake Kivu, at the gate of Nyungwe and the Bukavu border.

Huye (Butare)

Rwanda's university town and intellectual capital, and home of the national ethnographic museum.

Muhanga (Gitarama)

The road-junction town south of Kigali, with Rwanda's oldest cathedral and a republic declared in 1961.

Nyanza

The old royal capital — palace, museums, certified hiking trails and community cooperatives, 90 minutes south of Kigali.

How the country lays out

Rwanda is small enough that every destination on this list is within half a day's drive of Kigali. Practically, itineraries run on three axes. North: Kigali to Musanze for the volcanoes, then west to Rubavu on Lake Kivu. South: Kigali through Muhanga and Nyanza to Huye, then over the ridge to Nyungwe and down to Rusizi. East: Kigali to Akagera and back.

The lake road linking Rubavu, Karongi and Rusizi joins the northern and southern axes into a full circuit — slower than going back through Kigali, and much better.

Note that most Rwandan towns were renamed in the 2006 administrative reorganisation. Older guidebooks and maps still use Ruhengeri, Gisenyi, Kibuye, Cyangugu, Butare and Gitarama; both names are given here.