Uganda Things to See & Do Guide

Day 1—Arrive in Entebbe and proceed to a hotel in Kampala.

Days 2 and 3—Kampala. Visit the source of the Nile at Jinja for the afternoon, or spend the day rafting at nearby Bujagali Falls.

Day 4—Depart for Bwindi National Park.

Day 5—Bwindi National Park.

Day 6—Depart for Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Day 7—Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Day 8—Depart for the Murchison Falls National Park.

Day 9—Murchison Falls National Park.

Day 10—Return to Kampala and depart Uganda.

Additional time could be spent on the shores of Lake Victoria. Trekking enthusiasts might be interested in visiting Rwenzori National Park.

Opened in 1993, Bwindi has more mountain gorillas than any other park in Africa—about half the world's population, which is thought to be as few as 600-700. Gorillas live in family troops led by a dominate silverback—so called because of the band of white fur around his middle that he gets at maturity. The guides at Bwindi are experts at locating the elusive gorillas, and they start tracking from the previous night's sleeping nest. Be prepared to hike through very rugged country and—if you aren't using a digital camera—take high-speed film; the forests where the gorillas live are dark, and flash photography is not allowed. Also be aware that if you are sick, even with a common cold, you will not be allowed near the gorillas for fear of infecting them. To go gorilla-tracking, a permit is required, available from the Uganda Wildlife Authority in Kampala (be sure to apply well in advance). Alternatively, book a package tour that includes a gorilla permit.

Besides gorillas, the park has more than 120 species of mammals, including 10 species of primates, and plenty of birds, orchids and insects (whether you like them or not). Note: In the park, do not under any circumstances travel across the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo—violent incidents involving travelers in those areas have been reported. 180 mi/290 km southwest of Kampala.

The original colonial capital of Uganda, Entebbe is best known for its airport, where a hijacked El Al flight landed in 1976 before being liberated by the Israeli army. The airport is still the international gateway to the country, and some travelers spend a day or a night in town at the beginning or end of their stay in Uganda. It's not a bad place to recuperate (from either your flight or your time in Uganda): Set along the shore of Lake Victoria, Entebbe has several fine hotels, a golf course and splendid colonial-era houses on tree-lined streets. Visit the 70-acre/29-hectare botanical gardens, home to monkeys, birds and a wealth of native flora. The Entebbe Wildlife Centre is a ramshackle zoo created in the 1920s for orphaned animals rescued after being illegally taken from the wild. There's also a chimpanzee orphanage on Ngamba Island (14 mi/23 km from Entebbe), where you can watch chimpanzees feed. The animals there have been rescued from circuses and zoos, and some even from the cooking pot. The nearby fishing village of Kasenyi has a colorful market worth exploring. 25 mi/40 km southwest of Kampala.

This pleasant town in western Uganda lies near the Rwenzori Mountains. It has a colorful market, and there are some scenic crater lakes in the surrounding hills. Drives through the Rwenzori foothills can be made to the nearby Semliki National Park and Wildlife Reserve, whose attractions include Pygmy tribes, the Sempaya Hot Springs, boat trips on Lake Albert and a rich variety of Congolese bird species found nowhere else in East Africa. In the other direction, Kibale Forest National Park is part of the great equatorial rain forest that once spread across the whole of Africa before deforestation took its toll. Today, it is still home to a population of around 500 chimpanzees that can be tracked from the Tourist Centre in the middle of the park. Some of the chimps have been habituated to humans, but unlike the gorillas, there is no guarantee of seeing them—when you do, they are likely to hightail it off across the canopy of trees. 160 mi/260 km west of Kampala.

Uganda's second-largest city, Jinja isn't really worth a special visit except to see where the White Nile leaves Lake Victoria on its 3,470-mi/5,590-km journey to the Mediterranean. There is a small plaque that commemorates the spot where the explorer John Speke claimed he had found the source of the Nile in 1862. Although the river can be interesting, don't expect much: It's now the site of Owen Falls Dam and is no longer in its natural state. The biggest attraction in this region is Bujagali Falls 5 mi/8 km upstream from Jinja—a 1-mi/1.6-km wall of water that tumbles down a series of rocks. On the riverbanks, there are some lively campsites and bars, and it is the center for Uganda's burgeoning white-water rafting industry and various other adrenaline-inducing activities. We don't expect Idi Amin would have ever imagined that you could bungee jump over the Nile in Uganda—but you can today. Kayaking is also offered, as is quad biking in the villages along the banks of the Nile. 50 mi/80 km east of Kampala.

This impressive park is the largest in Uganda and its wildlife has largely recovered from the poachers and fighting armies that depleted its stocks in the 1980s. Elephant, lion, Rothschild's giraffe, buffalo, Uganda kob, Jackson's hartebeest, oribi, buffalo and waterbuck are among the more conspicuous terrestrial mammals, and the Nile is home to immense concentrations of hippo, crocodile and waterbirds.

The park has two other sights: Murchison Falls and Karuma Falls, both on the Nile. The river gains momentum over the 14 mi/23 km Karuma Falls before reaching the famous Murchison Falls. There, the Nile squeezes through an impossibly small cleft of rock only 22 ft/7 m across and spits it out as a plume of white water into the aptly-named "boiling pot" some 130 ft/40 m below. It is said that this is one of the most powerful explosions of water on earth. A minimum of two days is required to get a real sense of the park. The Paraa Lodge, which overlooks the Nile downstream from Murchison Falls, is one of a number of the country's improved tourist facilities. From there, you can take a three-hour boat cruise to the very base of Murchison Falls and spot hippo and crocodiles languishing on the calmer shores before reaching the falls. If very lucky, you may spot the rare shoebill stork standing on the water's edge. 250 mi/400 km northwest of Kampala.

Set just a few miles/kilometers north of Lake Victoria in the heart of Buganda, Kampala is the capital of Uganda and the country's largest city. It's a hilly, pleasant town, and the scars of war that dominated in the early 1990s have long since been repaired or replaced by bright malls and high-rises. A sightseeing highlight is the the National Museum with its excellent historical and cultural displays. Also, take an excursion to Lake Victoria and visit Namugongo Martyrs' Shrine and the massive, thatch-domed Kasubi Tombs, burial place of several kabakas of Buganda. Although their works are not intended for tourists (and may not be for sale), students at the Makerere University's School of Industrial and Fine Arts create fascinating pieces of art, many of which reflect the hard condition of Ugandan life. In the middle of city at the bottom of Nakasero Hill, look for the market with its colorful display of fresh produce and the matatu (minibus) park stuffed to the gills with vehicles.

Located on the borderwith Sudan, Kidepo Valley Park is the third-largest national park in the country. In spite of its significant size, it has never attracted many tourists because of its remoteness, but the opening of an upmarket lodge likely will change that. Kidepo supports a rich variety of large mammals, ranging from lion and cheetah to greater kudu and giraffe, but its main attraction is the sense of being miles/kilometers off any beaten tourist track. It is also very alluring to bird-watchers. The Karamoja people who inhabit the area are traditional nomadic pastoralists with strong cultural affinities to the more famous Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania. 270 mi/435 km northeast of Kampala.

Situated alongside the road between Kabale town and Bwindi National Park, this pretty lake—whose name translates aptly as "Place of Little Birds"—is essentially a submerged valley dammed by a lava flow from one of the region's many volcanoes. With a shore and islands dotted with low-key camps and lodges, it has become one of the most popular venues in Uganda to relax and is a popular base for day hikes and visits to Batwa pygmy communities. A bird-watcher's paradise, it is also a reliable location for sightings of otherwise-elusive otters.

This park, easily accessible from Kampala, has buffalo, hippo, zebra, impala and many other animals. The lake and its avian life will also appeal to bird-watchers. More than 350 species have been recorded there. Sometimes the comical-looking Ankole cattle with their enormous heavy horns can be seen grazing in the park amongst the impala. Accommodations are in fully equipped safari tents at the park's lodge that overlooks Lake Mburo. 100 mi/160 km southwest of Kampala.

The source of the Nile, Lake Victoria is best seen in Uganda at Jinja. This is the second-largest freshwater lake in the world. There are nice beaches and properties on the shore, but swimming is not recommended, because of the presence of the flukes that cause bilharzia, which can result in severe liver damage. The Ssese Islands are a collection of 84 beautiful, untouched islands on the lake. Only inhabited by a few fishermen, the forests on the islands attract thousands of birds and butterflies. One of them, Ngamba Island, is the home to a sanctuary of rescued chimpanzees and can be reached by boat from Entebbe. Just south of Kampala.

This reserve was opened in 1991 to protect the mountain gorillas of the Uganda portion of Virunga volcano range. At only 21 sq mi/34 sq km, this is Uganda's smallest park. It's a pristine swath of tropical rain forest and bamboo, which gorillas love to eat. One group of habituated gorillas can be visited there, but they sometimes nip over the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so gorilla-tracking is not guaranteed. Other attractions include the rare and beautiful golden monkey and the spectacular views to the Virunga peaks. Gorilla-tracking permits must be obtained in advance through the Uganda Wildlife Authority in Entebbe. 225 mi/360 km southwest of Kampala.

Located close to Mbale, the country's third-largest town, Mount Elgon is an extinct volcano straddling the border with Kenya, although the peaks all lie in Uganda. Rising to a height of 4,321 meters, it is said to have the largest base of any volcanic mountain in the world and once would have stood far taller than Kilimanjaro does today. It protects a similar selection of odd mountain vegetation as the Rwenzori, but is far less challenging—and easier—to climb. For nonhikers, the pretty Sipi Falls on the footslopes is a popular base.

With a fine backdrop of the Rwenzori Mountains behind it, this park in western Uganda is bordered by Lake Edward to the west and Lake George to the east. These two bodies of water are connected by the Kazinga Channel, which is inhabited by what is thought to the world's largest concentration of hippopotami. The sight of hundreds of these creatures languishing in the water is best appreciated from a boat ride, from which you may also spot crocodiles and varied species of birds. Astonishingly, the park is home to at least 610 species of birds—more than in any other park in Africa.

On the savannah plains are elephants, buffalo, lions, Uganda kobs (a type of antelope) and hyenas. Channel Drive is good for leopards and is the only place in Africa where diurnal sightings of the monstrous giant forest hog are regular. As with Murchison Falls, wildlife numbers have largely recovered from the poaching of the 1970s-80s. A highlight there is enjoying a sundowner on the lodge terrace and watching a hippo amble across the lawn at dusk.

A newer attraction of QENP is chimpanzee-tracking in the Kyambura Gorge, and the underrated Maramagambo Forest in the far south is home to several beautiful crater lakes, a creepily impressive bat cave and lots of forest birds and monkeys. The Ishasha sector in the far southwest, serviced by a lovely riverside tented camp, is the most reliable place in Africa to look for tree-climbing lions, as well as other wildlife and birds (including the rare shoebill). 270 mi/435 km south west of Kampala.

Also known as the Mountains of the Moon—the source of the Nile referred to in Ptolemy's ancient Geography—the Rwenzori is the highest nonvolcanic mountain range in Africa, rising from the Rift Valley floor near Queen Elizabeth National Park to the 16,761-ft/5109-m Mount Margherita. Accessible only to dedicated hikers, the mountain's muddy upper slopes form one of Africa's prime mountaineering attractions.

The Rwenzori's features include geothermal activity, oversized vegetation such as giant lobelias and groundsels, equatorial glaciers, numerous lakes, and a series of jagged mountains that form the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. A World Heritage Site, Rwenzori Mountains National Park was off-limits for much of the 1990s because of rebel activity, but trekking is again offered in the park. There is a seven-day circuit in the mountains that anyone can attempt, though it's hard going, but only experienced climbers should attempt the ascent of Mount Margherita. 165 mi/265 km west of Kampala.