Self-drive round trips in Namibia by rental car

Together with your personal Elefant-Tours travel expert you plan your individual Namibia self-drive tour.

You can get involved as much or as little as you like. Our colleagues have first-hand local knowledge, have driven the routes themselves and have visited the accommodation themselves. An invaluable advantage for you.

You tell us who is travelling, your travel budget and what matters to you: seeing as many highlights as possible in a short time, taking it easy, focusing on wildlife sightings or perhaps landscape photography?

On our website you will find initial tour suggestions, which we can adapt individually to your wishes: route, length, accommodation and activities.

We will also gladly make you an offer for a flight to Namibia.

Once the travel plan you want for your Namibia rental car trip is settled, we book the accommodation and the rental car for you.

We give you further detailed tips, travel information and directions to take with you.

Especially if you want to travel in the high season from June to October, we recommend starting to plan your Namibia self-drive tour a year in advance.

Get in touch with us and we will start the trip planning!

On a self-drive tour through Namibia you drive a rental car along a pre-planned route. You stay in pre-booked accommodation such as lodges, tented camps, guesthouses or guest farms. These are mostly set in beautiful scenery.

On car trips through Namibia the journey is the destination: you can stop again and again along the way, enjoy beautiful views or head for specific sights such as the rock paintings at Twyfelfontein, hiking trails in the Naukluft Mountains or the ghost town of Kolmanskop. You can then explore these individually.

Many accommodations also offer additional activities such as guided sunset drives.

If you also want to experience wildlife sightings on your trip, you can either go on game drives yourself in your rental car or add game drives in a special safari vehicle with a professional guide.

Self-drive tours offer you the greatest possible flexibility. The routes and accommodation are pre-planned, but you can shape the exact daily routine individually – especially if you stay two nights in one place.

You can find out which travel styles we distinguish in Africa in general, along with further information on the self-drive travel style, here.

Namibia impresses above all with its scenic beauty.

On a Namibia trip, Fish River Canyon, the largest canyon in Africa, awaits you in the south.

On the coast, in the towns of Lüderitz and Swakopmund, you learn a great deal about the history of the colonial era. At the same time, Swakopmund offers many opportunities for adventure activities such as desert tours and scenic flights in a light aircraft.

In the Namib Desert you see some of Namibia's best-known highlights with Sossusvlei and Deadvlei.

You will probably experience the most beautiful sunsets in Damaraland, which is also home to the desert elephants and the setting for San rock paintings and engravings.

You will experience the best safaris in Etosha National Park. Here you can see many different animals, including lions, elephants, giraffes and many antelope species.

The former Caprivi Strip, now the Zambezi Region, in the north-east of the country forms a scenic contrast to the otherwise very dry desert country of Namibia. The vegetation here is green and criss-crossed by rivers.

Rental car trips through Namibia can also be combined with a visit to Botswana or South Africa as well as with a visit to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe or Zambia.

You can travel to Namibia all year round. Self-drive tours are also possible in Namibia all year round.

The most popular time to travel to Namibia, however, is the dry season from June to October. At this time temperatures are somewhat cooler. It is also the best time for wildlife sightings in Etosha National Park. Road conditions are in better shape during the dry season than in the rainy season.

During the rainy season from December to March it can get very hot. Depending on the year, there may be heavy but mostly short downpours. Wildlife sightings are harder in the rainy season. Instead, green landscapes and in some cases lower prices await you.

In our blog we have collected further details on the best time to travel in Namibia.

Namibia is big, and the distances and therefore driving distances are very long. To be able to enjoy the travel experience, we recommend a trip length of at least 14 days. We also recommend spending more than just one night in a place now and then, so that you don't just tick off the sights but can really experience them.

You can either explore particular regions such as the south or north of Namibia intensively, or head for the best-known highlights spread across the country.

As you are behind the wheel yourself on a self-drive tour and have to concentrate over long distances, we recommend planning enough breaks into the daily stages. Our Elefant-Tours travel experts plan your rental car trip so that it is easily manageable.

We have put together further ideas and tips on the length of Namibia trips for you here.

Self-drive tours in Namibia are also suitable for families with children. A road trip is a great adventure that you will remember for a long time.

If you travel in Namibia with children, you should bear a few things in mind so that everyone enjoys the trip:

Take it slowly and spend several days in one place. This way you can explore a region in depth together with your children instead of just sitting in the car.

Even so, on most Namibia trips the journey is the destination. Driving times of several hours cannot always be avoided.

Plan in activities such as short hikes, a desert tour to find the Little Five or a boat trip. At the same time, we recommend building free time and flexibility into your trip planning.

When choosing accommodation, a swimming pool can make all the difference for children.

If you want to take a trip to Africa but are not yet sure of the destination, you can read in our blog whether Namibia or South Africa is better suited to families with children.

Namibia is a very popular country with Africa first-timers. Tailor-made rental car trips are also often booked by first-time travellers.

In principle, when choosing a travel style you decide between guided tours, on which a guide drives the vehicle and takes care of the trip organisation, and self-drive tours, on which you drive a rental car yourself and largely organise the daily routine on the ground yourself.

If you book a self-drive tour with Elefant-Tours, the route, the vehicle, the accommodation and some activities are already planned and booked. This gives many first-time travellers the necessary confidence to opt for a self-drive tour.

In general, for a self-drive tour through Namibia you should have a certain amount of driving experience and be able to change a tyre yourself. Most roads in Namibia are gravel roads. Important: in Namibia traffic drives on the left. You usually don't have to expect much oncoming traffic, though.

Flexibility, openness and a certain relaxed attitude also make everyday life on the road easier.

We have summarised what you should know before your first Namibia trip in our guide Namibia for Beginners.

To rent a vehicle in Namibia and be allowed to drive it, you need a valid national driving licence, for example a German, Austrian or Swiss licence.

If it is not in English, you must also hold an international driving permit and present it.

An international driving permit is only valid together with a valid national driving licence.

When driving in Namibia, you should bear a few important points in mind.

Most roads are gravel tracks, which can take some getting used to for European drivers. Here you should not drive faster than 80 km/h and should watch out for corrugations, potholes and washouts.

Some main roads are tarmac, with speed limits of 120 km/h on main roads and 60 km/h in towns. Towns are generally well signposted and accommodation is easy to find.

Watch out for driving on the left and do not drive after sunset. In the dark, wild animals and poorly lit vehicles pose a serious risk.

Our Elefant-Tours travel experts plan your route so that you can always take enough breaks and arrive at your next accommodation while it is still light.

Most roads in Namibia are gravel roads. A few main arteries are tarmac.

On gravel roads you should not drive faster than 80 km/h and should avoid overtaking and sudden braking. These can easily make the vehicle skid.

If you have driving experience and can concentrate over longer distances, the road conditions in Namibia are easy to master. It is important to plan enough breaks.

The decision on which vehicle you should rent depends mainly on two things: your route and the number of people travelling.

Depending on the route and the places and National Parks visited, a 2×4 vehicle may be enough, or you may need a 4×4.

If you are travelling with several people, the vehicle should have enough storage space for luggage as well as enough room inside for a comfortable travel experience.

Our travel experts will gladly make concrete suggestions and advise you on choosing and booking the best rental car for your trip.

We have worked with reliable rental car providers in Namibia for many years; the quality of the vehicles and of the service on the ground is generally very good. This is mainly because self-driving is a very popular and widespread travel style in Namibia.

If you travel in the high season from June to October, it is important to book your rental car early to get the model you want.

There are petrol stations in towns. In very remote areas, however, not always. We therefore recommend filling up as soon as the tank is half empty and you pass a petrol station.

We also recommend always carrying enough cash for a tank of fuel in case the card reader at the petrol station does not work.