The Best of Zimbabwe – Self-Drive Round Trip

After you arrive at Harare airport, your best Zimbabwe round trip begins with collecting your rental car and driving to your accommodation, the beautiful Amanzi Lodge. Harare, the vibrant capital of Zimbabwe, offers a wide range of experiences.

Explore the sprawling Botanical Garden (optional), where numerous native plant species of the African continent can be discovered.

If you are looking for local crafts, visit the lively flea and souvenir market in Avondale (optional), where colourful products and unique souvenirs await you. Take a break in the charming Bottom Drawer Café, known for its delicious English scones and aromatic coffee – a perfect place to relax.

After a leisurely breakfast, the best Zimbabwe round trip takes you east to the Eastern Highlands. For supplies, it is worth stopping at Food Lovers Market in Greendale before you set off: it has a good selection of snacks, drinks and water for the journey.

The Eastern Highlands stretch over more than 300 kilometres and offer a varied mountain landscape with impressive valleys and waterfalls. Your next destination is the Honde Valley, an extraordinary ecosystem in the Eastern Highlands. Thanks to its tropically hot climate, it offers ideal conditions for growing tea, macadamia nuts, bananas and other fruit.

At the end of the valley, the beautiful Aberfoyle Lodge awaits you, which impresses with its unique location and warm hospitality. You will spend two unforgettable nights here. Visit the tea factory to learn more about local production and go on a hike into the region's impressive flora and fauna – or treat yourself to .

Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Your best Zimbabwe round trip continues. After a delicious breakfast, you set off for Musangano Lodge in Odzi, not far from Mutare. You can spend the afternoon however you wish: relax at the lodge, explore the scenic hiking trails in the immediate surroundings or take a half-day trip to the Bvumba Mountains.

There you will find the beautiful Botanical Garden, breathtaking views and fascinating nature. To finish, treat yourself to a coffee and a piece of cake at Tony’s Coffee Shop – the best cakes in all of Zimbabwe are served here!

Breakfast | Dinner

Your best Zimbabwe round trip continues south through contrasting landscapes such as the green mountains of the Eastern Highlands and the Lowveld, a wide, dry lowland plain.

Along the way, you will repeatedly enjoy spectacular views of the eastern mountain range. A worthwhile stopover is Birchenough Bridge, which spans the Save River.

The journey continues to Gonarezhou National Park. In the afternoon you reach Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge. Let the day wind down in a relaxed way and enjoy the breathtaking sunset over the river with a cool drink.

Breakfast | Dinner

Includes 2 safari activities per day

After being woken in the morning by the sounds of hippos and monkeys, today of your best Zimbabwe round trip you can explore Gonarezhou National Park (optional). To enter the park, you have to cross the Save River. Depending on the water level, this is done either by vehicle or by boat.

Gonarezhou National Park lies on the border with Mozambique and, after Hwange National Park, is the second-largest park in Zimbabwe. Gonarezhou means: place of many elephants. Besides elephants, you will also see buffalo, zebras, various antelope species and, with a lot of luck, big cats, hyenas, aardwolves and African wild dogs. The vegetation consists of grass savannah, bushland and woodland, and the scenic highlight is certainly the red sandstone cliffs of the Chilojo Cliffs.

After breakfast, the journey of the best Zimbabwe round trip continues to Masvingo and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. At midday you check in at the beautiful Romelda Lakeside Retreat. Let the day wind down at the pool and later over a sundowner and a delicious dinner.

You can use the following day to explore the ruins at your leisure. The Great Zimbabwe Ruins are the largest ruin site in southern Africa and have been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1986. The surviving ruins date from the 11th to the 14th century and cover an area of seven square kilometres.

The site is divided into the higher Hill Complex (Acropolis), the Valley Complex and the Great Enclosure. The latter is the largest free-standing stone structure south of the Sahara: two high walls form a narrow, 60-metre-long parallel passage that leads directly to the Conical Tower. In the light of the setting sun, you will capture the most beautiful photographs of the ruins.

Two nights at Romelda Lakeside Retreat.

Today the best Zimbabwe round trip takes you via Masvingo to Bulawayo, the second-largest city in Zimbabwe and the economic and cultural centre of Matabeleland. After passing through Bulawayo, you continue towards Matobo National Park, where the beautiful Amalinda Lodge awaits you. The lodge's unique rooms are nestled harmoniously between the impressive granite boulders and create an extraordinary atmosphere that blends perfectly into the surrounding landscape. Here you enjoy peace, nature and a very special ambience.

Matopos National Park has a number of cultural and scenic sights. Matobo, with the world's largest rock art gallery, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003.

In the play of light and shadow at sunset, this rock plateau gives you a magnificent panorama over the hilly landscape of rocks, stones and bushland. Impressive rock formations, rock paintings and a large population of black and white rhinos make a drive through the national park particularly interesting.

Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Included activities: rhino tracking, visit to the San Bushmen rock paintings, a village visit.

The journey continues to Hwange National Park, the largest national park in Zimbabwe. Allow plenty of time for this stage of your best Zimbabwe round trip, as road conditions vary considerably and, besides well-built sections, you can expect some more challenging stretches.

Hwange National Park borders Botswana to the west, so the animals can roam across the border and visit the numerous waterholes in the park. You will spend the next three days at Sable Valley Lodge, with extensive wildlife viewing in an open safari vehicle on the programme.

Here you have the chance to watch elephants, giraffes, zebras and various antelope species. With a little luck, you may even spot wild dogs, lions, hyenas or leopards coming to the waterholes to drink. Your experienced guides give you fascinating insights into the behaviour and way of life of the animals. Besides the impressive wildlife, you enjoy the park's unspoilt nature as you take in the vastness of the African wilderness.

Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Includes two safari activities per day

Transfer from Victoria Falls airport to Pioneers Lodge approx. 30 min

After a last morning game drive of your best Zimbabwe round trip and a delicious breakfast, you set off for the final stop. In the small town of Victoria Falls, you stay at Pioneers Lodge, which is close to the falls. Take a walk along the impressive Victoria Falls, also known as “Mosi oa Tunya”, which loosely translated means: the smoke that thunders.

Victoria Falls also offers a wide range of activities, such as a sunset boat trip on the Zambezi or a flight over the falls in a microlight aircraft or helicopter.

Adventurous travellers can take a bungee jump or join the spectacular white water rafting.(optional)

Transfer from Pioneers Lodge to Victoria Falls airport

Transfer time approx. 30 minutes

After a last breakfast under the African sun, you are taken by transfer to Victoria Falls airport.

In the morning you return your rental car in Victoria Falls and begin your journey home from there. The next morning you land in Europe – full of memories of your best Zimbabwe round trip!