Zimbabwe travel guide

Bulawayo & Matobo

Bulawayo moves at a different speed to Harare. The streets are wide enough to turn a wagon and team in, the colonial-era buildings are still standing, and the city keeps the country's best museums. Most visitors are really heading for the Matobo Hills, half an hour or so to the south: a landscape of granite whalebacks and balancing boulders that looks unlike anywhere else in the country and has been lived in, painted and buried in for thousands of years. The rock art is among the finest in southern Africa, the rhino population is one of the reasons people book, and the hills themselves are worth a day even if you see nothing with four legs.

Booking now

Current deals in Bulawayo & Matobo

Flyer for Matobo Hills escape from Heritage Expeditions Africa

Bulawayo & Matobo Package

Matobo Hills escape

US$300 per person sharing — 3 days / 2 nights, available year-round

Three days in the Matobo Hills with World's View, the San rock art at Pomongwe Cave and a game drive, bookable year-round from Harare.

  • 2 nights accommodation
  • Return road transport from Harare
  • Daily breakfast, lunch and dinner
  • Entrance fees
  • Professional guide

Bookable year-round — confirm dates with the operator

Sold by Heritage Expeditions Africa

Book on WhatsApp

See every current deal

Best time to visit

April to September is the comfortable window, with mild days and cold nights in June and July. The granite makes its own heat, so October is hard going on the walks. The rains from November to March bring the hills alive — the rock pools fill, the grass comes up and the whole landscape softens — but tracks in the park get slippery and the rock art sites involve careful footing. For rhino tracking, the dry months are better: the bush is thinner and the animals are easier to find.

Getting there from Harare

Bulawayo is a long drive from Harare on the main highway, usually a solid half day, and it is also served by flights and by the overnight train. The escorted packages on this page include return road transport from Harare. Matobo is a short drive south of the city on tar, with dirt roads inside the park — fine for a normal car in the dry season, better with clearance after rain. Car hire companies in the directory operate on the route, and several Matobo lodges arrange transfers and guided drives themselves.

Car HireTravel Agents

From the directory

Where to stay in Bulawayo & Matobo

From the directory

Things to do in Bulawayo & Matobo

See all 14 listings in Bulawayo

Bulawayo & Matobo highlights

  • World's View, the granite dome above the hills where Cecil John Rhodes is buried
  • Pomongwe and Nswatugi caves, with some of the best San rock art in the region
  • Rhino tracking on foot with a guide in the park's game area
  • The balancing rocks, at their best in early and late light
  • Bulawayo's Natural History Museum and the Railway Museum
  • Khami, the later stone city west of the city

Bulawayo & Matobo questions

Can I see rhino in Matobo?

It is one of the better places in the country to try, and tracking on foot with a guide is the usual way it is done. Sightings are never guaranteed, and guides will not take you closer than is safe.

How much time do the hills need?

A full day covers World's View, a rock art site and a game drive. Two days lets you walk more and see the caves properly, which is what most people wish they had done.

Is Bulawayo worth a night on its own?

Yes, if museums and architecture interest you. Otherwise treat it as the base for Matobo and spend your time in the hills.

How do I get to the rock art sites?

Most involve a short walk from a parking area, some of it over bare rock at an angle. Wear shoes with grip. A guide is worth having — the paintings are easy to walk past without one.

Keep exploring

Other destinations

Harare Victoria Falls Kariba Nyanga Mutare & Bvumba Hwange Great Zimbabwe & Masvingo