Rwanda

Visa requirements for Rwanda depend on which passport you hold. Check the Traveller visa tool to see whether your passport needs a visa and, if so, how long you can stay.

June–September (long dry season) is the best time for gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park — trails are drier and vegetation less dense. January–February (short dry season) is also good. The gorilla permit ($1,500 USD) must be booked months in advance. Akagera National Park (east, Big Five) and Nyungwe Forest (chimpanzees, canopy walkway) are excellent year-round.

• Smart casual in Kigali — one of Africa's cleanest and safest capitals
• Practical trekking gear for gorilla treks (waterproof jacket, long trousers, gloves — vegetation is dense)

• Rwanda is one of the great transformation stories of the 21st century — the 1994 genocide (800,000+ killed in 100 days) is 30 years past; the Kigali Genocide Memorial is a necessary, sobering visit
• Gorilla trekking is a once-in-a-lifetime experience — mountain gorillas are critically endangered (about 1,000 remain); coming face to face with them in the forest is indescribable
• Rwanda is noticeably clean — plastic bags are banned (as of 2008), littering is fined, and communal umuganda (community work) is held on the last Saturday of every month
• Kigali is consistently ranked one of the safest cities in Africa — the infrastructure, roads, and service quality are exceptional

• Plastic bags are banned — do not bring plastic bags into the country
• Photography near government buildings and of military restricted
• LGBTQ+ activity is not criminalised; social attitudes conservative but Kigali is generally tolerant