Best Places to Visit in Uganda in 2023/2024: Following the political turbulence of the 1980s, which prevented visitors to the nation, Uganda’s tourist sector has evolved beyond its infancy. Currently, Visitors are learning that Uganda is an extraordinarily beautiful country with a variety of unspoiled, undiscovered spots and environmentally diverse landscapes, thanks to the restoration of peace in the area. Uganda is positioned to emerge as a top travel destination for adventurers and tourists from all over the world after being named as one of The New York Times’ 52 Places to go and The National Geographic Society’s 50 Destinations of a Lifetime.
Explore Uganda’s distinctive environments, and you’ll be rewarded with vistas of a dizzying array of plant and animal species, including those that are exclusive to the Albertine Rift Valley. Relax in rural locations to gain an intriguing introduction to a culture that is as diverse and old as the nation’s breathtaking panoramic vistas. There are countless good reasons to travel to Uganda, but we’d like to focus on our top five.
Uganda is incredibly fortunate to have wonderful tourism attractions that are widely dispersed across all national parks. Here are the top 5 Ugandan tourist attractions that people from all over the world enjoy visiting when they travel there.
- MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK.
Murchison Falls National Park, which was founded in 1952 and has a surface area of 3893 km2, is a part of the Murchison Falls Conservation Area [MFCA], which also includes the wildlife reserves of Bugunga and Karuma Falls. The oldest and largest national park in Uganda, Murchison Falls National Park, is visited as part of the majority of Uganda safaris in the country.
The park is situated 300 kilometers by road northwest of Kampala in western Uganda’s Masindi district, in the northern section of the Albertine Rift Valley. The Nile breaks over a small canyon at the Murchison Falls, also called Kabarega Falls, and then expands out to become a calm stream that empties into Lake Albert. Water bucks, hippos, and crocodiles are abundant along the stream’s banks.
The Bunyoro Escarpment and Acholi Plains are connected at this location, and Murchison Falls National Park boasts a breathtaking view of the enormous waterfalls thundering and making their way through the narrow gap of 7 meters (23 feet) between the rocks. Also, the spectacular Karuma Falls are located in the park next to the Masindi-Gulu highway.
Elephants, buffaloes, lions, giraffes, chimpanzees, and many other animals are among the wildlife. Typically, savannah, woodland, and riverine forest make up the vegetation. Four of the big five are present in Murchison; the northern region is where buffalo, lions, elephants, and leopards are most frequently spotted.
Boat rides are frequently scheduled and go from Paraa to the base of Murchison Falls; they always last three hours and provide a clear view of the hippos, crocodiles, and other wildlife that is constantly near the falls.
- BWINDI IMPENETRABLE NATIONAL PARK.
The 321 km2 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in south-western Uganda and was gazzeted in 1991. More than 400 mountain gorillas, or more than half of the remaining mountain gorillas in the world, live in the mist-covered forest, and they are the park’s main draw. At Bwindi, there are 11 habituated gorilla groups, or families. One of the most popular tourist activities in Bwindi is gorilla trekking, which elevates Bwindi to one of the top 5 tourist destinations in Uganda.
In addition to the mountain gorillas, there are roughly 120 species of mammals, 360 species of birds, 200 species of butterflies, and 324 kinds of trees in the park, 10 of which are unique to Uganda.
In addition to the primary attraction—gorilla tracking—Bwindi Impenetrable National Park should not be missed on your 2023-2024 Africa travel bucket list and Uganda travel itinerary because you can participate in a variety of other activities.
- KIBALE NATIONAL PARK
Kibale National Park, which spans 795 km2 in western Uganda, was gazetted in 1932. This park is a premier study location for chimpanzees, other primates, ecosystems, wild pigs, and other subjects in Africa. Along with the Sebitoli Forest, which is situated in the northern portion of Kibale and boasts a variety of landscapes, Queen Elizabeth National Park’s southern border forms a 180-km wildlife corridor that runs from the Ishasha sector to the park’s far southern border, Best Places to Visit in Uganda in 2023/2024.
For tracking chimpanzees and other primates in addition to the most gorgeous tropical rainforest, Kibale is one of the best safari locations in Africa. It has a pleasant climate almost all year long, with the park’s northern section being the wettest with an average annual rainfall of about 1700 mm, particularly in the months of March through May and September through November.
L’Hoest’s monkey, red colobus monkeys, black and white colobus, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, olive baboons, golden cats, red and blue duikers, bush babies, as well as a diversity of birds, can all be found in Kibale National Park. There are also buffalos, leopards, and elephants, as well as numerous snakes and butterflies, though they are rarely seen.
- QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK.
In western Uganda, along the regions of Kasese, Bundibugyo, Rukungiri, Kamwenge, and Bushenyi, you’ll find Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park, which has a surface area of 1978 km2, was first known as Lake Edward and Lake George Game Reserves in the 1920s. The British Colonial Government subsequently designated it as Kazinga National Park in 1952. In honor of the visiting British monarch, the area was named Queen Elizabeth National Park in 1954.
The most frequented national park in Uganda is Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the most well-liked travel locations in all of Africa. The park, also referred to as a medley of marvels,” is a perfect habitat for large game, 10 different primate species, and more than 600 different bird species.
In addition to many other sights, the park offers breathtaking vistas of the Rwenzori Mountains, the Kazinga Channel, a sizable area of swampland, the open savannah around Lake George, lovely crater lakes, and much more. With the monuments on either side of the road that commemorate the precise location where it crosses latitude 00, Queen Elizabeth National Park spans the equator.
In addition to its outstanding wildlife attractions, Queen Elizabeth National Park is proud of its appealing cultural past and heritage. With the aid of local tour guides, tourists frequently have the chance to explore local communities and are provided with entertainment in the form of music and storytelling. The tourists will undoubtedly want more after seeing this.
- KIDEPO VALLEY NATIONAL PARK
The park, which was established in 1962, has a surface area of 1442 km2 and is located between a height of 914 and 270 meters above sea level. It is situated between Uganda’s borders with Kenya and Sudan in a semi-arid region. Compared to the other national parks in Uganda, this one is pleasantly remote and breathtakingly gorgeous. Big game, over 70 different mammal species, and 475 different bird species can all be found in Kidepo, which also has two waterways, Kidepo and Narus, that dry up during the dry season, Best Places to Visit in Uganda in 2023/2024.
Before the British Colonial Government declared the area a game reserve in 1958 with the intention of protecting the wildlife from poaching and preventing further clearing of the forest for tsetse fly control, the area was inhabited by Dodoth pastoralists and IK farmers. The name of the park was changed to Kidepo Valley National Park in 1962, Best Places to Visit in Uganda in 2023/2024.
The best time to visit the park would be during the dry season (January through May and October through December), and it is typically advised to use 4WD vehicles to prevent any inconveniences brought on by poor roads. Visitors are permitted to enter the park throughout the year. Always ask your Ugandan tour operator (Achieve Global Safaris) for guidance on the best access route to the park.
Many tourists planning an African safari, particularly those going on traditional and wildlife safaris in Uganda, are quickly making the park their top choice. Although Uganda’s top 5 tourist locations are these national parks, there is still a lot more to see and do in Uganda.
WHY VISIT UGANDA?
- A stunning nation is ready to leave its imprint on the global tourism scene.
- Has a staggering variety of plants and animals, some of which are unique to the nation and cannot be found anywhere else on the globe.
- Showcasing an incredible variety of habitats and landscapes that are home to a wide range of animals.
- A fantastic society with 65 different tribes, each with its own history, traditions, and customs.
- Named one of The New York Times’ 52 Places to go and The National Geographic Society’s 50 Places of a Lifetime.
