This 7-Day Rwanda Safari Holiday features private road transfers between destinations, giving you privacy and convenience for visiting remote destinations across Rwanda in a short period of time.
On this seamless journey, observe the Big Five along with countless other species and a wide range of birds, and meet the local Rwandan people while visiting the country’s finest parks, including Volcanoes National Park and Nyungwe Forest National Park, home to mountain gorillas and chimpanzees respectively.
7-Day Rwanda Safari Highlights
- Day 1: Arrival in Kigali city
- Day 2: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park
- Day 3: Chimpanzee trekking and canopy walk
- Day 4: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
- Day 5: Mountain gorilla trekking
- Day 6: Rwanda cultural experience and transfer to Kigali
- Day 7: Kigali cultural experience and departure
Detailed 7-Day Rwanda Safari Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali City
On arrival at Kigali International Airport, one of our representatives will welcome you and transfer you to your hotel. Depending on your arrival time, take a city tour to learn about Rwanda’s history and culture.
The tour includes the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where up to 250,000 Tutsis were buried in open graves. Dinner and overnight stay at your hotel in central Kigali.
Day 2: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park
After breakfast, check out and begin the transfer southwest to Nyungwe Forest. Along the way, visit Butare, home to the Royal Palace Museum and the Ethnographic Museum, followed by an en-route lunch.
Continue directly to Nyungwe National Park for dinner and an overnight stay at a lodge overlooking the forest.
Day 3: Chimpanzee Trekking and Canopy Walk
After breakfast, leave your lodge to explore Nyungwe Forest, home to 13 primate species. Track the chimpanzees and take part in a canopy walk for a view of the forest from above.
Chimpanzee tracking begins at 8:00 am from Gisakura park headquarters. Trekking time runs 1 to 5 hours depending on the troop’s location and movements.
Beyond chimpanzees, you may spot black-and-white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabey, l’Hoest’s monkeys, bush babies, pottos, and elephants, along with bird species such as the Rwenzori rufous-vented tinker bird, crowned eagle, little greenbul, yellow-spotted nectar, green-breasted pitta, and black bee-eater.
In the afternoon, take the Nyungwe Forest canopy walk, a chance to view birds, primates, and nocturnal species of the forest from the treetop walkway.
Day 4: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
After an early breakfast in Nyungwe, transfer to Gisenyi for a boat ride and a visit to some of the islands on Lake Kivu, Rwanda’s largest lake. During the boat trip, look for bird species such as the African darter and pied kingfisher.
Have lunch along one of the lake’s white sand beaches, then continue on to Volcanoes National Park, home to Rwanda’s mountain gorillas and golden monkeys.
Check in at your lodge in Musanze for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 5: Mountain Gorilla Trekking
After breakfast at your lodge, head to the Volcanoes National Park ranger station for a briefing from the head ranger, then drive to the trailhead to begin the trek.
Porters can be hired at the briefing point to help carry your gear. The trek starts through cultivated foothills at the base of the Virunga range, offering wide views along the way.
Once you find the gorillas, you get one hour with them, watching them feed, play, rest, and care for their young.
Trek back to the starting point, meet your guide for the drive back to the lodge, and spend the rest of the day resting.
Day 6: Rwanda Cultural Experience and Transfer to Kigali
After breakfast, take a village walk to the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village, on the edge of Volcanoes National Park.
The village is a living museum at the base of the Virunga volcanoes, showing traditional and present-day Rwandan life.
Transfer back to Kigali through scenic countryside, arriving in town for lunch and an afternoon of rest.
Day 7: Kigali Cultural Experience and Departure
In the morning, visit the Nyamirambo Women’s Center on the edge of Kigali city, known for basket weaving and traditional Rwandan cuisine prepared by local women’s and youth groups.
Afterward, transfer to the airport for your departure flight.
End of 7-Day Rwanda Safari Holiday.
