Victoria Falls
Zimbabwe
The smoke that thunders, a mile and a half wide
Photo by Ed Wingate on Unsplash
Photos by Tanner Marquis, Datingscout, Datingjungle and Datingjungle on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Zimbabwe
February to May (peak flow), August to October (best views and rafting)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 175mm in Jan
Where it is
17.93°S, 25.83°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Walk the full rainforest trail in a poncho at high water
- Swim Devil’s Pool in the low season, with a guide
- Raft the Batoka Gorge between August and December
- Take a sunset cruise and watch for hippos
- Cross to Botswana for a day in Chobe
Victoria Falls travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Zimbabwe
ExpensiveZimbabwe runs on US dollars in practice and the town prices everything in them. Bring small notes — ones, fives and tens — because change is scarce and you will be given sweets or credit instead. Do not accept torn or pre-2013 notes, and do not expect to change them back.
ATMs & cards
Machines are unreliable and often out of cash or out of dollars entirely. Arrive with the cash you need for the whole stay. Cards work at the larger hotels and activity operators but not much else.
Avoid these
- relying on any single machine working
Use these instead
- Stanbic
- CABS
- Ecobank
Zimbabwe runs on US dollars and the machines are frequently empty. Arrive with small-denomination dollars for the whole stay — ones, fives and tens.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Zimbabwe
SafeThe town is small, dependent on tourism and safe to walk by day; take a taxi after dark. Baboons and warthogs wander freely and will take food from your hands — do not feed them and keep doors closed. Elephants sometimes cross the roads at night, which is the actual reason not to walk between lodges in the dark. Malaria prophylaxis is advised.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Walking between the town and the lodges after dark, where there are elephants on the road
- Baboons and warthogs, which will take a bag with food in it
- Currency touts offering a rate for dollars
- Devil’s Pool — which is exactly what it sounds like, and is only guided at low water
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Zimbabwe visa rules
Visa on arrivalup to 90 days$30 single, $45 double, $75 KAZA UNIVISA
The KAZA UNIVISA is the one to ask for at Victoria Falls: it covers Zimbabwe and Zambia and day trips to Botswana, so you are not paying twice to see both sides of the falls. Pay in clean US dollars — cards frequently do not work.
Other passports
e-Visa required$30
Apply at evisa.gov.zw before travelling.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Zimbabwe
Evacuation likelyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate if arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Malaria prophylaxis — the Zambezi valley is a malaria area
- Rabies for longer stays
- Cholera for extended rural stays
Getting treated
Limited. Victoria Falls has a clinic and a small private hospital that handle everyday problems and diving or rafting injuries; anything serious means an air evacuation to Harare or Johannesburg. Insurance with evacuation cover is essential rather than advisable, and medicines are frequently unavailable — bring what you need.
Malaria is a real risk in the Zambezi valley and prophylaxis is strongly advised. Do not drink the tap water. Rafting and bungee operators are largely self-regulated, so check what your insurance actually covers before booking.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodThe Boma does a set feast with game meat and drumming, touristy but genuinely good. In town, sadza with relish is the everyday meal and costs a fraction of hotel prices.
Nightlife
A sunset cruise, a boma dinner with a drum, and a bar or two in a town that exists for the falls.
- Victoria Falls town — the handful of bars and the market
- Victoria Falls Hotel — the terrace, for a gin at sunset
- Zambezi River — the sunset cruise, which is the evening
Closing: Midnight.
A beer in a bar: $3–6
Do not walk between the town and the lodges after dark; there are elephants on that road and it is not a joke.
Getting around
Workable- HwindiWorks here
- inDriveWorks here
- UberNot here
- BoltNot here
- From the airport
- Victoria Falls airport to the town $30–40
- Against a taxi
- Everything is priced in US dollars in cash, and small notes matter more than the app.
Ride-hailing is thin. Hotel transfers and a driver for the day are the normal arrangement.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Harare — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Zimbabwe
Ookla publishes no mobile median for Zimbabwe, so there is no figure here for what a phone gets.
Why these are Zimbabwe's numbers and not Victoria Falls's
Home broadband — Basic. Email, browsing and one video call if nothing else is running. Broadband here runs at 19% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Victoria Falls, so these are medians for all of Zimbabwe. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo — a data eSIM for Zimbabwe, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Shona
- HelloMhoroMOR-oh
- How are you?Makadii?ma-ka-DEE
- PleaseNdapotanda-PO-ta
- Thank youMaita basama-EE-ta BA-sa
4 more phrases
- Yes / NoEhe / KweteEH-heh / KWEH-teh
- Excuse mePamusoroipa-mu-so-ROY
- How much is it?Imarii?ee-ma-REE
- GoodbyeChisaraichee-sa-RYE
English is official and universal in Victoria Falls, but Shona greetings are warmly received and the reply to Mhoro is expected rather than optional.
Religion
Christian
Overwhelmingly Christian, often blended with Shona traditional belief. Sunday services are long and central to community life.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Greet before anything else — asking a question without a greeting first is genuinely rude
- Take and give with the right hand, or with both hands to show respect
- Clap softly when receiving something or saying thank you; it is the traditional courtesy
- Ask before photographing people, and accept no as the answer
Don't
- Do not photograph government buildings, the presidential residence or anyone in uniform
- Do not discuss national politics with people you do not know well; it can put them at risk, not you
- Do not feed or approach the baboons and warthogs in town, however tame they look
- Do not haggle aggressively over crafts — the margins are thin and the trade is most of the local income
Where to stay in Victoria Falls
No Holistay rentals in Victoria Falls yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Victoria Falls on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Victoria Falls VFA
20 minfrom the airport· 19 km as the crow flies
20 min to town.
Also worth pricing: Livingstone LVI — the Zambian side, 30 min and a border post away.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
