Victoria Falls, from both banks.
Which side to walk, and when the spray hides it. When Devil’s Pool is actually open. What a Chobe day costs once the border is counted in. Every tour here, reviewed.
What everyone books at Victoria Falls.
Every review →The twelve-minute helicopter loop, the dinner boat, the Chobe crossing. These fill first, and each one is a different kind of day.
1
Helicopter Scenic Flight over Victoria Falls 12-13 minutes Flight
Helicopter scenic flight over Victoria Falls with bubble windows, hotel pickup, and views of the Falls, Batoka Gorge, and the Zambezi River.
From · $135
Read our review →
2
Dinner Cruise on the Zambezi River
from $110
3
Dinner Cruise on the Zambezi River
from $92
4
Chobe National Park Day Trip with Lunch
from $170
5
Boma Dinner and Drum Show
from $60
6
Helicopter Tour with Hotel Pickup
from $180
7
2-Hour Luxury Zambezi River Sunset Cruise
from $69
8
Helicopter Scenic Flight over Victoria Falls 25-27 Minutes Game
from $265
The falls have two sides, and they are not the same walk.
All guided falls tours →
Zimbabwe holds the long rainforest path and the head-on views. Zambia holds the lip itself — the island, the pool, and a cataract that runs dry when the river drops. A combined ticket walks both in a morning.
The rainforest path, viewpoint to viewpoint
A footpath through forest that is rained on all year by the falls themselves. Head-on views the whole length, a poncho that will not save you in flood season, and Danger Point at the end.
Livingstone Island and Devil’s Pool
A boat out to the island that sits on the edge, then a swim in the rock pool at the drop. It runs only when the river is low enough to be safe — roughly August into the new year, and the operator decides on the day, not the calendar.
The 1905 span between two countries
The steel arch across the second gorge, built so the trains would be splashed by spray. You can walk the span, tour the underside, or throw yourself off it.
The days a Victoria Falls trip is built around.
One waterfall, one small town, and a week’s worth of days out. The boat at six, the border at seven, the gorge in the middle of the afternoon.
Half the best days out of Victoria Falls start at a border post.
Chobe is in Botswana. Livingstone, the island and the microlights are in Zambia. Operators handle the paperwork, but the passport is yours to carry and the queue is real — put these mornings early in the trip, not on the day you fly.
- 01Chobe National Park Day Trip with LunchKazungula, into Botswana and back the same day. Passport on you, and the Botswana side runs on its own clock.
- 02Livingstone Island Tour & Devils PoolThe island sits on the Zambian side of the line, so the morning crosses the bridge. It also only runs when the river is low.
- 03Zimbabwe & Zambia: Guided Tour of the Falls from Both SidesWalking both banks means two frontier posts before lunch. One KAZA UNIVISA covers Zimbabwe and Zambia together.
- 04Scenic Microlight FlightMicrolights fly from the Zambian airfield only. On the Zimbabwe side the equivalent is a helicopter.
Everything at Victoria Falls that involves letting go.
The second gorge below the bridge is the town’s other economy: a 111-metre bungee off the deck, a swing that drops you into the same air, a zip line across the water, and a rafting run that starts at the boiling pot.
All the gorge drops →
The Zambezi above the falls is a different river entirely.
Upstream of the drop the water is wide, slow and full of hippo. Every boat in town goes out at the same hour for the same reason. What differs is the deck: a hundred people and a bar, or eight people and a guide who cuts the engine.
- 12-Hour Luxury Zambezi River Sunset Cruisefrom $69
- 2Sunset Cruise on the Zambezi Riverfrom $92
- 3Sunset Cruise and Dinner at The Eateryfrom $110
Three very different safaris within reach of Victoria Falls.
Nobody comes to Victoria Falls and goes home without seeing any game. These are the three that fit around a falls trip, and they are not interchangeable.
Zambezi National Park
The park begins where the town ends, upstream along the river. Morning and afternoon drives both leave from hotel doors, and the river frontage means elephant, buffalo and sable without a long transfer. This is the drive for half a spare day.
- 1Zambezi National Park Game Drive in a Small Group★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 51 reviews
- 2Unique Safari Game Drives in Zambezi National Park, 4 Options★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 39 reviews
- 3Zambezi National Park Game Drive AM /PM★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 19 reviews
Chobe
The biggest day out from Victoria Falls: ninety minutes to Kazungula, a boat along the Chobe river frontage, lunch, then a game drive. It is known for elephant in numbers, and the cruise is the half most people talk about afterwards. Passport required.
- 1Chobe National Park Day Trip with Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 518 reviews
- 2Chobe Day Trip from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 250 reviews
- 3Chobe Full Day Trip From Victoria Falls★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 135 reviews
Hwange
Zimbabwe’s largest park and the one the country is genuinely known for, but it is a serious drive from the falls — a day trip means dawn out and dark back. Most itineraries here give it two nights or more, usually stacked with Chobe.
- 1Full Day Hwange Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 14 reviews
- 26-day Hwange, Chobe & Victoria Falls Combo★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 12 reviews
- 3Hwange National Park Full Day Game Drive Safari★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 10 reviews
What a day at Victoria Falls costs.
Cheapest first. The falls themselves are the least expensive thing here; the air above them is the most.
The rainforest walk, a seat on a sunset boat, the drum show, a community visit. Most of a week can be built at this price.
The Chobe crossing, the short helicopter loop, a rafting day, Devil’s Pool. The bookings people fly in for.
Multi-day safaris into Hwange and Chobe, private guiding, long air, and the packages that take the whole trip off your hands.
Victoria Falls eats late, outdoors and very loudly.
Every way to book the Boma →
Chinotimba, Mukuni and the farms behind Victoria Falls.
Victoria Falls is a town of about 35,000 people and the hotel strip is a small part of it. These visits go to Chinotimba, the high-density suburb where much of the town lives and works; to Mukuni, a Leya village across the river in Zambia; and to farms and homesteads on the land behind the park. They are neighbourhoods and working households, not exhibits. Several are run by residents and state where the fee goes — the reviews say which.
- 1Victoria Falls Gorge Hike & Farm to Table Village Lunchfrom $120
- 2Victoria Falls Rural Tour: Village Life Experiencefrom $50
- 3Horse Riding Community Village Tour Experiencefrom $135
The Zambezi rises and falls, and that decides what you can book.
The river peaks around April, when the falls are at full volume and the spray is heavy enough to hide them from the Zimbabwe path. It drops through the second half of the year: the view sharpens, Devil’s Pool opens, and rafting moves onto the full run. By November the eastern cataract can be bare rock. Neither season is wrong — they are different trips.
By place — one town, three countries
Victoria Falls315 tours
Chobe, Botswana69 tours
Livingstone, Zambia14 tours
Hwange17 tours
Zambezi National Park20 tours
Harare6 tours- Everything we have reviewed →
By activity — water, air, ground, evening
Newest Victoria Falls reviews.
All recent →
Victoria Falls and Harare Airport Transfers and Car Rentals
Read our review →
Guided Tour Of The Majestic Victoria Falls/Sunrise Tour
Read our review →
Full Day Birding Zambezi National Park Includes Picnic Lunch
Read our review →
