Uganda in east Africa is heaven for nature-loving, adventurous travellers. Here’s my pick of eight of the very best things to do in Uganda.
Churchill famously called Uganda the Pearl of Africa for its incredible natural beauty and diversity. It truly is a country of many faces, with so much for curious travellers to enjoy. Let’s look at some activities that are highly popular with tourists.
1. Do a mountain gorilla trek
Mountain gorillas are Uganda’s biggest tourism attraction. These gentle, endangered giants live in tropical rainforests at high altitude. To see them, you must join a guided hike into the tangled forest, which is a wonderful experience in and of itself.
When you find a gorilla troop, you’re permitted to only spend an hour in their presence. But you draw remarkably close – close enough usually to look into their soulful eyes. It’s an incredible moment few will ever be lucky enough to experience.
There are two places in Uganda where you can do a mountain gorilla trek: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. If you opt to visit the latter, I recommend also booking a golden monkey trek. This half-day hike takes you to see adorable and endangered golden monkeys, whose name references the orangey-gold fur on their backs.
2. Do a boat safari on Kazinga Channel
There are many excellent wildlife parks in Uganda offering incredible safari experiences. But undoubtedly one of the very best parks is Queen Elizabeth National Park in the west of the country. And the most exciting activity within that park is a boat cruise on Kazinga Channel.
Kazinga Channel is a 32 km-long channel that connects Lakes George and Edward. Doing a relaxing two-hour cruise on the channel lets you see a wonderful assortment of wildlife and waterbirds. The channel is particularly known for its enormous hippo population. Visitors also often see crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes, and various water-loving antelopes.
There are also over 100 waterbird species to be found in the Kazinga Channel ecosystem. These include African skimmers, storks, herons, pelicans, and kingfishers. Uganda is, in fact, one of the world’s best birding countries; it has well over a thousand recorded species!
Nature & Wildlife, Gorilla Trekking, Cultural Immersion, Chimp Trekking
Nature & Wildlife, Gorilla Trekking, Mountain Adventures, Cultural Immersion
Gorilla Trekking, Cultural Immersion, Chimp Trekking
Nature & Wildlife, Wilderness Walks, Gorilla Trekking, Mountain Adventures, Cultural Immersion
3. Visit mighty Murchison Falls
Murchison Falls in western Uganda might just be the most powerful waterfall in the world. It’s certainly up there amongst the greats.
Murchison is so powerful not because it’s the tallest, which it isn’t, and not because it’s the widest – far from it. In fact, it’s precisely because it’s quite a narrow waterfall that it’s so immensely fierce. The falls are a point where hard metamorphic rock forces the entire Nile River to push through a crack that’s just 7 m (23 ft) wide, and given the volume of water, around 300 cubic meters are pushed through that narrow opening every second!
There are two ways to see and appreciate Murchison Falls. Take a boat cruise to the base of the falls, or hike to the top. Both are wonderfully rewarding.
4. Trek in the Rwenzori Mountains
The Rwenzoris (also spelled Ruwenzoris) aren’t super well-known internationally, which is part of their appeal. These tall, misty, snow-topped mountains in western Uganda are a trekking paradise. They offer incredible scenery, including lush rainforest trails and rare, oversized plants in the moorland zone. You also share the mountains with very few others, and can feel ensconced in a part of the world that’s still remarkably remote and a little mysterious.
There are a handful of multiday trekking and mountaineering routes in the Rwenzoris. There’s Mount Stanley (5,109 m), for instance, Africa’s third-tallest mountain and second-tallest mountaineering peak. The classic route to the summit involves navigating glacial ice. Meanwhile, for trekkers, the Central Circuit Route is very popular. It’s a roughly 55 km loop that takes you through the alpine valley of Bujuku and over Scott Elliot Pass (4,372 m).
5. Go white-water rafting on the Nile River
Scholars debate the exact source of the Nile. But one contender is the river outlet from Lake Victoria alongside the town of Jinja.
The pretty, historic town of Jinja has been dubbed the adventure capital of East Africa. If you’ve visiting Uganda, it’s a great base for various adventure activities, including boat cruises, quadbiking, kayaking, white-water rafting and tubing, bungy jumping, horse-riding, and ziplining.
Rafting on the Nile is a special experience, both for the thrill of the activity and also the beautiful, lush scenery you pass. And you can choose from outings that include grade 5 rapids to those offering calmer waters.
6. Do a chimpanzee trek
Another of the top things to do in Uganda as a tourist is a chimpanzee trek. Similar to a gorilla trek, you go on a guided hike into the forest to find an habituated chimp troop and spend an hour in its company.
There are a handful of places where you can do a chimp trek, including Kibale National Park and Kyambura Gorge. Chimp treks are usually easier than gorilla treks, being at lower altitude, and they’re certainly far cheaper, which makes them more accessible.
Chimps spend much of their time up in trees, but do come to the ground too. They’re also more energetic and restless than gorillas. So even if you do a mountain gorilla trek, don’t think a chimp trek will be a ‘repeat’ experience. It’s a different kettle of fish. Also, the scenery and other wildlife are different, so do make a chimp trek a priority if you enjoy hiking, scenery, and wildlife.
7. Explore Lake Bunyonyi
Lake Bunyonyi in southern Uganda is a very pretty high-altitude lake of about 60 sq km that’s dotted with 29 islets. The surrounding land is very hilly, rural, and dotted with steep little farms. So there are views aplenty, opportunities to visit authentic Ugandan villages, and lots of adventure activities on offer, including hiking, quad biking, and canoeing.
Canoeing on the lake is, in fact, one of the great pulls of a Lake Bunyonyi visit. Unlike most lakes in the region, this one is free of dangerous animals like hippos, so you’re safe to paddle on your own and jump in when you get hot. You can visit one or more of the islands. And there’s a great deal of history to them too, so a guided tour is a great idea.
8. Abseil alongside Sipi Falls
Finally, another of the best things to do in Uganda is hike in the Sipi Falls region.
The Sipi Falls are a series of three waterfalls ranging from around 65 m to 100 m in height. Hiking to the different falls offers incredible scenery. You can abseil down the rockface alongside the tallest waterfall, which is a real treat.
And if you really love epic scenery and hiking, know that Sipi Falls is actually in the foothills of Mount Elgon (4,321 m). You can do wonderful hikes in Mount Elgon National Park, and even do a fully non-technical summit trek.
Plan your Uganda visit
As you can see, there’s a wonderful range of diverse and exciting activities to enjoy in Uganda. And I haven’t even touched on the many historical and cultural attractions on offer!
If you’d like to plan a Ugandan tour, know you can visit affordably with African Overland Tours. Many travellers actually choose to include Uganda as part of a bigger East African trip, seeing more highlights of the region in one go. I share some exciting itineraries below that all include a mountain gorilla trek as well as some of the other activities described here. Please have a browse to see if your next holiday is among them!
Note: This blog post was created in November 2013 by Bronwyn Paxton. It was completely rewritten in September 2026 by Megan Abigail White.
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