How to visit Rwanda in a week?

Here is an example of how you could spend a week in Rwanda.

Day 1: Arrive In Kigali. For people traveling on a budget, I would recommend staying at Discover Rwanda Youth Hostel, the staff is very friendly and is really wants to help you organize your journey in Rwanda. Discover Rwanda is also a social enterprise that gives its profit to the Kigali Genocide memorial and the NGO called Aegies trust, which fights against crimes against humanity. The hostel can also arrange to pick you up from the airport. If you have time, you should walk around or take a moto taxi to the city center to see the heart of the city. For dinner, you could have dinner at the hostel or somewhere else. I also recommend the restaurant called Heaven.

Day 2: The next day, I recommend going on a city tour, which is organized by Discover Rwanda. The tour will take you around the city, stopping at the local markets and other interesting sites such as the presidential palace, the hotel des mille collines, the Inema Art Center. The most important stop would probably be at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a place to remember and learn.

Day 3: After a breakfast at the hostel, I recommend going to the Akagera National Park, the home of lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants and many more animals. Once more, Discover Rwanda offers tours to go there. The park is a two-hour drive from the capital. The entry pass is 35 US dollars and the price of a guide and the car about a hundred for the day.

Day4: After a breakfast at the hostel, you could go to Musanze, a city two hours away from the capital, located at the bottom of the Virunga Massive. I recommend staying at RedRocks, which is a both a campsite and a guesthouse that thrive to preserve the Rwandan culture by supporting the local community. In addition, the company can arrange to send a driver to pick you up in Kigali and bring you to the guesthouse. Once at the guesthouse, you could go on a walk around the village. The manager Harriet is extremely nice and helpful. She would be pleased to show you around. After coming back, you could take some time to relax and have dinner. In addition, if you were eager to learn how to cook Rwandan food, the cooks would be more than happy to show you how it is done.

Day 5: Gorilla trekking in the morning. Musanze is the place people come to see the Gorillas. The price of the permit is 750 US dollars. RedRocks organizes tours and will get your passes and arrange for a tour guide and driver. The trek starts early in the morning. It is worth the detour, you’ll be able to see a whole family of gorillas (over 10 of them). They are use to seeing human so you’ll get very close to them. Some might even touch you.

Red Rocks organizes daily activities to give you an insight in the Rwandan culture. People from the community come to the hostel and will show you how to make banana beer, make baskets, dance etc. In the afternoon, you could participate in one of these activities. I highly recommend learning how to make banana beer. The process is interesting and the final product delicious.

That night, you can also choose to do a homestay with people from the community. This is organized by RedRocks and would be a great way to further to get to know the local community.

Day 6: Morning: go see the twin lakes or go canoeing.

Afternoon: Drive back to Kigali. You can choose to stay at Discover Rwanda or any other place.

Day 7: Wake up in Kigali, if you have time you could go buy souvenirs or go around the city. Discover Rwanda could arrange for