Compare safari tours in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, ranging from 2-day budget trips to 3-day private tours. Expect game drives across the savannah, Nile boat cruises to the base of the falls, and rhino tracking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
Free Cancellation 3-day private safari with game drives, a hike to the top of the falls, and a 3-hour Nile boat ride, from Entebbe Airport.
Free Cancellation Two-day private safari from Kampala or Entebbe with game drives and a boat launch to the falls.
Free Cancellation Two-day budget safari with pickup in Kampala or Entebbe, game drives, and a visit to the top of the falls.
Free Cancellation Three-day guided safari with game drives, a Nile boat cruise, and rhino tracking on foot.
Free Cancellation 3-day/2-night safari listing whose itinerary actually covers Kampala city sites: Independence Monument, National Mosque, Kasubi Tombs and more.
Free Cancellation 3-day private safari with Ziwa rhino tracking, game drives, and a visit to Murchison Falls.
Two-day Big 5 safari with a game drive, a Nile launch cruise to the base of the falls, and a visit to the top.
Free Cancellation Two-day private safari with game drive, Nile falls visit, and rhino trekking at Zziwa Sanctuary.
Free Cancellation Three-day Murchison Falls safari with game drives, a Nile boat cruise, and all meals and park fees included.
Free Cancellation 3-day private 4x4 safari with two game drives, a Nile boat trip, falls hike, and rhino tracking at Ziwa.
Read what travelers share about their experience visiting Murchison Falls National Park — from practical tips to personal highlights.
Most safaris here run two or three days, pairing game drives on the northern savanna with a boat cruise up the Nile to the base of the falls. You'll be driven from Kampala or Entebbe (4-5 hours each way), so two days is the realistic minimum. The full Nile — squeezed through an 8-metre gorge and dropping 45 metres — is the payoff everyone comes for.
The UWA launch leaves Paraa and runs about 2 hours upriver, past hippos, Nile crocodiles and buffalo wallowing at the banks. It stops at Baker Point, directly beneath the falls, where spray hangs in a permanent rainbow. It costs US$30 for foreign non-residents and carries up to 45 passengers.
From Baker Point, a steep 45-minute hike (US$15) brings you to the rim of the gorge, where the ground literally trembles as the entire Nile forces through the fissure. Prefer not to hike? Drive to the viewpoint instead (US$10). The rocks up top are wet and slippery — grip shoes, no edge selfies.
The tracks between the Victoria Nile and Lake Albert are the park's best game country: lions, elephants, giraffes, buffalo and Uganda kob, most active at dawn and late afternoon. Several tours add an armed UWA ranger in the vehicle. Night drives (US$40) are limited to guests sleeping inside the park.
There are no rhinos inside the park, so several tours stop at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary on the drive in — about halfway on the Kampala road — for a walk with southern white rhinos and a ranger. It's the only way to complete Uganda's Big Five on this route. Allow two to three hours for the trek.
Budongo Forest's Kaniyo Pabidi block, near the Kichumbanyobo gate, holds more than 600 chimps. A guided walk runs 2-4 hours through mahogany and ironwood forest, ending with an hour beside a habituated family. Permits must be arranged in advance; minimum age is 12.
Downstream from Paraa, a roughly 2-hour cruise through papyrus swamp toward Lake Albert is the park's most reliable shoebill stork outing. Goliath herons and saddle-billed storks show up too. Book it as your second boat trip if you have three days.
Tours here are almost all private vehicle trips of two or three days, priced from about US$462 to US$1,200 per person. Before you book, work out what's bundled and what you'll pay at the gate.
Everything on this page is guided and private — your own vehicle and driver-guide, no shared group options. Most run 48 or 72 hours; two-day trips squeeze in a game drive plus the falls cruise, while three-day versions add rhino tracking or more drive time. Guides work mainly in English, with German, French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese available on some departures.
June-September and December-February are the busy dry seasons, when lodge and flight availability tighten — reserve two or more months out for those windows. Chimp permits in Budongo must be arranged in advance regardless of season. Everything else (entry, launch trips, game drives) can be paid at the gate or reservations office.
Check the fine print: some tours bundle all park fees (the US$45 foreign non-resident entry, plus vehicle charges), while others leave them for you to pay at the gate. Foreign-registered saloon cars pay US$40 entry plus a US$10 MFNP surcharge; tour 4WDs US$150. Keep every receipt — officials verify them.
The falls launch trip costs US$30 (foreign non-resident), the Top of the Falls hike US$15, and viewing the Top of the Falls US$10. A guided day game drive is US$25 per guide; self-drive US$10 per vehicle. These are separate from entrance and add up fast on a family trip.
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary sits about 148 km south on the Kampala road and several tours include it — the cheapest route to a Big Five claim. Karuma Falls (1-1.5 hours north-east) and the Bugungu and Ajai reserves make quieter side trips at US$10 entry each.
Most listed tours are wheelchair accessible with infant seats available. Inside the park there's no formal accessible trail infrastructure; the launch cruise (about 2 hours, no walking required, life jackets provided) and game drives are the practical options. Arrange accessible vehicles through your lodge or operator in advance.
Nearly all tours refund in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure — check the listing, though, because at least one 2-day Big Five option is final-sale with no refunds. Weather cancellations are rare; the park runs 7:00 AM-7:00 PM daily regardless.
Khaki, beige or olive long sleeves — black and dark blue attract tsetse flies, and their bites hurt. Bring a fleece for cold dawn drives in open vehicles and grippy shoes for the falls rocks. Malaria prophylaxis is essential; mosquito density here is high.
Swipe to see more
| 2-Day Express Safari | 2-Day Big Five Safari | 3-Day Classic Safari | 3-Day Big Five + Rhino Safari | 3-Day Private Ranger Safari | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 48 hours | 48 hours | 72 hours | 72 hours | 72 hours |
| Best for | First-timers short on time; a weekend from Kampala | Travelers set on rhinos and the falls in one trip | Most visitors — the pace that fits the park's highlights | Big Five completists and photographers | Comfort and security-minded travelers |
| Includes | Game drive, Nile launch cruise to the falls, some include Top of the Falls; private air-conditioned vehicle, most meals | Game drive, launch cruise, top-of-falls walk, Ziwa rhino trek on some versions | Two nights lodging, all meals, game drives, falls boat cruise; park entry on some departures | Murchison entry, Ziwa entry, on-foot rhino tracking, all meals, private transport | Armed UWA ranger on game drives, 4x4 pop-up roof, 2 nights lodging, all meals, park fees, boat safari, falls hike, rhino tracking, airport drop-off |
| Price from | US$462.50 | US$620-750 | US$700-900 | US$990 | US$769.98 |
| Reviews | 4.8 stars from 18 reviews | 5.0 stars from 1 review (3.7 on one variant) | 4.9 stars from 64 reviews | 5.0 stars from 4 reviews | New listing, no reviews yet |
Swipe to see more
The park gates open 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM daily, and Uganda Wildlife Authority states there are no exceptions to these hours. Time your arrival and departure so you're out before closing — the drive to Masindi alone takes about two hours.
Launch trips run in daylight windows, commonly departing around 8-9 AM and 2-3 PM. Night game drives are only offered to tourists sleeping inside the park and require a mandatory UWA guide (US$40 per person).
The Paraa bridge (opened 2021) is the normal Nile crossing. When the old vehicle ferry runs — bridge maintenance or exceptional water levels — it operates 7:00 AM-7:00 PM on roughly two-hourly scheduled crossings, UGX 20,000 per light vehicle one way, maximum eight vehicles per trip.
A day ticket is valid 24 hours from entry; anything longer is charged as an extra day.
From Kampala it's 305 km (190 mi), 4-5 hours to the southern entrance via Luweero, Nakasongola and Masindi, entering at the Kichumbanyobo gate. Paraa is another 85 km past Masindi town. Most visitors break the drive at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, on the same surfaced road.
Coming from Fort Portal in the south-west, count on at least 6 hours over 280 km.
June-September and December-February are the dry seasons and the best months: murram tracks stay passable, vegetation thins out, and wildlife concentrates along the Nile and at waterholes.
June-September is the busiest window, and December-February is equally productive — though January and February run hot, with daytime temperatures of about 29-34°C. Plan midday downtime around the 8-9 AM and 2-3 PM boat departures.
Avoid April, May, October and November if you can. Those are the two rainy peaks: roads turn muddy, the top-of-the-falls rocks get treacherously slippery, and animals disperse into thick cover. The upside is green scenery, good birding and empty lodges.
Three days is the ideal visit; two covers the core, one long day works only if you accept 8-10 hours of driving total.
There's no formal wheelchair-accessible trail infrastructure, and game-viewing tracks are rough dirt roads. Even so, the park is manageable with planning.
Most tourism infrastructure clusters at Paraa, where lodges sit about 5 km west of the Nile crossing; the bridge has replaced the ferry as the standard link between sectors. Additional lodge clusters sit near Pakuba airfield in the north and at Chobe in the east.
Entry and activity fees can be paid at UWA gates or the reservations office via mobile money (Airtel Money/MTN MoMo), POS machines, bank transfer or the online portal. Keep receipts — they're checked.
Medical facilities are distant once inside the park, so carry a first-aid kit. Camping and campfires are only permitted at designated sites.
The speed limit is 40 km/h inside the park, enforced with immediate fines. Unnecessary stopping is banned for transit vehicles, and leaving the designated Kichumbanyobo-Tangi road counts as entry without a valid permit. Never exit your vehicle near hippos, buffalo or elephants.
Under the Uganda Wildlife Act, 20% of entry fees go to neighboring communities, so your ticket money has a local footprint.
Three days is the sweet spot: Buligi game drives, the launch trip to the base of the falls, the Top of the Falls viewpoint and an Albert Delta cruise. Two days covers the highlights — that's what the popular US$462.50 express tours do. Add a fourth day if you want chimpanzee trekking in Budongo Forest.
Some do, some don't. The US$990 three-day rhino-tracking tour and the US$769.98 private ranger tour list Murchison entry in their inclusions; cheaper options like the US$462.50 two-day safari leave you to pay at the gate. Foreign non-resident entry is US$45 per adult, and foreign-registered vehicles pay US$40-150 on top.
Inside the park you'll find lions, leopards, elephants and buffalo — but no rhinos. Tours that add on-foot tracking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary (about halfway on the Kampala road) are the ones marketed as Big Five trips. That's the only place on this route to see rhinos.
All the tours listed here run as private transport — your own vehicle and driver-guide for your group only. Guides work mainly in English; one three-day operator offers German, Swedish, Italian, Japanese and several other languages. There are no audio tours or large shared coach options.
The launch cruise (US$30, about 2 hours) goes upriver from Paraa to Baker Point at the base of the falls, passing hippos and crocodiles. The hike (US$15, about 45 minutes, steep) climbs from Baker Point to the rim of the gorge. Doing both in one outing gives you the waterfall from below and above.
Book two or more months ahead for June-September or December-February, when lodges and flights tighten up. Chimp permits in Budongo must be arranged in advance. Everything else — entry, launch trips, game drives — can be paid at the gate or reservations office via mobile money, POS or bank transfer.
Almost every tour refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure. The exception is one 2-day Big Five safari at US$620, which is final-sale with no refunds — read the listing before booking that one.
Yes. Most tours allow infants on laps and provide infant seats, and several list wheelchair accessibility. Kids 5-15 pay reduced park entry (US$25 for foreign non-residents) and under-5s enter free; the minimum age for chimp trekking is 12. Seniors do fine on drives and boats — drive to the Top of the Falls viewpoint rather than hike it.
The bridge, since it opened in 2021. The old vehicle ferry runs only during bridge maintenance or exceptional water levels; when in service it crosses roughly every two hours from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, UGX 20,000 per light vehicle one way. Tour vehicles simply use the bridge.
Khaki, beige or olive long sleeves and trousers — black and dark blue attract tsetse flies, whose bites are painful even though sleeping-sickness risk to tourists is very low. Malaria is the real concern: take prophylaxis, use DEET and sleep under nets. Pack a fleece; dawn game drives in open vehicles get cold.
Browse verified tours with free cancellation and instant confirmation.
Find Tours
Three days, run as private transportation with breakfast, lunch, and dinner included. Pickup is at Entebbe Airport. Guides work in English, German, Swedish, Italian, and Japanese. Game drives target lions, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, waterbucks, and Jackson's hartebeest. You'll also hike to the top of the falls and take a 3-hour boat ride on the Nile, close enough to hear the water going over Murchison Falls. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund. Park entry fees and any other extras aren't in the listed inclusions, so confirm those when booking.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
German, Swedish, Japanese, English, Italian, French, Danish, Dutch, Spanish
This is a 48-hour private trip: pickup from your hotel in Kampala or Entebbe, air-conditioned vehicle just for your group, then a game drive and a boat launch on the Nile toward the falls. Expect lion, buffalo, elephant and leopard, plus giraffes and patas monkeys, which in Uganda live only here and in Kidepo Valley. The boat launch is where most of the birdlife shows up. Lunch, dinner, all fees and taxes are covered. Alcohol isn't, and neither is SCUBA gear (listed for exclusion, though this itinerary doesn't use it). Guides work in English, German or Spanish. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
German, English, Spanish
This is a 48-hour trip built around two things: game drives across the park's savannah and a drive to the top of Murchison Falls. Pickup is handled by the driver-guide, covering Kampala and Entebbe, and the tour runs in private transport with an English-speaking guide rather than a shared group vehicle. Meals are covered — breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included, with WiFi on board; only alcoholic drinks are paid separately. On the drives you can expect elephants, giraffes, buffalo, lions, leopards, hyenas, warthogs, hippos, various antelopes, and a large bird list that includes storks such as the shoebill. The top-of-the-falls stop is part of the itinerary, not an add-on. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This 3-day safari runs with game drives across the park, a boat cruise on the Nile toward the falls, guided hikes, and rhino tracking on foot — you'll be walking, not driving, for that part. Two nights of accommodation and all meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) are included, along with transportation. Pickup is at the parking lot, where the operator's vehicle carries their stickers and tire covers for identification. Guides speak English and French. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English, French
The tour is sold as a 3 Days / 2 Nights Murchison Falls National Park Wildlife Safari, but the itinerary provided by the operator, Ultimate Wild Safaris, is a Kampala city tour. If you book, confirm with them in writing which trip you're actually getting — the two don't match. As written, the itinerary runs about four hours across five stops. It starts at the Independence Monument (30 min), a 6-meter structure commemorating Uganda's independence, then moves to the Uganda National Mosque (60 min), where you can climb the minaret for views over the city. Nakasero Market (30 min) is next — the oldest fresh-produce market in Kampala — followed by the Kasubi Tombs (60 min), a UNESCO World Heritage site and burial ground of four Buganda kings. The last stop is Kabaka's Palace in Mengo (60 min), built in 1885. All fees and taxes are included; lunch and private transportation are not. The guide speaks English. Tickets are delivered via WhatsApp or email before each site. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This 3-day private tour pairs a game-drive safari in Murchison Falls with en-route rhino tracking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, which is what gives you a shot at the Big 5. The falls themselves are the other draw: the Nile squeezes through a gap roughly 8 m wide and drops 45 m into a boiling pool, with a roar you can hear well before you see it. Transport is private throughout, with an English-speaking guide, and park entry for both Murchison Falls and Ziwa is covered. All three meals — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — are included, along with free WiFi on board. Alcoholic drinks are not. Ziwa sits on the route between Kampala and the park, so the rhino walk breaks up the drive on day one. Expect buffalo, giraffes, lions, hyenas, and plenty of kob and hartebeest on the savannah, plus over 450 bird species. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This 48-hour safari packs in the park's three headline activities: a game drive across the open savannah, a launch cruise on the Nile to the bottom of the falls, and a walk to the top of the falls. An English-speaking guide drives and narrates throughout. Game drive targets are the Big 5 plus giraffes — specifically Rothschild's giraffes — Jackson's hartebeest, oribis, and Uganda kobs. The Nile cruise runs several kilometers upstream to the falls' base, where you'll likely see hippos, Nile crocodiles, and birds including the shoebill stork. Meals are covered: one bottle of drinking water, plus breakfast, lunch, and dinner on board. There's WiFi in the vehicle. Note the cancellation terms — all sales are final, no refunds, so be sure of your dates before booking.
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
English
This 48-hour trip packs in the three essentials: a game drive through the park, the Top of the Murchison Falls viewpoint above the Nile gorge, and a rhino trek at Zziwa Sanctuary — the only place in Uganda with wild rhinos, currently 22 southern whites. Transport is private and air-conditioned, with an English-speaking guide. All meals are covered — breakfast, lunch, dinner — plus snacks and soft drinks on board. Gratuities are not. Game drives in the park put you among elephants, giraffes, lions, buffalo, and Uganda kob, and the riverbanks hold hippos and Nile crocodiles. Your guide collects you at your hotel reception about 15 minutes before departure, wearing branded company clothing so you can spot them. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This 3-day safari packs in two of the park's main activities: game drives across the savannah, where elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, buffalos and antelopes are the species to watch for, and a boat cruise along the Nile to the base of Murchison Falls. A professional English-speaking guide/driver runs the whole trip, and the vehicle has air conditioning. Almost everything is covered in the price: park entrance fees, all three meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), accommodation for the nights, the game drives, and the boat cruise. The "not included" list is vague, so confirm drinks, tips, and any extras with the operator before you go. Pickup works from any hotel — the guide calls the lead traveler by phone at least a day before the tour to confirm where you're staying, then collects you there at the start. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
A private 3-day trip built around two game drives in a 4x4 pop-up-roof vehicle with an armed Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger on board, plus on-foot rhino tracking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Lions, elephants, giraffes, and buffaloes are the drive targets; the Nile boat safari adds hippos, crocodiles, and water birds. The falls hike is part of the itinerary, and chimpanzee trekking in Budongo Forest can be added if you extend to four days. Pickup is from any location in Kampala — if you don't have a specific address, wait at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel parking lot. Your guide-driver speaks English throughout. The vehicle, ranger, park entry fees (including car and driver-guide), and airport drop-off on the final day are all covered. Two nights' lodging and all meals are included, even those served outside the lodge. Gratuities are not. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English