Visiting Victoria Falls (from South Africa)

Victoria Falls is really a totally spectacular thing to visit and you’re right to consider it. Few things come close to the scale of the falls and the surrounding area.

Practically, it’s not a cheap or easy thing to do. There are only two airlines that fly to Victoria Falls Airport (VFA) and Livingstone and they fly in the middle of the day, once a day, either way. Flights start at around R2 000 per person one way, so you can see quickly that it’s a pricey addition to a South African trip.

Victoria Falls has either massively expensive (but worth it) hotels like 'The Victoria Falls Hotel' (prices start at around R6 000 per room per night), reasonably expensive five-star hotels (like 'The Stanley and Livingstone') or very basic B&Bs. There’s not much middle ground, but there is one place that we think is rather nice that we have sent clients to several times with good reports called the 'Victoria Falls Safari Club'. Prices are still not cheap compared to South Africa at around R4 500 per room per night.

Most guests are happy with two days at the Falls but there is plenty to keep you busy for three or even four: the towns of Victoria Falls and Livingstone are not really worth spending time in but the activities around the area are excellent: we strongly recommend a trip on the 'Zambezi Explorer' for one night on their Signature Deck. This really is rather an exceptional experience. There are also visits to Chobe, one of the most amazing wildlife reserves on the planet and very much in the same league as Kruger, Serengeti and Okavango in terms of sheer scale, size and diversity.

Overall, then, a four-star trip to Victoria Falls is going to cost at least R15 000 for a two-night stay for a couple, not including personal expenses and activities. It will also take you the best part of one day to get there and best part of another day to get back, so that’s realistically at least a four day trip to make it worth the distance the trip.