Itinerary
The Falls and Two Parks: How a Zambian Trip Is Built
Zambia's parks lie far apart, and the roads between them are long, so a trip here is built from a few long stays joined by flights rather than a drive from place to place. The classic route follows the Zambezi and its tributary, the Luangwa: Victoria Falls at Livingstone, then South Luangwa for walking safaris and night drives, then the Lower Zambezi for canoes on the river, in about ten days. The dry season is the time to go, and the order can be reversed.
Updated 2026-10-09
Days 1 to 3: Livingstone and Victoria Falls
Three nights at Livingstone give two full days at Victoria Falls: the paths of the falls and the Boiling Pot on one, the river above the falls, the gorge or a flight over the falls on the other, with evenings on the water. Arriving from Johannesburg or Lusaka, Livingstone is an easy start, and the falls are a fine end to a trip as well.
Days 4 to 7: South Luangwa
A flight by way of Lusaka reaches Mfuwe, the airport of South Luangwa, where the camp meets its guests. Four nights leave time for morning walks with a guide, afternoon drives that run on into the night, and a slow middle of the day in the heat, with the river in front of the camp.
Days 8 to 10: the Lower Zambezi
A light aircraft crosses from Mfuwe to the airstrips of the Lower Zambezi, where the last days are spent on the river: a canoe trip among the hippos, a boat at sunset, drives on the floodplain under the winterthorn trees. From the Lower Zambezi a short flight returns to Lusaka for the journey home.
Adding Kafue, Liuwa or Bangweulu
A longer trip adds a park. Kafue is reached by road from Lusaka and fits between the capital and Livingstone, with the Busanga Plains in its north open in the dry months. The remote Liuwa Plain and the Bangweulu wetlands are journeys of their own: Liuwa for the wildebeest from about November, Bangweulu for the shoebill, with Kasanka and its bats on the way there from about late October to December. Each adds three or four nights.
When to go
The dry season, from about May to October, is when every camp is open and the animals keep to the rivers, with cool days from June to August and the heat building towards October, when the game is richest. Most bush camps close in the rains, from about November to April. Victoria Falls follows its own calendar: fullest from about February to May, low late in the year, when the pool on the lip opens and the rafting is best, so a trip in the middle of the dry season sees both the falls and the parks at their best.
Chobe and Zimbabwe from Livingstone
Livingstone sits close to two neighbours. The Kazungula bridge across the Zambezi leads to Botswana, where Chobe National Park and its river begin near the crossing, about an hour's drive from Livingstone, and day trips there are common. The Victoria Falls Bridge leads to Zimbabwe and its side of the falls. Where visas are needed, the KAZA UniVisa covers Zambia, Zimbabwe and the day trip to Chobe on one visa; otherwise each border has its own entry rules, checked before the trip.