The Ultimate Uganda Itinerary – 12 Adventurous Days in Uganda

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If you plan on visiting Uganda, here is the best Uganda itinerary for your trip to the Pearl of Africa! Planning a trip to Uganda might not be the easiest task, so I hope this Uganda itinerary will give you a good idea of where to stay, what to do and when to do it! This Uganda itinerary is exactly what we did when we spent 12 days in Uganda, traveling with our driver Godfrey from Roadtrip Uganda. I wrote a few more articles on our trip to Uganda, and you can find all of them right here.

Uganda Itinerary

Day 1 – Travel day

Start your Uganda itinerary towards Entebbe, Uganda. Before you travel, don’t forget the following:

• Yellow fever vaccination: $60 per person (do it at least 1 month prior to departure, but consult in your own country. You must have this when applying for a visa)
• Tourist visa: $50 per person (takes max 3 working days, apply on https://visas.immigration.go.ug/. You need passport valid 6 months from departure, passport photo & yellow fever vaccination)
• Malaria pills: $25 per person with a prescription cost
• Return flights $470 /person
• Uganda Gorilla permit $700 /person 
• Only during the pandemic: CPR test for corona with a travel certificate: $160 per person

Costs per person before arrival: $1465 USD

The prices above are what we paid to travel to Uganda from Sweden. We did all the above vaccinations and tests in Sweden.

SIM CARD: We also bought an MTN SIM card at the airport: Sim card with 10GB data 75 000 + 5000 for sim + 1400 for 1-week activation for social media. In Uganda, the government charges the usage of WhatsApp, Facebook and similar, UGX 200 per day. We always buy one SIM card and share the hotspot with each other. Always cheaper to buy a SIM with more data, instead of two with less.

Day 2 – Entebbe

Regardless of when you arrive, I recommend you spend your first night of this Uganda itinerary in Entebbe. There are a few fun things to see here and you will see Kampala at the end of this trip anyway!

Entebbe is a quiet pleasant town and next to the airport. We booked a night at Via Via, a budget to mid-range place with a lovely vibe. We arranged a pick up from the airport with them directly and it was all hassle-free!

To do in Entebbe

Book a car for the afternoon (through your accommodation) and have the driver take you to Entebbe Botanical Garden, Reptile Village and the Entebbe Market for a Rolex and then back to the hotel.

Here is what our day in Entebbe cost us:

Car round-trip: $16 USD

Botanical Garden entrance fee + guide: $5 /pax

Reptile Village: $4 /pax

Sleep: Viavia in Entebbe.

Cost: $80 for 1 night/2 people, $10 airport transfer

Day 3 – Lake Mburo National Park

Now that you’ve managed to get a small taste of Uganda you can start your real adventure! Book a car, with or without a driver, at Roadtrip Uganda. We decided to book a car with a tent and a driver. We love chatting to drivers about life as a local and observe, instead of drive. Uganda is, however, a great self-drive destination if that’s more up your alley!

Godfrey, our driver, picked us up at Via Via at 9 am. We did some shopping for our camping night and started our journey towards Lake Mburo National Park. We made a stop at the equator and reached Lake Mburo NP, just in time for an afternoon game drive. I highly recommend you camp in the park!

Entrance fees:

• $40 USD for adult non-residents (tourists)
• $10 USD for children non-residents (tourists)
• $30 USD for foreign residents
• $5 USD for East African Citizens (this is the rate you will pay for your driver)
• $8 USD for your rental vehicle per (multiple) day visit
• $10 USD camping permit

Sleep: UWA public campsite.

Cost: approx $10

Day 4 – Horseback Safari

After we woke up from our night under the stars, we had some breakfast and started our morning game drive in Lake Mburo National Park. We had booked a horseback safari at noon and had a good couple of hours of a game drive before we arrived at Mihingo Lodge.

Sleep: Rwakobo Lodge.

Cost: $160 for two with full-board. (we felt this place was not worth the price, so if you find something else, go for that instead)

Day 5 – Culture Village Tour

Do an early morning culture village tour, organised by Rwakobo Rock or another accommodation. Alternatively, you could go on a walking safari as well as Lake Mburo is one of the few places where you can do a walking safari as there are no big predators like lions. While we didn’t enjoy our stay at Rwakobo so much, we did like the cultural walk. We met the family who provides the milk and yoghurt to the lodge and really enjoyed seeing how locals live and learn about their tribe and way of living.

After the culture walk, start your drive towards Mutanda Lake Resort, your starting point for gorilla trekking! Stop by Lake Bunyonyi for lunch and make sure you relax and prepare for your trek the next day.

Culture walk: $10 /pax

Sleep: Lake Mutanda Resort.

Cost: From $130 for a single B&B. Rates here.

Day 6 – Gorilla Trekking

Wake up bright and early, eat breakfast and start making your way towards Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Because there is so much to know about this experience, I wrote a separate blog post about it and you can see all the information you’ll need in this article. We returned from our trek at around 15.00 and spent the rest of the day relaxing at the resort.

Gorilla trekking: $600 /pax

Porter: $15

Tip for trackers: $15

Sleep: Lake Mutanda Resort.

Cost: From $130 for a single B&B. Rates here.

Day 7 – Mutanda Lake Resort

This is the one and only day on this Uganda itinerary when you can focus only on relaxing! I think a day like this is necessary during longer travels with many experiences. And there is no better way to spend a day like this than at Mutanda Lake Resort. Swim, rent a canoe, drink a couple of local beers and take the day to reflect on what you’ve experienced so far.

Sleep: Lake Mutanda Resort.

Cost: From $130 for a single B&B. Rates here.

Day 8 – Ishasha Sector

After a nice relaxing day, you’ll start heading towards new adventures again! Start the drive towards the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth NP, you’ll arrive in time for a game drive in the afternoon. Test your luck and see if you can spot the tree-climbing lion! We didn’t have much luck on the afternoon safari, though.

Sleep: Enjojo Lodge. Can highly recommend staying here, it’s beautiful!

Cost: $150 for a beautiful safari house, dinner and breakfast. (we got a free upgrade).

Day 9 – Queen Elizabeth National Park

Wake up bright and early and head to Ishasha for a morning game drive. If you didn’t spot the tree climbing lions the day before, you can take this as another opportunity to see if you see them now! Then, whilst game driving, move to the Kazinga channel section of Queen Elizabeth National Park, where you will also camp for the evening.

Entrance fees:

• $40 USD for adult non-residents (tourists)
• $10 USD for children non-residents (tourists)
• $30 USD for foreign residents
• $5 USD for East African Citizens (this is the rate you will pay for your driver)
• $8 USD for your rental vehicle per (multiple) day visit.
• $10 USD camping permit

Sleep: Camp at the UW public campsite at Kazinga Channel.

Cost: approx $10

Day 10 – Travel to Kampala

The benefit of camping in a National Park, is that you get to start a morning safari early! So head towards the main entrance and start the last game drive of the day. Try to spot leopards, hyenas and lions, amongst others. After you’re done with the game drive, at around 11, head towards Kampala. This will be a full day drive, so make sure you buy some snacks for the road.

Sleep: Villa Kololo

Cost: $70 per night

Day 11 – Kampala

After breakfast, we headed back to our room and booked a boda boda tour for Kampala. This is the best way to see as much of the city as possible, without having to plan how to get where and when. We booked the Walters Tours Boda Boda Tour here and it was super fun! Their drivers were responsible, safe and very informative and we did a 4-hour tour with them.

Boda boda tour: $50 for two people.

Sleep: Villa Kololo

Cost: $70 per night

Day 12 – Travel Day

Check out from your hotel in Kampala and book a driver via your hotel or via Uber to the airport. The traffic can be horrible in Kampala so make sure you leave the city in good time.

I hope this 12 days Uganda itinerary helped you make our plans for your visit to this Pearl of Africa. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to comment or email me, I will be happy to help you out with any questions you might have!

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