Murchison Falls National Park

The Nile squeezes through a gap seven metres wide and drops forty-three metres, and the noise of it is the reason people come. Around the falls is Uganda's largest park: a boat trip to the base of them past hippo and crocodile, then game drives on the northern bank for lion, elephant and Rothschild's giraffe.

  • The boat to the foot of the falls, past hippo and crocodile
  • The hike to the top, where the whole Nile goes through a seven-metre gap
  • Rothschild's giraffe on the northern plains
  • Chimpanzee tracking in Budongo Forest on the way in
  • Shoebill stork in the Nile delta
  • Best time to comeDecember to February and June to September are driest. The falls run hard all year.
  • Good forFirst-time Uganda, families, combining with chimpanzees
  • Where it isUganda
Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

What you do in Murchison Falls National Park

Every one of these is something we run here, not a stock list.

Safaris that go to Murchison Falls National Park

Prices are per person and include your vehicle, guide, park fees and accommodation. Every one of these can be changed — they are starting points.

Murchison Adventure!
3 days

More about Murchison Falls National Park

This is the Uganda's Oldest and largest national park. It is located in the northern region of the Albertine Rift Valley in Masindi district of western Uganda. It has got a spectacular view with the huge waterfalls roaring and finding their way within the small slit of 7 meters or 23 feet wide between the rocks and this is the connect point of Bunyoro escarpment and Acholi plains. Also, in the park adjacent to the Masindi-Gulu highway are the magnificent Karuma Falls. Wildlife mainly includes elephants, buffalos, lions, giraffes, chimpanzees and many others. Vegetation is commonly savannah, woodland and riverine forest.

Boat rides are usually arranged and operate from Paraa to the foot of Murchison Falls, they always take 3 hours which gives you a clear view of the hippos, crocodiles and the wildlife that is always close to the falls.

Also in Uganda

Most safaris here combine two or three of these.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi holds roughly half the mountain gorillas left on earth. You walk into thick, steep, ancient forest with a ranger and a tracker, sometimes for an hour and sometimes for six, and then spend one hour with a habituated family at a few metres' distance. People who have done every safari there is still describe it as the best hour of their lives.

Kibale National Park

Kibale National Park

The best chimpanzee tracking in East Africa, in a forest holding thirteen primate species. Around 1,500 chimps live here and the habituated communities are relaxed enough that you watch them feed, groom and argue overhead rather than catching a glimpse and losing them.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Uganda's most visited park, and the one with the most variety: a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel past hundreds of hippo, the Kasenyi plains for lion, and the Ishasha sector in the south where the lions lie in the fig trees. The Rwenzori mountains stand behind it on a clear day.

Kasenyi Plains

Kasenyi Plains

The Kasenyi plains are the open grassland sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, and the reason you set an alarm for 5.30am. The park's lions hunt Uganda kob here, and a dawn drive across the plains is the most reliable big-cat hour in the country.

Thinking about Murchison Falls National Park?

Tell us roughly when you can travel and how long you have. We will tell you honestly whether Murchison Falls National Park is the right call for those dates — and what it costs.