The city of Kings and Queens - Bulawayo, the largest one of Zimbabwe is also the second largest city in the province of Matabeleland. The city makes a perfect hub when you visit the province for any excursions in the area. Bulawayo City Council can be proud of their historical early Victorian buildings maintained is a great shape. Around half-a-million people call Bulawayo home. Colonised in 1894 by Cecil Rhodes, the city embraced electricity sooner than London! Check out what makes it a perfect place to go to with the cheap airlines. Find out when should you flights to Bulawayo to keep your budget to the minumum.
Why should you visit Bulawayo?
What to see in Bulawayo?
In terms of city sightseeing there'a a few interesting museums worth visitig. The Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe located in Centenary Park was built in 1962. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe situated within one the country's greatest buildings – the Douslin House with a century's history. At Bulawayo railway station you can find the Railway Museum especially recommended to the fans of vintage steam locomotives. Mzilikmzi Art and Craft Centre off the Old Falls road can be your treasure hunt with all the basketry, sculptures, pottery, beadwork and woodwork, all crafted by the local community of artists.
What is Bulawayo known for?
Wide streets of Bulawayo with trees on both sides often lead to beautiful parks. Together with many examples of Victorian architecture, they make a very pretty sight. Cecil John Rhodes who colonised the city in 1894 is still a very debatable and controversial figure in Zimbabwe. Nevertheless, many admirable parts of the city are his legacy. Bulawayo is a cultural spot which holds an interdisciplinary Intwasa Arts Festival combining dance, theatre, music, film, literary arts and much more. The festival celebrates local culture, the exchange of ideas regionally and globally as well as artistic collaboration since 1999. Happening around September, it has an array of workshops, concerts, comedy or poetry evenings to offer.
What to eat in Bulawayo?
Culinary travels are a great way to make your trip even more memorable. Have you heard of crocodile-and-eggplant laksa? Fly to Bulawayo to try it in Studio Nosh within the National Art Gallery. Traditional Zimbabwean dish can be sampled in a place called Dickies, don't be shy, eat like the locals. To enhance digestion, we recommend a strong local coffee in Earth Cafe, or a fresh juice if you're thirsty. Should walkign around town makes you tired, you might need a double burger or a homemade cake along with a good read you can buy in Indaba Book Cafe. Go back in time by stepping into Bulawayo Club but don't feel underdressed, no dress code in this place. Hardwood floors, leather chairs, hunting trophies, all make you feel like in the Rhodian era. Basic heartwarming food like pie with gravy, chips and peas or pavlova is served here.
When to visit Bulawayo?
Zimbabwe lies within tropical climate however due to high average elevation, the conditions are really subtropical. The rainy season in Bulawayo is only partly cloudy. Good weather is most likely to happen in the months from April to August when the average temperatures are roughly between sixty-eight Farenheit degrees (twenty Celsius degrees) and seventy-seven Farenheit degrees (twenty-five Celsius degrees). October, November and January are on average the warmest months in a year. The biggest chance of rain is from October to February. May, June, July, August and September fall into dry season in Bulawayo with July having the lowest temperatures. December is the rainiest month so it's probably not a good timing for a visit however you might find good offers for flights to Bulawayo during that time.
How to get from Bulawayo airport to the city centre?
The airport located in Bulawayo is called Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport. It was established in 1959. Currently the Bulawayo Airport has a capacity to serve one-and-a-half million passeners annually. In 2013 the Airport was enlarged with a new terminal building and renamed after the late Vice President Dr. Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo. Most promotional flights to Bulawayo are provided by cheap airlines like Airlink and Air Zimbabwe. To travel from the airport to the city centre, the simplest way is to take a taxi. The journey will take about twenty minutes and should cost you around thirty to thirty-five dollars. It's also the cheapest, the fastest and the safest way to travel. You can also rent a car for your own convenience which will make travelling much easier. Compare prices of car hire agencies and search for good deals in agencies like Budget, Avis or Europcar.
How to find a cheap flight and accomodation in Bulawayo?
Flights to Bulawayo from other airports of South Africa are easy to find and usually cheap. In order to find the best price for your flight to Bulawayo in the most convenient time for you, you can either visit the websites of cheap airlines routing to Bulawayo or use a price comparer. The latter one is certainly easier and saves your time searching for flight deals. If you don't have a flight finder you trust, try using the cheap flight search engine on www.eskytravel.co.za. Not only does it provide you with all possible options but also allows setting a price alert regarding your ideal budget line. Additionally if you go for a Flight+Hotel travel package, you can save up to 30% of your money. A flight from Johannesburg to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport is approximately one 1h15 minutes. The Air tickets to Bulawayo can cost even 3500 ZAR (200 dollars) for a round trip per passenger.
Day trips using public transport from Bulawayo
For safety reasons it is recommended that tourists travel on the luxury buses rather than the local so-called chicken buses. There are several companies routing daily to Harare and the six-hours-long journey costs twenty dollars. Check out Intercape Pathfinder, Bravo Tours or City Link. If you intend to take a trip to Victoria Falls or Hwange National Park, buses are available Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The service provider Intercape Pathfinder charges from ten to fifteen dollars. You can also travel with Bravo Tours departing from the Old Falls Road daily at 8 and 11 in the morning and 12:30 in the afternoon. If you don't mind night-time travels, a popular choice is a train to Victoria Falls which is first class with two beds compartment. There's no food service on the train and it usually runs late however per schedule it should arrive between nine and eleven in the morning. If you rent a car you can also visit places like Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage and Research Centre (twenty-three kilometers from Bulawayo) – home to abandoned, sick or orphaned wild animals. Khami Ruins - Late Iron Age Ruins are a Unesco World Heritage site located twenty kilometers from the city. The Nature Reserve called Mazwi Nature Reserve has a great walk-drive-picnic area just beside the Khami Ruins.
