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Bulawayo
City in Zimbabwe

Bulawayo

Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region.

Plan a trip to Bulawayo→From Harare

The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about 1.2 million. Bulawayo covers an area of 546 square kilometres in the western part of the country, along the Matsheumhlope River. Along with the capital Harare, Bulawayo is one of two cities in Zimbabwe that are also provinces.

Get in

Getting to Bulawayo

The main airport is Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport. Air Zimbabwe Harare, Johannesburg, Victoria falls. Airlink Johannesburg. Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa Fastjet Zimbabwe Harare, Johannesburg Visas available on arrival are US$30 for single entry, US$45 for double entry. For UK and Irish citizens, it is US$55 or double entry US$70. For Canadians, single entry is US$75.

  1. 01
    Stallion Cruise bus terminal to Johannesburg

    90 Josiah Tongogara Rd (next to Indaba Cafe).

  2. 02
    Bus stop to Masvingo

    4th Avenue / Hume Park Road (corner with Samuel Parirenyatwa Street).

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe

    Corner of Park Road & Leopold Takawira Avenue, natmuse@netconnect.co.zw.

  2. 02
    National Art Gallery

    There are artists studios on-site; the artists are happy to chat about their work.

  3. 03
    Bulawayo Railway Museum

    This includes Cecil Rhodes' private carriage, plus a range of decaying steam engines and other locomotives.

  4. 04
    Khami Ruins

    Ruins of capital of former Butua State civilization that existed from around 1450 to 1644 AD.

Do

Things to do

Cricket:

  1. 01
    Queens Sports Club

    Established in 1890, the ground mainly has grass banking surrounded by picturesque trees providing shade to the spectators.

  2. 02
    Swimming

    The city's outdoor swimming pool is like something out of a 1920s movie, with its ranks of brightly painted changing booths.

  3. 03
    Hillside Dams

    Hilly area on the south side of Bulawayo that used to be the city's water supply but now is a park with walking and mountain biking trails along with fishing and bird watching.

Eat

Where to eat

New Orleans Restaurant, Banff Road, Hillside. Classy, for Bulawayo. Excellent staff and reasonable prices. Haefelli's Bakery, On Fife Street in Town: ask anyone for directions. el's (pronounced hay-flees) offers a strange mix of food services. It is a bakery (offering various breads and pastries), it is a pizza shop (Pizza Inn), it offers ice cream (Dairy Inn), and sandwiches, mostly pre-made.

  1. 01
    Indaba Book Cafe
How locals move

Getting around Bulawayo the local way

  • Get inMinibus taxis run from the township outside Victoria Falls to Bulawayo in the very early morning and takes approximately 7 hours.
  • Get aroundLocal transport is mainly by 18 seater minibuses called "kombis".

From Wikivoyage: Bulawayo, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: William Thomas Stead (Public domain), Wikimedia Commons.