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Mbeya
City in Mbeya Region, Tanzania

Mbeya

Mbeya is a city located in south west Tanzania, Africa, with an urban population of 649,000 in 2023.

Plan a trip to Mbeya→From Mfuwe

Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region.

Get in

Getting to Mbeya

  1. 01
    Songwe Airport
See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Lake Ngozi

    The second largest crater lake in Africa, very lush.

  2. 02
    Mbozi Meteorite
  3. 03
    Kitulo National Park
Do

Things to do

Mbeya is at the foot of Loleza Peak and near Mbeya Peak. At 2656 m and 2820 m respectively, both can be fine day hikes, although an experienced guide should be hired. Guides can be found through many of the travel agencies or better hotels in town.

  1. 01
    Matema Public Beach

    Reachable by car or bus- just be ready for a longer trek.

Eat

Where to eat

Sombrero Hotel has nice restaurant cross the street from the hotel. There are also some reasonable restaurants along south end of Lupa Way, New Appricourt restaurant being one, just opposite to Gazelle safaris. Mbeya Hotel Limited, Kaunda Ave,. Very nice place with Indian, Continental, Chinese and Tanzanian food, curries. Metro Cuisine. Really good pizza, decent burgers. Hill View Hotel.

How locals move

Getting around Mbeya the local way

  • Get inDalla-dallas (minibuses) and coasters (30-seat buses) run frequently to and from Kyela near the Malawian border and Tunduma on the Zambian border, either ride taking about three hours.
  • Go nextDouble check that the driver can drop you off at the border ("boda-boda").
  • Go nextThere are bus services on the Malawi side of the border; going to Karonga, Mzuzu and further inland like Matours, Malawi Link and there are also shared taxis to Karonga cost about 1,500.00 Kwacha.

From Wikivoyage: Mbeya, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-03.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.