Everything you’d ask before booking

Itineraries

Named routes people actually take. Every one ends at our desk with the form pre-filled; change anything.

Getting there and around

Flights in

Two international airports: Kamuzu International at Lilongwe (LLW) and Chileka at Blantyre (BLZ). Carriers have included Ethiopian via Addis Ababa, Kenya Airways via Nairobi, and Airlink and South African carriers via Johannesburg; Malawi Airlines flies regionally. Routes change, so we check current schedules when we build your itinerary. Flying into one city and out of the other saves a day of driving on longer trips.

Getting around

Our default is a vehicle with driver: a 4x4 or minibus with a Malawian driver who knows the roads, the police checkpoints, the fuel situation and the lodge owners. It costs more than a hire car and removes most of the ways a trip goes wrong. Self-drive is possible on the main tarmac routes; the last stretches to most lodges are dirt. Domestic flights run Lilongwe to Blantyre, and charter flights reach Likoma and the parks. The Ilala ferry runs the length of the lake, stopping at Likoma; it's a proper experience and its schedule is a suggestion, so we never put it on a day that has a flight the next morning.

Times assume daylight, a driver who knows the road, and one stop. Add an hour for rainy-season dirt.

Airport transfers and safety

Every itinerary includes airport pickup by our driver. Malawi is, by regional standards, a safe and friendly place to travel; the usual advice applies about night driving, city streets after dark and keeping valuables out of sight. If you'd like a driver with you for the whole trip rather than transfers only, say so on the form. We don't sell "security" as a product because you're unlikely to need it, but we do make sure you're never stuck somewhere with no one to call.

Parks and reserves

Eight protected areas, and only three are on most itineraries: Liwonde, Majete and Lake Malawi National Park. Nyika is the fourth if you go north. The rest reward people with time. The full table with where to sleep and when to go is on the Places page; every itinerary above names the parks it includes, and park fees are line items in your quote.

The cities

Lilongwe is the capital and the main airport; Blantyre is the southern airport and the base for Majete, Mulanje and the tea estates; Mzuzu is the northern hub where the roads to Nyika, Vwaza and Nkhata Bay meet, and an overnight there turns the north from a slog into a trip. Hotels for all three are on the Stay page.

When to go

If you can only pick one month for everything, September. If you want the lake cheap and green with nobody on it, February.

Health, safety, money

Health

• Malaria is present year-round and everywhere below the plateaus. Take prophylaxis; talk to a travel clinic before you go. Lodges have nets; use them.
• Bilharzia (schistosomiasis) is present in parts of the lake, including some popular beaches. It's contracted through the skin in still, shallow water near reeds and is straightforward to treat. Most visitors swim and then take a single course of treatment two to three months after returning. Your travel clinic can prescribe it in advance.
• Yellow fever vaccination proof is required if you arrive from a country with yellow fever risk, which covers most of the surrounding region. Carry the certificate.
• Water: bottled or treated. Lodges provide it. Ice in the cities is generally fine; on the lake, ask.
• Medical care: adequate private clinics in Lilongwe and Blantyre; limited elsewhere. Take travel insurance with medical evacuation cover. This is the one line on this page we're not flexible about.

Visas

Most visitors need a visa, and Malawi runs an e-visa system that can be applied for before travel. Some nationalities are exempt and fees change; check the current rules with the Malawi immigration site or your embassy, and tell us your nationality so we can flag anything.

Money

The currency is the kwacha (MWK). Cards work at most lodges and in the cities; carry cash for markets, boat trips, tips and anywhere off the tarmac. US dollars in newer notes are useful for larger payments and easy to change. ATMs are reliable in Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu and Zomba, less so at the lake. Tipping: around 10% in restaurants, and a daily amount for drivers and guides which we'll suggest in your itinerary.

Connectivity and power

Mobile data is cheap and covers most places you'll go; buy a local SIM at the airport. Power cuts happen; lodges have generators or solar. Bring a torch and a power bank anyway.

Experiences

The things to build a day, or a whole trip, around. Beyond the beach and the game drive:

• Gule Wamkulu. The Chewa masked dance, listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. Performed at ceremonies in central Malawi; the KuNgoni Centre at Mua Mission near Dedza explains it and holds the best collection of masks in the country. Ask us; timing matters.
• Chongoni Rock Art. A World Heritage Site near Dedza: over a hundred painted granite shelters, some two thousand years old. A guided half day, easily added to the Lilongwe to lake drive.
• Livingstonia. The Scottish mission on the northern escarpment, reached by a road of twenty hairpins. The stone church, the museum, and Manchewe Falls. Pairs with Nyika.
• Tea at Thyolo. Estates south of Blantyre with tours, tastings and a colonial-era planter's house to stay in. The green of the tea against Mulanje's granite is the country's best view.
• Snorkelling and diving at Cape Maclear, Nkhata Bay and Likoma. Freshwater, clear, warm, and full of fish that live nowhere else.
• Safari at Liwonde (river-based, elephants), Majete (Big Five) and Nkhotakota (elephants, walking). All three are managed by African Parks and have come back strongly in the last decade.
• Mulanje hut-to-hut. Two to four days with a porter, sleeping in basic huts on the massif. The summit, Sapitwa, means roughly "don't go there". People go there.
• Lake of Stars. A music festival on the lakeshore that has run in most years since 2004. When it's on, it's worth planning around. We'll tell you if it falls in your dates.