7 Best Places to visit in Uganda 2025/2026.
The top 7 destinations in Uganda for 2025–2026 With so much to offer, including wildlife viewing, gorilla and chimpanzee trekking, mountain climbing, bird watching, sport fishing, horseback riding, guided nature walks, and cultural excursions, Uganda is one of the most exciting and daring destinations to visit in 2025–2026. There are many protected areas in Uganda that are home to a variety of tourist attractions. This article lists the top seven destinations in Uganda for your 2025–2026 holiday, which include
Murchison Falls National Park
The largest national park in northwest Uganda is called Murchison Falls National Park. Over 76 mammal species, including the big four—elephants, buffaloes, lions, and leopards—as well as other creatures like waterbucks, giraffes, Oribi, Jackson’s hartebeest, and Uganda kobs, as well as primates like chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, olive baboons, and more than 450 bird species, can be found in the national park.
Game drives, which allow visitors to explore the park in a comfortable safari vehicle, boat cruises to the bottom of the falls and the Nile delta boat cruise, which allow visitors to see hippos and Nile crocodiles in the water, bird watching, which allows visitors to see various bird species, including the elusive shoebill stork, sport fishing, guided nature walks, hikes to the top of the falls, and chimpanzee trekking in Budongo forest, which allows visitors to spend an hour with the chimpanzees, are just a few of the exciting activities offered by Murchison Falls National Park.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
The second-largest national park in Uganda and a popular safari destination is Queen Elizabeth National Park. The national park is situated in the districts of Kasese, Rukungiri, Kamwenge, and Rubirizi in western Uganda.
95 mammal species, including the well-known tree climbing in the Ishasha sector, buffaloes, elephants, leopards, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, topi, bushbucks, warthogs, hippos, giant forest hogs, primates like chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, olive baboons, l’hoest monkeys, and more than 600 bird species, can be found in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
There are many exciting safari activities available in Queen Elizabeth National Park, such as chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge where you can spend time with the chimpanzees, birding, lion racking, night game drives in the Mweya Peninsula where you can see nocturnal animals with spotlight torches, and community tours where you can interact with the locals.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
The Kanungu district in southwest Uganda is home to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. In addition to chimpanzees, l’hoest monkeys, baboons, black and white colobus monkeys, forest elephants, bushbucks, and many bird species, the national park is well-known for being home to the endangered mountain gorillas.
In addition to bird watching and guided nature/forest walks, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park offers a variety of safari activities, such as gorilla trekking, which allows you to spend an hour with mountain gorillas, community visits, which allow you to interact with Bakiga and Batwa people in the communities, and gorilla habituation, which allows you to spend four hours with the gorillas.
Kibale Forest National Park
Another top tourist site in Uganda is Kibale Forest National Park, sometimes referred to as the primate capital. More than 1,500 chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, blue monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, olive baboons, and patas monkeys are among the 13 primate species that call the western Kabarole district national park home.
Forest elephants, buffaloes, warthogs, bushbucks, gigantic forest hogs, duikers, bush pigs, and other bird species can all be found in Kibale Forest National Park. Chimpanzee trekking, which allows you to spend one to four hours with the primates, bird watching, chimpanzee habituation, which allows you to spend four hours with the primates, nature walks and night walks, and kid-friendly activities are just a few of the safari activities available at Kibale Forest National Park.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Situated in the Kisoro area of southwest Uganda, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park shares borders with Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
One of the most popular places to visit in Uganda is the national park, which is well-known for its endangered golden monkeys and mountain gorillas as well as other animals like elephants, huge forest hogs, forest buffaloes, bushbucks, bush pigs, and many bird species. Gorilla trekking, golden monkey trekking, birdwatching, the Batwa cultural trail, which provides information about the Batwa people who once lived in the forest, nature walks, and mountain climbing—which allows you to ascend the volcanic mountains of Mount Muhabura, Mount Sabinyo, or Mount Gahinga—are just a few of the safari activities available at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.
Kidepo Valley National Park
One of the best places to go safari is Kidepo Valley National Park, which is situated in the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda, near the country’s borders with South Sudan and Kenya. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, buffaloes, elephants, bat-eared foxes, naked hyenas, giraffes, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, roan antelopes, klipspringer, Dikdik, elands, Jackson’s hartebeest, oribi, bush pigs, jackals, greater and lesser kudus, and more than 475 bird species, including ostriches, pygmy falcons, and Kori bustards, can be found in Kidepo Valley National Park.
Visitors can enjoy a variety of exciting activities at Kidepo Valley National Park, such as game drives in the Narus and Kidepo Valley, nature hikes, bird watching, and cultural tours where they can see the Karamajong and IK tribes.
Lake Mburo National Park
The smallest savannah national park, Lake Mburo, is situated along the Mbarara Kampala highway in Kiruhura district in western Uganda. Buffaloes, impalas, elands, leopards, oribi, hippos, waterbucks, hyenas, reedbucks, giraffes, zebras, and more than 350 bird species, including the shoebill stork, black-billed bustard, black-throated barbet, and bare-faced-go-a-way bird, can all be found in Lake Mburo National Park.
Interesting safari activities offered by Lake Mburo National Park include day game drives, night game drives, boat cruises, sport fishing, where you can catch various fish species, guided nature walks, where you can explore the park on foot, horseback riding, bird watching, cycling, and community visits, where you can interact with the Banyankole people.
Mabira woodland, Mabamba swamp, Ngamba Island, Ziwa rhino sanctuary, Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale, Source of the Nile, Semuliki national park, Mount Elgon national park, Pian Upe Wildlife reserve, and more are among the numerous safari locations in Uganda that you can visit.
The ideal time to travel to Uganda
Although you can visit Uganda at any time of year, the best time to go is during the dry season, which is June, July, August, September, December, January, and February. This is because there is less or no rainfall in the national parks during this time, so there is less vegetation, which allows you to see a variety of wildlife species clearly, and the nature walk and trekking trails are dry and passable. Many animals congregate around water bodies during the dry season to drink, allowing you to see a variety of wildlife and get stunning images.
