Must see attractions in Zambia

Top ChoiceSights in Eastern Zambia

For scenery, variety and density of animals, South Luangwa is the best park in Zambia and one of the most majestic in Africa. Impalas, pukus, waterbucks, giraffes and buffaloes wander on the wide-open plains; leopards, of which there are many in the park, hunt in the dense woodlands; herds of elephants wade through the marshes; and hippos munch serenely on Nile cabbage in the Luangwa River. The bird life is also tremendous: about 400 species have been recorded.

Top ChoiceSights in Livingstone

One of the most thrilling experiences – not only at the falls but in all of Africa – is the hair-raising journey to Livingstone Island. Here you will bathe in Devil's Pool – nature’s ultimate infinity pool, set directly on the edge of the Victoria Falls. You can leap into the pool and then poke your head over the edge to get an extraordinary view of the 100m drop. Here also you'll see the plaque marking the spot where David Livingstone first sighted the falls.

Top ChoiceSights in Livingstone

This is what you're here for: the mighty Victoria Falls! It's a part of the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, located 11km outside town before the Zambia border crossing. From the centre, a network of paths leads through thick vegetation to various viewpoints. For close-up views of the Eastern Cataract, nothing beats the hair-raising (and hair-wetting) walk across the footbridge, through swirling clouds of mist, to a sheer buttress called the Knife Edge.

Sights in Western Zambia

Covering more than 22,500 sq km (8687 sq mi), this is the largest park in Zambia and one of the biggest in the world. With terrain ranging from the lush riverine forest of the Kafue River to the vast grassland of the Busanga Plains, the park rewards wildlife enthusiasts with glimpses of various carnivores and their nimble prey. This is the only major park in Zambia that’s easily accessible by public transport, with a handful of camps just off the highway.

Sights in Southern Zambia

One of the country’s premier wildlife viewing areas, the Lower Zambezi National Park covers a large stretch of wilderness area along the northeastern bank of the Zambezi River. The best wildlife viewing is on the flood plain and along the river itself. Mammal species include puku, impala, zebra, buffalo, bushbuck, leopard, lion, cheetah and wild dog, and more than 400 bird species have been recorded. The best time to visit is May to October.

Sights in Northern Zambia

The Bangweulu Wetlands is a watery wilderness of lakes, seasonally flooded grasslands, swamp and unspoiled miombo woodland that lies 50km to the north of Kasanka. This rarely visited part of Zambia is the only place in Africa to see major numbers of black lechwes (antelopes with long, curved antlers). Bangweulu is also known for its birds. Some 400 species have been noted, and a particular highlight for twitchers is the strange and rare shoebill stork.

Sights in Livingstone

The excellent Livingstone Museum is the oldest, largest and best museum in the country. It's divided into sections covering archaeology, history, ethnography and natural history. Highlights include its collection of original David Livingstone memorabilia (including signed letters), tribal artefacts (from bark cloth to witchcraft exhibits), a life-sized model of an African village, taxidermy displays and coverage of modern-day Zambian history.

Sights in Shiwa Ng'andu

The main draw to the area is the surreal sight of Shiwa House, a massive English-style manor materialising seemingly out of nowhere in the middle of rural Zambia. Built in the 1920s, the decaying grand mansion built on a stately lawn is full of old family heirlooms, photographs and stories. There are guided tours of the estate (or there's a self-guided option with booklet), which include a wildlife drive to spot the property's 24 mammal species including puku, kudu, zebra and wildebeest.

Sights in Livingstone

This park is divided into two sections: the Victoria Falls area and the wildlife sector. The latter is only 3km southwest of Livingstone, and most famous for its population of white rhino, which you can track on foot. For their protection, the rhino are accompanied by anti-poaching rangers round-the-clock. You can only see them as part of a pre-booked tour (US$80 per person, inclusive of park fees and hotel transfer), booked through Livingstone Rhino Walks or Savannah Southern Safaris.

Sights in Northern Zambia

At 221m in height Kalambo Falls is twice as high as Victoria Falls, and the second-highest single-drop waterfall in Africa (the highest being Tugela Falls in South Africa). From spectacular viewpoints near the top of the falls, you can see the Kalambo River plummeting off a steep V-shaped cliff cut into the Rift Valley escarpment down into a deep valley, which then winds towards Lake Tanganyika.

Sights in Northern Zambia

One of Zambia’s least-known wilderness areas, and a real highlight of a visit to this part of the country, Kasanka National Park is most famous for its fruit bat migration in November and December, which sees up to 10 million of the nocturnal creatures arrive. The park is also known for its swampland, which is home to the park’s shy and retiring star, the sitatunga, a semi-aquatic antelope distinguished by its long splayed hooves and oily coat.

Sights in Western Zambia

About 100km northwest of Mongu near the Angolan border, Liuwa Plain National Park is 3600 sq km of true wilderness. The remote park is characterised by expanses of flat, grassy flood plains, and most famous for the second-largest wildebeest migration in Africa in the wet season, when wall-to-wall herds gather at the beginning of November. Liuwa is also notable for having one of the highest population densities of hyena in the world and a stunning variety of birdlife.

Sights in The Copperbelt

On a farm deep in the African bush, about 65km northwest of Chingola, is this impressive chimpanzee sanctuary that's undoubtedly the standout highlight in the Copperbelt region. Home to around 120 adult and young chimps, most have been rescued from poachers and traders in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo or other parts of Africa. This is not a natural wildlife experience, but it’s still a unique and fascinating opportunity to observe the chimps as they feed, play and socialise.

Sights in Eastern Zambia

This park is large, wild and spectacular, but nowhere near as developed or set up for tourism as its southern counterpart. The big draw of North Luangwa is its walking safaris, where you can get up close to the wildlife in a truly remote wilderness. The range of wildlife is similar to South Luangwa’s (except there are no giraffes), and the park is particularly famous for its small population of black rhino, huge buffalo herds (sometimes up to 1000-strong), which in turn attract large numbers of lions and hyenas.

Sights in Lusaka

This big square box of a building resembling a Soviet-era Moscow ministry has upstairs galleries displaying exhibits on urban culture and Zambian history as well cultural, ethnographic and archaeological displays. Contemporary Zambian paintings and sculpture are shown downstairs.

Sights in Northern Zambia

Hugging the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika, little-visited Nsumbu National Park is a beautiful 2020 sq km of hilly grassland and escarpment, interrupted by rivers and wetlands. Like other remote parks in Zambia, Nsumbu was virtually abandoned in the 1980s and 1990s and poaching seriously depleted wildlife stocks here; however, conditions have improved over the past decade. Poaching has come under control, and animal numbers have increased, in part thanks to a buffer zone created by two Game Management Areas that adjoin the park.

Sights in Southern Zambia

This small, 410 sq km park, northwest of Monze, consists of grassland, low wooded hills and the seasonally flooded Chunga Lagoon – all part of a huge, impressive wetland site called the Kafue Flats. You may see buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, kudu and some of the 30,000 Kafue lechwe residing in the park. Bushbuck, oribi, hippo, jackal, reedbuck and common waterbuck are also here. Lochinvar is a haven for birdlife too, with more than 400 species recorded.

Sights in Mbala

This museum in a 1970s modernist building is well worth a visit if you’re in the area. It has a large and diverse collection, much of which details the cultural life and history of the Bemba people. Items on display include old drums, traditional musical instruments and an array of smoking paraphernalia. Particularly noteworthy is an exhibition detailing how young Bemba women were traditionally initiated into adulthood. It includes a life-size, walk-in example of an initiation hut, with background info.

Top ChoiceSights in Lusaka

The idea of seeing a rhino in the wild just 15km from the capital seems absurd, but this new national park (opened in 2015) allows you to do just that. Set over 46 sq km, it's home to eland, zebra, giraffe and wildebeest, among others. But it's the white rhino that brings people here. While you'll be able to tick it off from the list of Big Five, most likely you'll see them in their holding pen, so it can feel more like a zoo than national park.

Sights in Kasama

Archaeologists rate the Kasama rock art as one of the largest and most significant collections of ancient art in Southern Africa, though their quality is outdone in Zimbabwe and Namibia. The works are attributed to Stone Age hunter-gatherers (sometimes known as Twa) and are up to 2000 years old. Many are abstract designs, but some of the finest pictographs show human figures and animals, often capturing a remarkable sense of fluidity and movement, despite being stylised with huge bodies and minute limbs.