Attraction
Kigali Genocide Memorial
The national memorial at Gisozi where more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are buried, with permanent exhibitions and memorial gardens.
The list of things to do in Kigali starts with its history: the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi is where most visitors begin, and the Campaign Against Genocide Museum and Kandt House Museum add more of the story. Rwanda's capital is spread across green hills, clean and orderly, with a growing art scene, specialty coffee and a lively restaurant culture, and it is the starting point for gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park and safaris in Akagera.
Nyarugenge holds the city centre, the main hotels and the Kandt House Museum, while leafy Kiyovu has boutique hotels and cafés. Kimihurura and Kacyiru, around the domed Kigali Convention Centre, are the main areas for restaurants, galleries and bars, and Nyamirambo is one of the oldest and liveliest neighbourhoods. Food ranges from Rwandan and African dishes to Afro-Asian fusion and tasting menus. Two or three days is enough for the main sights, with extra days for trips to the national parks.
Attraction
The national memorial at Gisozi where more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are buried, with permanent exhibitions and memorial gardens.
Attraction
A museum in Rwanda's parliament building telling how RPA forces stationed there in 1994 fought to stop the genocide, with outdoor bunkers and monuments.
Attraction
Kigali's oldest surviving building, the 1908 house of German administrator Richard Kandt, now a museum on pre-colonial Rwanda, the colonial era and the city's origins.
Attraction
Contemporary Rwandan and international art shown in the former presidential palace at Kanombe, where wreckage of the 1994 presidential jet lies in the grounds.
Attraction
The domed convention centre at the KG 2 roundabout, opened in 2016, whose shape recalls a traditional royal palace and which lights up the skyline at…
Attraction
A restored 121-hectare wetland and forest park opened in 2022, with 10km of paths, ponds, a medicinal garden and more than 100 bird species.
Café
A specialty coffee café in Gishushu serving Rwandan coffee and running master classes and day trips to coffee cooperatives.
Café
The Kimihurura café of Kivu Noir, a premium single-estate Rwandan coffee grown on the shores of Lake Kivu, with a second café at Norrsken.
Café
A relaxed Kiyovu café that doubles as a plant and ceramics shop, serving breakfast, salads, sandwiches, grain bowls and cocktails with outdoor seating.
Café
A rooftop café above Ikirezi Bookstore in Kacyiru serving locally sourced food and coffee with views over Kigali towards the sunset.
Hotel
A five-star hotel on KN 3 Avenue with 148 rooms and 25 suites, an 18-metre pool, a Moroccan-style spa and two restaurants, minutes from the business…
Hotel
A five-star Marriott on KN 3 Avenue with an outdoor pool, Saray Spa, Italian restaurant, all-day dining and a terrace bar, about 11km from the airport.
Hotel
Kigali's historic grand hotel, opened in 1973, where 1,268 people took refuge during the 1994 genocide, with a large pool near the city centre.
Hotel
A four-star boutique hotel in leafy Kiyovu with 28 rooms, a solar-heated saltwater pool, yoga deck, gym and the Heaven and Fusion restaurants.
Hotel
A modern 109-room city hotel on KN 1 Avenue in Nyarugenge with a terrace infinity pool, iJuru restaurant, bar and fitness room.
Hotel
An 80-room four-star hotel in Remera at the centre of a sports and entertainment district, with courts, five-a-side pitches, a pool deck and a rooftop lounge.
Bar
A hillside bar and restaurant in Kibagabaga with a large open-air terrace, pool and sunset views, turning club-like with DJs on weekend nights.
Bar
The rooftop lounge at Zaria Court in Remera, serving signature cocktails, grilled meats and sharing platters from brunch through to late evening.
Bar
The Kigali Marriott's all-day bar, with an airy atrium lounge and an open-air terrace, open daily from early morning until midnight.
Restaurant
A fine dining restaurant inside a hillside art gallery in Kiyovu, with a daily-changing eight-course tasting menu, an a la carte terrace and rotating exhibitions.
Restaurant
An Afro-Asian restaurant founded in 2018 that pairs Pan-Asian cooking and sushi with African flavours, served as sharing plates in an alfresco setting.
Restaurant
A Belgian-French bistro opened in 2015, cooking bistronomy dishes with local and African ingredients in Kimihurura; closed on Sundays.
Restaurant
A terrace restaurant in Kiyovu, built in 2008 as Kigali's first hospitality training restaurant, serving modern African food from local ingredients with city views.
Restaurant
A two-storey Kimihurura restaurant serving Rwandan and African dishes, with an upstairs deck overlooking the hills and regular live music.
Restaurant
An Indian restaurant serving Kigali since 2005, with a Kiyovu dining room near the city centre and a second branch in Nyarutarama.
Thing to do
Kigali's busiest market, a large covered complex in Kimironko selling fresh produce, kitenge fabric, crafts and household goods, with tailors working on site.
Thing to do
A guided hike of about 8km from Nyamirambo up Mount Kigali, with city views and horse riding, zip lining and quad biking at Fazenda Sengha.
Thing to do
Twice-monthly Sunday mornings when Kigali closes streets to cars for walking, running, cycling and group exercise, with free health checks.
Tour operator
Community-run walking tours of Nyamirambo, one of Kigali's oldest neighbourhoods, plus cooking classes and weaving workshops that fund training for local women.
Tour operator
A savannah safari day trip from Kigali to Akagera National Park, run by African Parks with RDB, for lions, rhinos, elephants and boat trips on Lake…
Tour operator
Mountain gorilla treks in Volcanoes National Park, starting from Kinigi near Musanze, with permits booked in advance through Irembo or licensed operators.
Tour operator
Day trips from Kigali run by Question Coffee to Rwandan coffee cooperatives, following coffee from farmers' plots to the washing station and drying tables.
Two or three days covers the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the main museums, a market, a gallery or two and some of the city's restaurants. Add extra days if you plan gorilla trekking or a safari in Akagera.
The city centre in Nyarugenge has the large international hotels, Kiyovu is quiet and leafy with boutique hotels close to the centre, and Kimihurura and Remera put you near restaurants, bars and the airport road.
Kigali International Airport is in Kanombe, about 20 minutes from the centre by car. Taxis wait at the airport, ride-hailing apps operate in the city, and several hotels run airport shuttles on request.
Street food, buses and moto taxis are cheap, while international hotels, fine dining and national park permits are expensive. Mid-range restaurants and cafés are moderately priced.
Kigali is widely regarded as one of the safer capitals in Africa, with low street crime and a visible security presence. Take the usual care with valuables and use registered taxis or apps at night.