Kigali Attractions
Kigali:
Rwanda’s attractive capital Kigali, struggles over several hills, with the city centre, the administrative quarter and residential suburbs closely connected to each other.
The rapidly growing city (approximately 800,000 inhabitants) is attractive, bustling, colorful and noisy, but also clean and safe. Kigali attractively sprawls over a range of slopes in the heart of the ‘Land of a thousand Hills’. Peaceful, tree-lined residential streets stretch up and down the city’s heart, giving visitors ample scope for strolling.
Located at Rwanda’s geographical heart, the rapidly growing City of Kigali is not only the national capital, but also the country’s most important business centre and main port of entry. The city is also easily connected to neighbouring Uganda and Burundi by fully surfaced roads.
Kigali City, which started in 1907 as a small colonial outpost with little link to the outside world, is now an advanced and well built city. Today, Kigali City has come of age-as the capital of Rwanda and made phenomenal strides. It is a city that has not just survived, but has prevailed and has grown into a modern metropolis- a heart of the emerging Rwandan economy and a pride of every Rwandan.
Kigali City is blessed with a moderate high altitude climate that belies its tropical location. The Rwandan capital provides both a comfortable and welcoming introduction to this land of a thousand hills and an ideal springboard from which to explore this magical country. Kigali city is made up of three districts namely Gasabo, Kicukiro and Nyarugenge.
Because of its efficient international airport and excellent road connections to all major tourist attractions in the country as well as the borders to all neighbouring countries, it makes for an ideal starting point for every visit to Rwanda and the region.
The capital features a wide range of hotels catering to all tastes and budgets, and a good choice of restaurants offering local as well as excellent international cuisine. Comforts and luxuries can be found here because of the large international community that found a permanent home in the city.
Kigali Tourist Attractions and Activities:
Kigali is a place to get acquainted with the Rwandan pace. The moderate high altitude climate as well as areas with many peaceful and tree-lined residential streets invite the visitor to stroll around and get to know the Rwandan way of life. Excursions in and around Kigali offer a first impression of what Rwanda looks like. The many hills seem to stretch forever, usually featuring a lush green colour due to the abundant rainfall from the two main rainy seasons. Of course, visits to some of the historical genocide sites are possible.
Kigali Genocide Memorial Center:
The Kigali Memorial Centre is an international centre. It deals with a topic of international import, with far-reaching significance, and is designed to engage and challenge an international visitor base. The conference facility on the site is designed to engage an audience well beyond the confines of, where seminars on history and education and other topics are planned for the future.
This site has been constructed in memory of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that took almost 1,000,000 lives in 100 days while the world stood by and watched. The Kigali Memorial Centre is a site of burial for around 250,000 victims of the genocide, which comprises of a main historical exhibition, a Children’s Memorial exhibition and an exhibition on comparative genocide, called Wasted Lives. It also has over four acres of memorial gardens containing ten mass graves, as well as the National Genocide Documentation Centre.
The Memorial Center is housed in its own new building in Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali approximately 2 hours north of our main museum in Butare.
Tourists arriving at the Kigali International Airport will find the site an easy drive from the airport or from one of the many hotels located in and around Kigali.
Genocide Memorial of Belgian Soldiers at Camp Kigali:
Camp Kigali is the venue of the massacre of 10 Belgian UN Blue Berets which happened on the first day of the genocide. Under the command of Canadian General Romeo Dallaire, they were deployed to guard the house of moderate Prime Minister Agatha Uwilingimana. After the violence began, Presidential Guard soldiers invaded the home, disarmed the Belgians and transported them to Camp Kigali where they killed them. Today, the Camp is a Belgian commemoration site that hosts a small museum and provides you with a first introduction to the horrible events of 1994.
Other Attractions in Kigali include:
- The Muslim quarter of Nyamirambo
- The city busy centre with the old presidents office the mast of hate Radio Mille Collines
- The parliament building
- The curio markets including Kaplaki the largest curio market.
- The city market at Kimironko.
- The pottery project of the Batwa (dancing pots)
- The Hero’s Cemetery at Amahoro National Stadium
Accommodation:
- Kigali Serena Hotel.
- Hotel Des Mille/ Hoel Rwanda
- Kigali Novotel
Getting to Kigali:
From Kampala Uganda:
Rwandair operates direct flights from Kampala.
From Nairobi Kenya
Rwandaair /Kenya Airways operates daily flights.
From Europe:
SH Brussels operates direct flights from Brussels
Kenya Airways /KLM operates connecting flights via Nairobi
From Johannesburg:
South African Airways/Rwandair operates flights from Johannesburg
From Addis Ababa Ethiopia:
Ethiopian Airines operates flights from Addis Ababa.
Related package vacations
