Walking in Entebbe: A Self-Guided Route

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Entebbe has no scheduled walking-tour companies, and no free walking tour runs on a regular timetable. What it does have is a compact, green town where you can build a pleasant walk of two hours or so on your own. If you want a guide, the best route is to ask a site guide at the botanical gardens gate or to ask your hotel to suggest a local guide.

A self-guided route

The walk below links the main sights without any strict itinerary.

  1. Botanical gardens. Start early, while the air is cool. The gardens were laid out in 1898, and the paths lead through old trees where black-and-white colobus monkeys and hornbills live. Opening hours and fees differ between sources, so check before you go. The paths get muddy after rain.
  2. Lakeside lawns. Open lawns by the water give views over Lake Victoria and make a good place to rest and take photographs.
  3. Lugard Avenue and Portal Road. These streets form the town’s colonial administrative core, with tree-lined avenues and older buildings. UWEC is also on Lugard Avenue, at Plot 56/57, and is open daily from 08:30 to 18:30 if you want to add the wildlife centre.
  4. A lakeside meal. Finish with lunch or a drink at a shoreside restaurant and watch the boats.

Street names and distances vary with the route you choose, so take a map on your phone and walk at your own pace.

Kigungu fishing village

Kigungu is a working fishing village and a pilgrimage site, where a monument and a chapel mark the 1879 landing of Father Simeon Lourdel and Brother Amans. Visit with respect, and go with a local guide if you can.

Staying safe on foot

  • Keep phones and bags away from the roadside, because motorcycles pass close and quickly.
  • Do not photograph State House or any military site. Photography near the airport is restricted.
  • Wild monkeys live in the gardens, so keep food out of sight and do not feed them.
  • Stay out of the lake. Bilharzia, hippos and crocodiles make the water unsafe at every Entebbe beach, so keep to the shore path and the sand.
  • Carry water and sun protection, and expect heavy rain in March to May and October to November.

When you want more than a stroll

For wildlife, the wildlife centre and the chimpanzee sanctuary are better done with a booked experience. Read the UWEC site for current details.

Read more: Sightseeing in Entebbe and Day trips from Entebbe .

To compare listed guided options, search GetYourGuide for Entebbe walking tours .