Volcanoes National Park (French: Parc National des Volcans Kinyarwanda: Pariki y’Igihugu y’Ibirunga) lies in northwestern Rwanda and borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. Here is how to get to Volcanoes National Park.
The national park is known as a haven for the rare and endangered mountain gorilla and golden monkeys.
To get to Volcanoes National park is quite easy as you have choice of options.
You can decide to take a private means from the city center of Kigali or airport probably by a tour operator or take a pubic means to Musanze. Musanze is the most convenient gateway point to volcanoes. However, public means do not proceed to the park areas where the trekking starts.
You will have to hire another private means will connect you between Musanze and the park at Kinigi.
In case you used a tour operator, you need not to worry, since they know all the routes and procedures necessary for one to get to the park at Kinigi.
All activities start at 0700 hrs in the morning.
For a tour operator, they are aware of this.
So in case your trekking the same day, it’s better to take a night public means that will get you to Musanze early so as to make a quick connection to the park or travel a day before the trek to Musanze and connect the next day.
There is no public means from Musanze to the park headquarters; you will have to take a cub.
However, we do not recommend you to use the public means, if you wish too, it’s on your own risk.
How far is the park from Kigali?
Volcanoes National Park is about 105 kilometers (65 miles) away from the Country’s city and Airport (Kigali), which is roughly a 2 hours drive.
We highly recommend booking through a tour operator, probably Rwanda Eco Company & Safaris, who will easily make all the possible arrangement for you with no hustle for your gorilla trekking experience at Volcanoes National Park.
In case you’re interested in car hire, we do own number of flight vehicles ranging from small jeeps to extended land cruiser, which are very comfortable for your transportation.
Feel free to contact us at any time for more information about how to get to Volcanoes National Park.