Zimbabwe · Highveld
Harare
Zimbabwe's arts capital and the heartland of Shona stone sculpture, with zebra in its woodlands, rock art on its granite domes and jacarandas lining its avenues.
Harare is Zimbabwe's capital, a jacaranda-lined city at close to 1,500 m on the Highveld, founded as Fort Salisbury in 1890 and renamed after independence. It is the country's arts capital and the heartland of Shona stone sculpture, with a national gallery, sculpture parks where carvers work in the open and a live music scene rooted in the mbira. Most visitors pass through on the way to Mana Pools, Lake Kariba or the Eastern Highlands, but a day or two repays the stop, with zebra and giraffe minutes from the centre and ancient rock art on the granite domes nearby.
Suggested stay
1–3 days
Language
English, Shona, Ndebele
Currency
USD
Timezone
UTC+2
Why you'll love Harare
Stone sculpture Harare is the heartland of Shona stone sculpture, carved from serpentine and springstone, and on the city's edge you can watch carvers shaping it in the open
Jacaranda avenues the old colonial grid is lined with jacarandas that turn whole streets purple in September and October, followed by red flamboyants as the rains arrive
Wildlife next door zebra, giraffe and eland roam Mukuvisi Woodlands on the city's eastern side, and a small game park sits beside Lake Chivero, under an hour out
Granite and rock art bare granite domes and balancing rocks ring the city, and San paintings survive in rock shelters at Domboshava and Lake Chivero
Best time to visit
Mar-Nov
22-30° days
17.857° S, 31.060° E
UTC+2 · Africa/Harare
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Weather & when to go to Harare
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Mar-Nov
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Harare
No bad season in the weather record. December to February is the rainy season, with heavy afternoon thunderstorms and green, humid days, and the city carries on through it. April to August is dry and sunny with chilly nights in June and July, and September and October, the hottest months, are when the jacarandas flower.
Top things to do in Harare
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National Gallery of Zimbabwe - Shona sculpture and contemporary art
culture arts 👍 PopularOpened in 1957 beside Harare Gardens, the gallery is where the modern Shona stone sculpture movement took shape, and its collection and sculpture garden still show the best of it alongside changing exhibitions of Zimbabwean painting and craft. It makes the natural first stop before heading out to the sculpture parks.
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Chapungu Sculpture Park - stone carvers at work in Msasa
culture arts shopping ⭐ Highly recommendedA sculpture garden in the eastern suburb of Msasa where large stone pieces by Zimbabwe's leading carvers stand among lawns and trees, and resident artists work in the open. Watching a figure emerge from a block of serpentine explains the art form better than any gallery label, and most of the work is for sale.
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Mukuvisi Woodlands - zebra and giraffe on the city's edge
nature wildlife 👍 PopularA reserve of indigenous msasa woodland on the city's eastern side where zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and eland roam free. Guided walks and horse rides go out among the animals, and there are rescued animals and environmental displays near the entrance. It is the easiest wildlife outing in Harare and a good one for families.
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Mbare Musika - the city's great market
shopping culture artsThe market and bus terminus in Mbare, Harare's oldest township, is a sprawl of produce, secondhand clothing, herbalists' stalls and a craft section of baskets, carvings and soapstone. It is crowded and hectic: go in the morning, ideally with a local guide, and carry very little.
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National Heroes' Acre - the liberation war monument
historyOn a hill beside the Bulawayo road west of the city, the national monument to those who died in the liberation war: a tomb of the unknown soldier, an eternal flame and bronze friezes of the struggle, with wide views back over Harare. It is a state site, so check visiting arrangements before you go.
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Sadza, nyama and muriwo - eat Zimbabwean
foodZimbabwean meals centre on sadza, a stiff maize-meal porridge eaten by hand, served with nyama (stewed or grilled meat), muriwo greens cooked with tomato and onion, or matemba, small dried fish. Try dovi, a rich peanut-butter stew, and at a weekend braai expect meat grilled over coals with local lager or chibuku, the opaque sorghum beer.
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Mbira and live music - Harare's sound
nightlife music culture artsThe mbira, a thumb piano of metal keys on a wooden board, is the sound of Shona ceremony and the root of chimurenga, the guitar music Thomas Mapfumo made famous in the 1970s. Harare's bars and clubs host live bands most weekends, from mbira and sungura to jazz and Zimdancehall; ask locally who is playing.
Best areas to stay in Harare
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Avondale
First-time visitors $$Older northern suburb of cafes and guesthouses
Explore hotels in Avondale →
City centre
Business travellers $$Business district around Africa Unity Square
Explore hotels in City centre →
Borrowdale
Quiet, upmarket stays $$$Upmarket northern suburb of lodges and malls
Explore hotels in Borrowdale →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Harare
Getting to & around Harare
Getting there
Fly into Robert Gabriel Mugabe International (HRE), south-east of the city; coaches link Harare with Bulawayo, Mutare, Johannesburg and Lusaka
Flight
Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (HRE)
The airport lies about 15 km south-east of the centre; allow 20-30 minutes by taxi or hotel pickup, longer at rush hour.
Coach
Coaches run from Bulawayo (about 5-6 hr) and Mutare (about 4 hr), and cross-border coaches come overnight from Johannesburg via Beitbridge and from Lusaka via Chirundu; rural buses use the Mbare Musika terminus
Drive
Main roads run south-west to Bulawayo, south to Masvingo and the Beitbridge border, east to Mutare and the Eastern Highlands, and north to Kariba and the Chirundu border with Zambia; expect potholes and police roadblocks
Getting around
Kombi
Commuter minibuses run fixed routes from the city-centre ranks out to the suburbs, paid in cash to the conductor. Crowded and fast, and how most of the city moves
TBC
Taxi
Taxis wait at hotels and malls; agree the fare before you get in, or have your hotel call a driver it trusts. The easy way around after dark
TBC
Walking
Fine by day in the centre or within a suburb, but the city is spread out and pavements are patchy; take a taxi after dark
Free
Hire car
Useful for the day trips; drive on the left, and carry your licence and the car's papers for the frequent police roadblocks
TBC
Day trips from Harare
Domboshava
Half dayGranite dome and rock art
A great whaleback of bare granite north of the city, with San rock paintings in a shallow shelter near its foot and wide views over the Highveld from the top. Harare people climb it for the sunset; wear shoes with grip for the rock, and go with company.
Getting there
car
About 40 min north by car
Lake Chivero
Half dayLake and game park
A lake on the Manyame River, dammed in the early 1950s as the city's reservoir, with a small game park beside it where giraffe, zebra and antelope graze, and San paintings at Bushman's Point. Anglers and birders come for the water.
Getting there
car
About 40 min south-west by car
Ewanrigg Botanical Garden
Half dayAloe and cycad garden
A botanical garden on a hillside north-east of the city, known for its aloes and cycads. It is at its best in the dry winter months, when the aloes flower in reds and oranges across the slopes.
Getting there
car
About 45 min north-east by car
Epworth Balancing Rocks
Half dayGranite rock formations
Granite boulders stacked improbably on one another on the city's south-eastern edge, the best known of them once pictured on Zimbabwe's banknotes. The rocks sit inside the busy settlement of Epworth, so go with a driver or guide who knows the way in.
Getting there
car
About 30 min south-east by car
Chinhoyi Caves
Full dayLimestone caves, blue pool
Limestone caves and sinkholes around the Sleeping Pool, a flooded cavern of startling cobalt blue that divers explore to great depth, with steps down to the water's edge. The caves sit on the road to Lake Kariba, so they also make a natural stop on the way north.
Getting there
car
About 2 hr north-west by car on the Kariba road
Great Zimbabwe
2 daysMedieval stone city
The great stone enclosures that gave the country its name stand near Masvingo, too far for a day out but a classic overnight trip from the capital; plan at least one night nearby.
Getting there
car | bus
About 4-5 hr south by car or coach, via Masvingo
A little history of Harare
Harare takes its name from Neharawa, a Shona chief whose people lived around the granite kopje that still overlooks the city centre. In September 1890 the Pioneer Column of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company halted nearby, raised the Union Jack and founded Fort Salisbury, named after the British prime minister. Salisbury grew into the capital of Southern Rhodesia and, from 1953 to 1963, of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; its gridded centre and jacaranda-lined avenues date from that era.
In 1965 the white-minority government declared independence from Britain in Salisbury, and the liberation war that followed ended with independence on 18 April 1980, celebrated at Rufaro Stadium with Bob Marley on stage. Two years later the capital took the name Harare. It has since grown into a city of well over a million people and the centre of the country's government, business and arts.
The Pioneer Column of the British South Africa Company founds Fort Salisbury on 12 September
The spirit mediums Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi, leaders of the First Chimurenga uprising, are executed in Salisbury
Southern Rhodesia becomes a self-governing British colony with Salisbury as its capital
Salisbury becomes capital of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which lasts until 1963
The National Gallery opens beside the city gardens
Ian Smith's government issues the Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain
Independence on 18 April, celebrated at Rufaro Stadium with Bob Marley performing
Salisbury is renamed Harare on the second anniversary of independence
Harare hosts the All-Africa Games
Know before you go
Payment
Cash preferred
English
Everywhere
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type G
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+263
Mobile network & SIM card
Get an eSIM before you fly
A Zimbabwe eSIM installs in minutes and works the moment you switch off flight mode. No SIM swap, no roaming bill.
FAQs about Harare
▸ When is the best time to visit Harare?
March to November is the comfortable stretch. April to August is dry and sunny, with cool mornings and chilly nights in June and July, and September and October are the hottest months, when the jacarandas flower. The rains peak from December to February with heavy afternoon storms; the city carries on through them, and the countryside turns green.
▸ Is Harare safe?
Most visits are trouble-free with normal city care. Pickpocketing and bag snatching happen in the centre, at bus ranks and in busy markets, so carry little and take a taxi after dark. Don't photograph government buildings, State House, police or soldiers, and keep away from political gatherings and demonstrations. Check your own government's current advice before you travel.
▸ How many days do you need in Harare?
One or two days covers the National Gallery, a sculpture park, Mukuvisi Woodlands and a market, with a third for Domboshava or Lake Chivero. Many visitors use the city as a stopover on the way to Mana Pools, Lake Kariba, the Eastern Highlands or Victoria Falls.
▸ What language is spoken in Harare?
English is the language of business and is widely spoken in hotels, shops and offices. On the street the everyday language is Shona, with Ndebele also common among Zimbabwe's many official languages. Mhoro is hello, makadini is how are you, and ndatenda is thank you.
▸ What money do you use in Harare?
Zimbabwe uses the US dollar alongside its own currency, and the arrangement has changed several times since 2009, so check the current position before you travel. US dollars in small, clean notes are the practical thing to carry, since change is often short. Cards work in hotels, malls and larger restaurants but not reliably elsewhere.