How to Visit Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe

Victoria Falls, one of the world’s most awe-inspiring natural wonders, straddles the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. You can easily experience the majesty of this iconic waterfall from both sides in a single day. Pack your (waterproof) walking shoes and prepare for a day of adventure with this guide on How to Visit Victoria Falls from both the Zambia and Zimbabwe sides

A note: As we stayed in Zambia and visited Zimbabwe for the day, the guide starts in Zambia. Check things to do in Livingstone to spend a day there and then end with the falls on the Zimbabwean side.

Both of the entrances to Victoria Falls are right next to their respective border crossings, making it very easy to visit both sides back to back.

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Mosi-oa-Tunya

Naming the Falls

Victoria Falls has a local name in the Tonga language: “Mosi-oa-Tunya.” This name translates to “The Smoke that Thunders,” describing the powerful and thunderous sound made by the waterfall and the mist that rises from it.

The falls were named “Victoria Falls” by the Scottish explorer David Livingstone in 1855, in honor of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, to commemorate her reign and the era of British colonialism in Africa. Livingstone was the first European explorer to see and document the waterfall.

Some Facts about the Waterfall

The Zambezi River flows along a relatively flat plateau before reaching a series of gorges that form Victoria Falls. As the river approaches the falls, it encounters a narrow chasm and plummets over the edge, creating the magnificent waterfall.

Views from the Zimbabwe side of the falls

Victoria Falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the world, boasting a width of about 1,708 meters (5,604 feet) and a height of approximately 108 meters (354 feet). The sheer size of the falls creates an impressive sight!

Low and High Season

The flow of water over Victoria Falls varies throughout the year, depending on the seasonal rainfall. During the rainy season, from November to March, the Zambezi River begins to swell. At the end of the rainy season the water levels in the river are at their highest and the months of March to May, are known as the “high-water season”. During this time, the falls are at their most powerful and spectacular, with immense volumes of water rushing over the edge. This is when we visited!

View from the Zambian side of the falls

Towards the second half of the dry season, from around September to December, the Zambezi River’s flow reduces, and the falls experience lower water levels. This period, known as the “low-water season,” allows for a different perspective of the falls, revealing the rocky formations and underlying geology that is concealed during the high-water season. This is when people swim in the Devil’s and Angel’s pools and get incredible pictures of themselves hanging over the edge of the waterfall (not for me tho, I’m too scared for that.…)

What to Wear at Victoria Falls

If you visit Vicotir Falls during the high water season, no matter how hard you try, you will get wet. Accept this fact now and pack accordingly.

I suggest wearing a swimsuit or some other type of quick-drying clothing. I wore my swimsuit all day long, and I paired it with quick-drying leggings and a rain jacket. My rain jacket is highly durable, but it has never been as defeated as it was at Victoria Falls. It still helped me avoid getting totally soaked through, though.

You should also wear sandals. I wore waterproof sandals that were perfect for all-day wear. My husband, Wilhelm, wore hiking shoes that were supposed to be able to withstand six hours of rain, but they clearly weren’t. Bring sandals just in case. The path is steady and would also be fine to do in flip-flops, as long as you walk carefully.

If you’re bringing a backpack, make sure it has a rain cover and put your valuables (cell phone and passport!) into a dry bag. We used a tiny drawstring bag and put all of our things into dry bags. This may not be necessary for you, but we put our extra clothes into dry bags just to be sure, and it worked like a charm.

For many pictures, I used my gopro becuase my phone would have gotten destroyed.

Crossing the Borders

I suggest an early day so that you can pack in as much as possible on the Zimbabwe side of the border.

After breakfast at our hotel, Jollyboys, our taxi (which we arranged the night before from the hotel), picked us up at 7am to take us to the Zambia border post. The cost to get to Victoria Falls from a hotel in Livingstone will cost around ZMW 120.

We took a nice 20-minute walk between the Zambian and Zimbabwean border posts, crossing the gorgeous no-mans-land bridge between the two countries. Here, you can go bungee jumping!

We witnessed a literal 360-degree rainbow while we were crossing the bridge. It was incredible. I’ve never seen so many rainbows in my life than during our Victoria Falls day trip.

The bridge can only take one car at a time, but pedestrians can walk across easily.

The rainbow was impossible to catch on my phone but this is the best angle I could get.

Crossing the border into Zimbabwe

To visit both sides of Victoria Falls in a day, you’ll need to navigate the border crossings between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Right before you enter the Zimbabwe border control area, you’ll see the train that operates a dinner service in no-mans-land. The train needs a minimum of 30 people to operate for dinner. If you’re interested, I suggest you get in contact before you pay for the service as I saw some reviews that mention customers were not refunded even when the ride was cancelled. Be wary! There seem to be several tour companies offering the service but it’s all on a single train. The train runs from Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) on a Tuesday and Friday, and from Livingstone (Zambia) on a Wednesday and Saturday.

Ensure you have a valid passport with at least 3 blank passport pages and any documents you need for a visa into Zimbabwe or Zambia. As a US passport holder, I needed to pay a USD 30 fee to get a visa (which took up a whole page in my passport!) to enter Zimbabwe. I paid in cash, but it looked like there was a card machine available as well.

Zimbabwe: Victoria Falls

The entrance to the Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwean side is about 500 meters after the border control, on your right. We entered the park at 8:30am and stayed until 10:15am, walking through all the viewpoints and stopping to read the informative posters at the entrance. You can extend your stay by stopping for coffee at the restaurant.

Costs and hours

• Summer (1st September to 30th April) – Opens 06h00 and Closes 18h00
• Winter (1st May to 31st August) – Opens 06h30 and Closes 18h00
• International visitors: USD 50
• Southern African Development Community (SADC) region visitors USD 30.
• Card machine on site

If you want to buy some slippers or a rain poncho, check out the market across from the entrance of the falls.

Viewpoints

The Zimbabwean side of Victoria Falls encompasses 75% of the viewing available. There are 16 different viewpoints that span the waterfall.

I had two favorite lookout points. The first was Danger Points, where you’ll get totally soaked.

The second was the spot by the no-mans-land bridge. Although you don’t really see the falls from here, the bridge is a lovely sight.

Be sure to look out for the cheeky monkeys!

There is a statue of David Livingstone at one end of the park.

There are some great informative posters as well as a cafe at the entrance of the park.

A Couple of hours in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

The touristy town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe is about a 15-minute walk from the falls. There is a sidewalk that will take you directly into town, or you can hop into one of the many taxis. Check out our stops below to decide what you want to do while you’re here.

Lookout Cafe

The Lookout Café, a few minutes out of town, is an excellent place to stop for an early drink or coffee over the Zambezi River and the gorge.

I’m sure the cafe gets popular as there were already several reserved signs on the tables when we reached at 10:30am.

We saw several people zipline around the area as well.

Lunch at River Brewing

Next, we walked 20 minutes to The River Brewing Company for lunch. The veg tacos were great and the service was fast. You can fill up your water bottles inside the restaurant too. I got a flight of beer to try. Instead of eating in town, you could also eat at the Victoria Falls Hotel for its famous tea service. We did this later on in the day but we were still full from our lunch to be able to finish all the scones and treats!

Shopping

After lunch, we visited the nearby Elephant’s Walk Shopping & Artist’s Village. This center also has some restaurants for lunch.

There are craft items available from throughout Zimbabwe (and even some South African brands). The most unique item to purchase in my opinion would be a small carving made out of butter jade. I didn’t get great pictures, but this stone is unique to Zimbabwe and we weren’t able to find it in Zambia at the craft market. I wish I got something small at the outdoor sculpture area but we didn’t want to carry around a stone all day so we left it.

There are several other small touristy shops along Mosi-oa-Tunya Road. Wander in and out as you please.

Victoria Falls Hotel

Afterward, visit Victoria Falls Hotel for teatime! The hotel was built in 1904 and is one of the oldest hotels in Africa with a prime location overlooking Zambezi River and the no-mans-land bridge. The hotel has been featured in many movies and TV shows, including “The African Queen” and “The Constant Gardener,” As well as played host to many famous guests over the years, including Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, and Princess Diana.

We were obviously dressed for a day of activity and not fancy evening wear… One of the hotel staff joked with us that there is a 1000 USD entry fee and that it’s meant for exclusive customers. I said we were paying for our tea experience (which is USD 30). I was a little taken aback but the staff said he was joking. Eh… Anyway, there is no entry fee.

Check out the cute (and wild) warthogs on the grass. From the hotel, you’ll have a wonderful view of the bridge connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Whether you eat here or not, the view is worth a look.

Other things to do in Victoria Falls

• Go on a helicopter ride over the falls. I wish we had time for this. It looks incredible. You can also be picked up from the Zambian border at no extra charge.
• Take a dinner cruise on the Zambezi River

Zambia: Victoria Falls

After teatime, we walked back across to Zambia, passing the border control on the way.

The number of rainbows were incredible as we walked back across. We even saw some elephants!

Costs and hours

• Summer (1st September to 30th April) – Opens 06h00 and Closes 18h00
• Winter (1st May to 31st August) – Opens 06h30 and Closes 18h00
• International visitors: USD 20
• Card machine on site

We spent just about an hour and a half on the Zambian side of the falls. As only 30% of the falls are visible from here, it was enough time to see everything. The ticketing agent said we could either get out by ourselves, or be chased out at 18.30 when the park closes. Honestly, I liked this side more than the Zimbabwean side. Although the Zimbabwe side of the falls allowed a greater viewing, the Zambian side allows you to get much closer the falls.

The Knife’s Edge bridge is a spectacular feature that I loved walking across. We were totally soaked and I got the best pics. I was so happy with this experience.

We watched the sunset over the top of Victoria Falls, which was fantastic. This experience is why I recommend you visit the Zimbabwean side first and get the Zambian side for sunset.

That said, because we arrived at the park in the late afternoon, we were not able to do the famed boiling point walk down to the waterfall sprays. However, the sprays we got from from Knife’s Edge were as soaked as we wanted to get. Boiling Point closes at 4pm.

There are souvenir shops with ponchos and others at the entrance of the park.

At the end of the day, we called the same taxi that dropped us off in the morning to come pick us up.

Lunar Rainbow

Although I hadn’t heard of this before, there are lunar rainbow viewings of Victoria Falls. This sounds amazing. The cost is USD 25 per person. We just missed this by a couple of days. Although the information I saw about the viewing was at the entrance of the Zambian side of Victoria Falls on a poster, this site seems to have the dates. You can also ask this travel company about the dates and pre-booking.