Places to Visit in Africa: From Mara Plains to Desert Cities

Africa is a continent of contrasts, with vast savannahs, green wetlands, ancient cities, mountain landscapes, tropical forests and long stretches of coastline. Each region has a distinct character, from the wildlife-rich plains of Kenya and Botswana to the highlands of Lesotho and the cultural heritage of North Africa. For travellers planning a journey here, choosing among the many places to visit in Africa can feel overwhelming.

This guide features eight destinations in seven countries, each offering something special, from its wildlife, nature, and history to its culture and city life. From the Masai Mara and the Okavango Delta to Cape Town, Algeria, Rubondo Island National Park, Lesotho, and Eswatini, you'll find many ways to experience Africa.

Why Do the Places to Visit in Africa Cover More Ground Than Most Expect?

Africa is home to the world's largest hot desert, the second-biggest freshwater lake, the largest animal migration, and over 100 UNESCO World Heritage Sites spread across five regions. The places to visit in Africa reflect all of this.

If you look beyond the usual safari spots, you'll find some of the most rewarding places to visit in Africa. This guide includes a thousand-year-old mountain kingdom, a North African country with impressive Roman ruins but few tourists, and a lakeside island park with just one camp and no roads.

Which Are the Top Places to Visit in Africa?

The eight destinations below span East, Southern, Central, and North Africa. Each one is special enough to plan an entire trip around.

1. Masai Mara, Kenya

Masai Mara, Kenya, is the northern endpoint of the Great Wildebeest Migration and one of the most watched wildlife spectacles on earth.

• Between July and October, over 1.5 million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebra move north from Tanzania's Serengeti into Kenya's Mara; the Mara River crossings, where herds attempt to ford the river while crocodiles wait, are the defining moment
• Big Five sightings (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, buffalo) are consistent year-round; Masai Mara Kenya is particularly strong for lion and cheetah sightings relative to other East African reserves
• Access: Charter flight from Nairobi's Wilson Airport takes approximately 45 minutes; most premium camps sit directly inside or adjacent to the reserve, making Masai Mara one of the best-accessed places to visit in Africa; avoid the tarred Narok road in peak season due to traffic

2. Okavango Delta, Botswana

Okavango Delta is one of the most distinctive places to visit in Africa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's largest inland river deltas, covering approximately 15,000 sq km during peak flood season between June and August.

• Botswana applies a high-value, low-volume conservation model across the delta; total visitor numbers are deliberately kept low, which keeps the experience quiet and the wildlife encounters unhurried
• Wildlife: The Okavango Delta holds one of Africa's largest elephant populations (Botswana is home to the world's largest national elephant population); mokoro canoe safaris allow close water-level access to animals coming to drink
• The peak flood from Angola's highlands arrives in Botswana from June; this is when wildlife concentrates most predictably on the raised islands surrounded by water

3. Rubondo Island National Park, Tanzania

Rubondo Island National Park is one of the most remote and least-visited island national parks on the continent, sitting in the southwestern section of Lake Victoria; the island covers approximately 456 sq km and over 90% is forested equatorial woodland.

• Wildlife: Chimpanzees (reintroduced in the 1960s and now habituated), elephants, hippos, crocodiles, sitatunga antelope, and over 300 bird species; the island also holds African fish eagles, pied kingfishers in large flocks, and open-billed storks along the shore
• Rubondo Island National Park is one of the least-visited national parks on the continent; the only accommodation inside the park is Rubondo Island Camp (8 lakeside cottages, operated by Asilia Africa); no other camps, lodges, or guesthouses operate within the park boundary
• Access: Charter flight from Mwanza to a landing strip inside the park (approximately 30 minutes), or a combination of road from Mwanza to Nkome (4 hours) then a boat across the lake; advance arrangement through Asilia Africa is essential

4. Cape Town and the Western Cape, South Africa

Cape Town is among the most visited of all places to visit in South Africa and sits between Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean; the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway reaches the 1,086-metre summit in approximately 5 minutes.

• The Cape Winelands are 45 minutes from the city: Stellenbosch (university town with oak-lined streets and 300+ years of wine history) and Franschhoek (a village in a valley originally settled by French Huguenots in 1688)
• Boulders Beach at Simons Town has a resident African penguin colony; Cape Point marks the southwestern tip of the African continent and sits within the Table Mountain National Park
• Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years in custody, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and reached by a 30-minute ferry from the V&A Waterfront

These places to visit in South Africa can be covered across 5 to 7 days from a single Cape Town base.

5. Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park is the largest national park in South Africa at 19,485 sq km and stretches along the Mozambique border in the northeast of the country.

• Big Five density in Kruger is among the highest on the continent; the southern section of the park is most reliable for rhino and leopard; the central and northern sections have lower visitor numbers and are better for wild dog sightings
• Kruger is one of the few places to visit in South Africa where self-drive safari is genuinely practical; the park has tarred and gravel roads throughout, SANParks rest camps at intervals, and online booking through sanparks.org
• The Sabi Sands Game Reserve borders Kruger's western fence without a physical barrier between them; cheetah, wild dog, and leopard sightings are more consistent here than in most of the open reserve

6. Algeria

Algeria is the largest country in Africa by land area and holds one of the continent's most significant and least-visited concentrations of UNESCO heritage sites.

• Northern coast: The Casbah of Algiers (a historic medina and UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1992, containing remnants of the citadel, Ottoman-era palaces, and ancient mosques), the Roman ruins of Djémila (UNESCO 1982), and the Roman city of Timgad (UNESCO 1982) are all within a day's drive of each other
• Southern Algeria: Tassili n'Ajjer National Park holds thousands of prehistoric rock paintings and engravings spanning from approximately 10,000 BCE to the first centuries CE; the dune landscape of the Erg Chebbi and the Hoggar mountains add physical variety to the Saharan itinerary
• Tourism infrastructure in Algeria is less developed than in Morocco or Egypt; visitor numbers are very low by North African standards, which makes it one of the best places to visit in Africa for those who want significant sites without crowds

7. Lesotho

Lesotho is a landlocked mountain kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa and the only country in the world where all land sits above 1,000 metres; it is known locally and internationally as the "Kingdom in the Sky", making it one of the most unusual places to visit in Africa for those drawn to highland landscapes.

• Maletsunyane Falls in the Semonkong district drops 192 metres in a single cascade; it is one of the highest single-drop waterfalls in southern Africa and the centrepiece of the Semonkong area
• Multi-day pony trekking through remote highland villages is the most authentic way to experience the Lesotho highlands; routes from Semonkong Lodge and Malealea Lodge cross mountain passes, river fords, and connect to villages otherwise unreachable by road
• Access: by road from Johannesburg in approximately 4 to 5 hours through the Maseru Bridge border crossing; by small aircraft to Moshoeshoe I International Airport outside Maseru

8. Swaziland (Eswatini)

Swaziland is one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchies and the smallest landlocked country in Africa; officially renamed Eswatini in 2018, the older name Swaziland remains the commonly searched version internationally.

• Hlane Royal National Park in the northeast holds lions and white rhinos; Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary near Mbabane is a malaria-free reserve where hippos and zebra can be observed on foot and horseback
• The Incwala ceremony (December to January) and Reed Dance (August to September) are Swaziland's two most significant royal events; both are public, attended by thousands of Swazi people, and open to international visitors with appropriate advance information from the Swaziland Tourism Authority
• Access: By road from Johannesburg in approximately 4 hours via the Oshoek border crossing; from Kruger National Park, the Jeppe's Reef crossing is approximately 3 hours, making Swaziland one of the most accessible places to visit in Africa for travellers already planning a southern circuit

How Can You Plan Your Africa Visit?

Good planning can really improve your experience at the places to visit in Africa featured in this guide.

What Can You Do Near These Destinations?

Most of the places to visit in Africa in this guide are close to other interesting stops, making it easy to create a fuller holiday.

You can easily combine Masai Mara with a visit to Nairobi, where the Giraffe Centre and Karen Blixen Museum are great half-day trips. Rubondo Island National Park works well as an add-on to the Serengeti by charter flight. Lesotho and Swaziland are both a day's drive from Kruger, so you can see all three in a 10 to 14-day getaway.

Final Takeaway

Picking the places to visit in Africa really depends on what kind of experience you want from your holiday.

If you want to focus on wildlife, the Maasai Mara and Okavango Delta are great choices. Cape Town mixes city life, coastline, and culture. Algeria is full of history, while Lesotho and Eswatini show a different side of Southern Africa with their mountains, traditions, and wildlife. Rubondo Island National Park offers a peaceful spot on Lake Victoria. With good planning, you can combine several of these places into one well-paced getaway.

If you need help planning your next holiday to Africa, Holiday Tribe’s travel advisors can help you create a trip that matches your interests.