How To Get To Burundi, Best Travel Guide By Air & Road (Bus)

Quite several tourists come to Burundi to see the unique tourist attractions and the culture that the nation has to offer. If you are a tourist interested in coming to Burundi the first thing that will cross your mind is wanting to know how to Get to Burundi and here are different means that are often used.

There are different ways of getting to Burundi that is by road and Air, the most popular and commonly used means of reaching Burundi is using road transport.

How To Get To Burundi

How to get to Burundi by Road

Located in the pivot of East Africa, Burundi could be a small portable nation by African standards but she has a lot to offer to the resourceful and imaginative tourists. Wealthy in culture and tradition, the country is known for being hospitable, and in the last few years, Burundi has unlocked herself to the globe. Burundi eliminated many travel restrictions on her borders and just they recently put in place an opportune visa-on-arrival procedure.

Using highly customized private vehicles of different categories including extended 4*4-wheel safari vehicles, Jeeps, Land cruisers Rav 4 vehicles, and saloon vehicles.

Also, by road, you can opt to use the public bus services as some other way of getting to Burundi.

In this essay, the author wishes to catalog how and where a traveler can gain access to the country traveling by road from the three adjacent countries namely; Tanzania. Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Crossing from Rwanda to Burundi by road

Rwanda is the only country with the finest entry to Burundi.

Although Rwanda has three border crossings with Burundi, the crossing at Kanyaru in the south-central part of the country is doubtlessly the most suitable for tourists forthcoming from Kigali.

Bugasera and Rukana are the other two border crossings even though they are not well served by transport links and you will doubtlessly depend on only private transport. For travelers who come in from Bukavu through Rwanda or the Nyungwe Forest National Park organizing private transport from there to Rukana and then from Rukana to Bujumbura is the most advantageous way of getting to Bujumbura.

Crossing from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Burundi by road

Democratic Republic of Congo has one direct border crossing with Burundi at Gatumba. Gatumba is the closest land border to Bujumbura and from the border to Bujumbura, takes less than an hour.

This is also the most convenient route/ border crossing for travelers who intend to visit Kahuzi Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo but don’t want to travel through Rwanda and Burundi. This is also an exceptional connecting point from the Bukavu town. 

If you are coming from Bukavu, the quickest way to reach Bujumbura is through Rwanda. Nevertheless, the highway from Bukavu to Gatumba is the most affordable for tourists in need of visas to cross Rwanda.

Unluckily, this route has one of the worst roads and rumors say that it is not recommended to travel by road in terms of security. Nonetheless, with the proper safety measures, it should not be a difficulty.

Crossing from Tanzania to Burundi by road

Tanzania has two main crossing borders with Burundi. The Manyovu border just north of Tanzanian is the one I highly recommend. Kigoma possesses a vital airport and is otherwise well-served by transport links.

Onward transport to Bujumbura by bus from the border town of Mabanda takes approximately 4 hours.

For the other crossing at Kobero in the east, tourists must first reach Kananga in Tanzania. Transferring from the border to Bujumbura would then be via bus from Muyinga near Muyinga near the border and it takes approximately 4 hours.