Butare Flights:
Flights to Butare
In southern Rwanda, Butare is the largest city in the region, though it has less than 100,000 residents. There are not a lot of major tourist attractions here, but you can explore the city of Butare easily by foot or taxi.
The local Butare Airport (airport code: BTQ) doesn’t serve any commercial flights to Butare but the larger Kigali International Airport (code: KGL) is only 80km away and does offer some flight options. From South Africa you can either fly with Kenya Airways or Ethiopian Airlines. The first will have transfers in Nairobi and Bujumbura, and the second goes another way through Maputo and Addis Ababa. Flights to Butare range from 17 to over 30 hours depending on which option you take.
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The Tourist Attractions of Butare:
National Museum of Rwanda
You can learn a lot about the culture and history of Rwanda at the National Museum, and this is the main one for the country. There are many excellent exhibits that illustrate the history, geography, architecture and artwork from both pre- and post-colonial times in Rwanda. It’s one of Butare’s top tourist attractions.
Butare Cathedral
Butare cathedral is an impressive brick construction with one stout bell tower and a red tiled roof. Being the largest church in Rwanda it is well known.
Nyungwe Forest National Park
If you are in Rwanda to see monkeys, this is the park you must visit. More than a dozen species of monkeys and primates live in the park, including chimpanzees and baboons. There are also several hundred species of birds to be seen as well. The park is heavily forested, and so is most of the drive to get there. It is about 40km to the west of Butare and there is a main road for the route. If you stop at the tourist centre, you can get directions for the many trails through the park or hire a guide to take you around. If you are looking for monkeys, you will have a little tougher of a walk to get to their habitat but the hike is worth it. There is some accommodation and camping facilities within the park if you wish to stay overnight.
Volcanoes National Park
Rwanda is famous for its gorillas but there are no populations of them near Butare. To see these impressive primates, you will have to head north across Rwanda to the Volcanoes National Park. It’s about 150km, so expect to be travelling for several hours to get there. There are many trails to explore and specialized gorilla tours that will take you to the areas where the gorillas live. They are fairly used to tourists and you will be able to see them up close.
When Should You Visit?:
The weather in Butare is wonderfully consistent and it will be warm (but not too hot) all through the year. It will be 19C (66F) for most months with only a few exceptions. It will go up by about a degree in August and September and drop by another degree in July and November. Rainfall is not heavy in Butare and should not impact your plans at any time.