As the only city in Uganda with an international airport, Entebbe is the main international gateway to the country. We found it to be a nice introduction with its leafy streets, friendly locals and beautiful location on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Victoria.
It’s certainly a much quieter first stop than the noisy capital Kampala would make. There are also a few worthwhile sights to check out, including the Wildlife Education Centre and a couple of historical monuments.
Our favourite place in town was probably the large Botanical Garden, which gave us a good overview of the nature we were to encounter on our trip through the country. Here are my recommendations on the best things to see and do in Entebbe.
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Guided Tours of Entebbe
If you’d like to explore the city in the company of a local guide, there are lots of tours of Entebbe available. For instance, this 3-hour walking tour has great reviews. You can have a look below for more options.
The Best Things to Do in Entebbe
Entebbe sits on a peninsula on Lake Victoria’s northern shore, and the lake itself felt like the most defining feature of the town to us. Much of it is surrounded by water and greenery, which made Entebbe feel a lot nicer and more relaxed than Kampala or some other cities that we visited in the country.
The location has also played an important role in the town’s history. During the colonial period, the British chose Entebbe as an administrative centre for the Protectorate of Uganda, and the town grew around this role. We still spotted some buildings from that time, like St. John’s church, the State House or the post office.
The main draw to us were the natural sights around town, however, like the Botanical Gardens and Wildlife Education Centre.
Where to Stay in Entebbe
Budget: Elementis Entebbe (Dormitory)
Midrange: Precious Guesthouse (pictured)
Luxury: Protea Hotel Marriott Entebbe
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National Botanical Gardens
We found the large grounds of Entebbe’s Botanical Gardens to be a great place to get a first glimpse of the Ugandan nature. We decided to take a guided tour, which is something we don’t do too often.
In this case, it certainly made our visit much more interesting, as we learned a fair bit about tropical plants and their historical and current use. We also spotted lots of hyperactive vervet monkeys and a few more relaxed black-and-white colobus monkeys, as well as tons of birds.
Apart from that, we saw some insanely big termite hills and huge amounts of golden orb spiders, which wove gigantic webs between the trees (shudder) and gave me gooesbumps. In the central part of the garden is a grove of tall trees, which was used as a filming location for several Tarzan movies starring Johnny Weissmüller in the 1940s.
When we visited, the gardens were open daily from 9am to 7pm. The entrance fee is 20,000 shillings for foreigners (5,000 for Ugandan nationals) plus another 10,000 for the guide, should you decide to take one.
Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC)
The UWEC may look like a zoo on the surface, but it’s actually a conservation and wildlife rescue centre, which takes care of injured and orphaned animals.
The people working there try to raise awareness about the issue through exhibits and educational programmes. They’re also involved in different conservation efforts, including breeding and reintroduction programs for endangered species.
On the grounds, we saw plenty of animals that were rescued from poachers or illegal captivity, including lions, giraffe, chimps, rhinos, zebras and crocodiles.
We found it to be a good place to drop by at the end of our trip through the country, to see some animals we had missed in the wild (like the elusive Shoebill birds that we tried and failed to see at Murchison Falls National Park).
The centre is open daily from 08:30am to 6.30pm (double-check the current times here). The entrance fee is 50,000 shillings for foreigners and 20,000 shillings for Ugandan residents.
Zika Forest
This small forest reserve, whose name translates to “overgrown forest”, sits along the road to Kampala. It’s a good destination if you’re into bird-watching. For instance, while we were here, we spotted a couple of crowned hornbills even without actively looking.
There are some small paths through the jungle to explore, and a metal observation tower that you can climb for some nice views of the forest canopy and towards Lake Victoria. You have to be okay with climbing a tall ladder, however, as there are no stairs.
You definitely have to bring some good insect repellent, as there were tons of mosquitoes there when we visited. As a matter of fact, the reserve has been used for mosquito studies for decades and the infamous Zika Virus is named after the forest.
To get there, you can take a matatu (shared taxi) headed for Kampala and tell them that you want to be dropped at the highway near the forest. There’s no entrance fee.
Hanging out at Lake Victoria
For us, Entebbe’s location near Lake Victoria was one of its nicest features and there are lots of opportunities to hang out on the shores of Africa’s largest lake, including in the Botanical Gardens and at the Wildlife Education Centre.
There are also some small beaches to the south of the airport (Aero Beach), to the north of the Botanical Gardens (Freedom Beach) and along the highway to Kampala (Ssesse Gateway Beach). That said, I would advise against swimming in the lake, as it’s a notorious bilharzia hotspot.
Still, we found the beaches to be nice places to kick back with a Nile Special Beer or just enjoy the views and atmosphere.
Exploring the Small Historical Centre
It may not hold many must-see sights, but if you have an hour or so to kill, there are some modest destinations for a stroll in Entebbe’s small centre. One of these would be the regal-looking Entebbe State House along Nakiwogo Close.
Apart from that, we also found the small St. John’s Parish Church slightly to the south and the Military Monument a little to the east of that at the intersection of the Airport Road and the Kampala Road worth checking out.
Map of Entebbe
You can find all of the places that I described above in this map of Entebbe and its surroundings.
Practicalities
How to Get to Entebbe
The city has regular matatu (shared taxi) connections to Kampala, Uganda’s capital, where you can connect to buses and matatus heading to cities and towns all over the country.
Matatus start from Entebbe’s taxi park in the back of the 7 Seasons Hotel on Kiwafu Road, or you can just wave them down along the highway. The trip to Kampala takes about an hour and should cost about 5,000 shillings.
Entebbe is also home to Uganda’s only international airport, which has direct connections to plenty of cities in Eastern and Central Africa, as well as to some destinations in the Middle East and to Brussels and Amsterdam.
Finally, there are daily ferries going to Bugala Island, the biggest of the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria, from Nakiwogo Port to the north-west of the centre.
The Best Hotels and Hostels in Entebbe
Entebbe has plenty of hotels and guesthouses for different budgets.
We stayed in the dormitory at Elementis Entebbe on the shores of Lake Victoria, which is a great budget option. Precious Guesthouse has well-rated midrange rooms in a pretty spot near the Botanical Gardens.
If you’re after a bit of luxury, the Protea Hotel Marriott Entebbe near the airport would be the top choice. You can have a look at the map below for some more options.