Gaborone did not exist in 1964. When Botswana became independent in 1966 it needed a capital, the old administrative centre was Mafikeng in South Africa, and the government chose a village site on the Notwane river and built a city from nothing in three years. That is the single most useful thing to know about it: Gaborone is a planned, modern, functional capital of a country that was among the poorest in the world at independence and is now one of the more prosperous in Africa, and almost nothing in it is old.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Roman Trail earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
An honest post has to say what follows from that. Gaborone is not a sightseeing destination. It has no old town, no great monuments to speak of, and the attractions a guidebook lists are a shopping mall, a hill and a small game reserve. What it has instead is the experience of a working African capital that works: clean, orderly, unhurried, with good food and the easiest introduction to Botswana there is.
And we should be straight about the photographs on this page. The imagery we can attribute to Gaborone is a giraffe in the city game reserve, skateboarders on a street and street food cooking over a fire. There is no frame of the Three Dikgosi Monument, no city centre, no parliament and no skyline. Those things exist and are worth seeing; we cannot illustrate them, and we would rather tell you so than show you a photograph of somewhere else.
We receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
What Is Here
The Gaborone Game Reserve is the thing most visitors are surprised by: a small reserve inside the city, walkable and drivable, with wildebeest, impala, zebra, warthog, ostrich and the giraffe in the photograph at the top of this page. It is not the Okavango and it is a genuinely good couple of hours, and there are few capitals where you can do this between meetings.
Mokolodi Nature Reserve, fifteen kilometres south, is the bigger version with rhino, giraffe and a walking-with-cheetahs programme, and is the usual half day out of the city.
Kgale Hill, the city's landmark, is a steep hour-and-a-bit climb to a view over Gaborone and the dam, and is what residents do at the weekend. The Three Dikgosi Monument commemorates the three chiefs who travelled to London in 1895 to resist the territory being handed to Rhodesia, which is the founding story of the country and is worth knowing before you look at it. The National Museum and Art Gallery is small and good on Tswana material culture.
The Main Mall is the original pedestrian spine with craft stalls and the Botswana Craft shop; Riverwalk and Game City are the modern malls where the city actually shops. And the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency association brings a steady trickle of visitors looking for Mma Ramotswe's Gaborone, which is a real place rendered affectionately and accurately by Alexander McCall Smith, and the city is relaxed about it.
When to Go
Gaborone is semi-arid and the seasons are sharp. April to August is the dry winter and the best time: twenty to twenty-five degrees in the day, clear and dusty, and genuinely cold at night, down to two or three degrees in June and July with occasional frost. Almost nobody packs for that.
September to November is hot and dry before the rains, reaching the high thirties and sometimes forty, which is punishing. The rainy season runs November to March, bringing dramatic afternoon thunderstorms, flash flooding on roads, and green landscape. The FCDO notes road conditions throughout the country may be unsafe in the rains.
For a city visit the winter months are the obvious answer. If Chobe or the Okavango are part of the same trip, the dry season suits both.
Getting There and Getting Around
Sir Seretse Khama International Airport is fifteen kilometres north of the city with flights from Johannesburg, Cape Town, Harare, Nairobi and Addis. Johannesburg is the usual connection and is under an hour. By road the South African border at Tlokweng is twenty minutes away and Johannesburg is about five hours.
Gaborone is a driving city and that is the practical difficulty for a visitor. It was planned around cars, the distances between districts are real, and there is no metro. Combis, the shared minibuses, run fixed routes cheaply and are how most residents move; they are crowded and perfectly usable in daylight. Taxis exist but are not hailed on the street in the way visitors expect, so the practical answer is to book through your hotel or use a ride-hailing app, which operates here. Walking works within the Main Mall and the government enclave and poorly elsewhere.
Is Gaborone Safe for Women Travelers
UK FCDO: Botswana carries NO ADVISED-AGAINST AREAS ANYWHERE. The phrase does not appear on the landing page, the safety and security page or the regional risks page, and the advisory records that although there is no recent history of terrorism in Botswana, attacks cannot be ruled out, which is the standard formulation for a country with no specific threat. So nothing here is restricted and the whole of the advisory's content is crime, wildlife and roads.
The FCDO names Gaborone and Maun in its crime section and the Chobe lodges specifically. It records that ATTACKS ON TOURISTS ARE RARE but that VIOLENT CRIME IS INCREASING PARTICULARLY IN THE MAJOR TOWNS OF GABORONE, FRANCISTOWN AND MAUN, with hold-ups and robberies of restaurants during peak hours. House burglaries by armed gangs are common and do not often target tourists, but the advisory adds that THERE HAVE BEEN ISOLATED ROOM BREAK-INS AND THEFT FROM LODGES IN THE CHOBE AREA, PARTICULARLY RIVER-FRONTING LODGES. Its countermeasures are ordinary and worth following: lock your room at all times, use the safe, keep handbags and phones out of sight in a car, keep doors locked and windows closed at traffic lights, and do not stop for people at the roadside.
That paragraph names this city first and it is the operative content of this post. The FCDO records that attacks on tourists are rare but that violent crime is increasing particularly in Gaborone, Francistown and Maun, with hold-ups and robberies of restaurants during peak hours, and that house burglaries by armed gangs are common. Its countermeasures are specific and worth following exactly: keep doors locked and windows closed at traffic lights, keep handbags, phones and laptops out of sight, do not carry luggage visibly in a vehicle, do not stop for people at the roadside, and lock your room.
In practice that means the car is where the risk is concentrated in Gaborone rather than the pavement, which inverts the usual city advice. Ride-hailing or a hotel car with the doors locked is the right default, and the Main Mall in daylight is unremarkable.
The FCDO's statement here is blunt and short: BOTSWANA HAS A HIGH NUMBER OF SEXUAL ASSAULTS. It adds that while FOREIGN VISITORS ARE UNLIKELY TO BE TARGETED, WOMEN SHOULD TAKE CARE WHEN WALKING AND AVOID WALKING ALONE AT NIGHT. That is a national figure rather than a named pattern, so there is no location to plan around and no specific scenario to avoid, which makes it harder to act on than Turkey's hotel-and-spa finding or the Philippines' named towns. The honest reading is that the general rules carry the whole weight here: a lodge or hotel transfer rather than a walk after dark, a room locked when you are in it, and a trip arranged through an operator rather than improvised, which on a safari itinerary is the normal arrangement anyway.
Botswana has a high number of sexual assaults, which is how the FCDO puts it, adding that foreign visitors are unlikely to be targeted and that women should take care when walking and avoid walking alone at night. In a city with long distances, poor pavements and few people on foot after dark, the second half of that is easy to follow: do not walk at night here, which is also what residents do. Book transport.
Two FCDO instructions about animals that visitors routinely break. First: ON OPEN HIGHWAYS, INSIDE OR OUTSIDE WILDLIFE RESERVES, THERE COULD BE DANGEROUS ANIMALS ROAMING THAT MAY BEHAVE UNPREDICTABLY, so the reserve fence is not the boundary of the risk and an elephant on a tarmac road at dusk is a normal event here. Second, and stated without qualification: DO NOT BATHE IN RIVERS AND LAKES, because YOU COULD BE ATTACKED BY WILD ANIMALS AND YOU RISK CATCHING WATER-BORNE DISEASES. That covers the Chobe and the Okavango channels, which look exactly like swimming water and hold hippos and crocodiles; hippos kill more people in Africa than crocodiles do. Always follow park regulations and the advice of park wardens, and note that it is illegal to buy, sell, kill or capture any protected wild animal or trade its parts, with severe sentences.
That matters even in the capital, because the game reserve is inside the city and Mokolodi is fifteen minutes out. Follow the reserve rules, do not get out of the vehicle where the signs say not to, and treat the walking trails as the reserve staff instruct.
The roads are the statistical risk and the hazard is livestock and wildlife rather than traffic. The FCDO records good tarmac covering most of the country but says driving outside the major urban areas CAN BE DANGEROUS DUE TO STRAY WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK, A PARTICULAR RISK AT NIGHT, and that speeding and drink-driving cause frequent and often fatal accidents. For remote travel it tells you to arrange transport and accommodation in advance, carry emergency supplies INCLUDING WATER AND FUEL, prepare for off-road conditions, and in very remote areas to TRAVEL IN CONVOY OR WITH A SATELLITE PHONE. The rainy season from November to March brings heavy rain and flash flooding that can make roads unsafe. Driving after dark between towns is the single thing to refuse.
Two more. Dry heat dehydrates without sweating visibly, which is how visitors get into trouble on Kgale Hill in October. And malaria is NOT a significant risk in Gaborone, which is in the dry south: the malarial areas are the north, so prophylaxis is a question for a Chobe or Okavango leg rather than for the capital.
The Gaborone Packing List
A warm layer, which the winter nights require
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the thing visitors to Botswana most often fail to bring. A June or July night in Gaborone drops to two or three degrees with occasional frost, buildings are built for heat rather than cold, and the early start for a game reserve or Kgale Hill is in the cold. Wool is light enough to be worth carrying and warm enough to matter, and in the hot months it handles dry heat better than cotton by moving sweat rather than holding it.
An insulating layer for June and July
A Columbia Powder Lite insulated jacket if you are coming in the southern winter. It sounds absurd for a country most people associate with desert heat and it is the right advice.
Shoes for a hill and a dusty reserve
A waterproof hiking shoe if Kgale Hill is on the plan, which is a steep rocky scramble in places rather than a path. Otherwise closed shoes with a sole that copes with dust and loose gravel.
Sun protection for dry high-altitude light
A wide brim UPF 50 sun hat and sunglasses. Gaborone sits at about a thousand metres, the air is dry and clear, and the UV from September to March is strong in a way the temperature does not announce.
Water, carried
An insulated water bottle. Gaborone's tap water is treated and generally considered safe, which is unusual in the region, and the point is carrying it rather than buying it: dry heat dehydrates without obvious sweating and the game reserve and Kgale Hill have nothing to buy.
Insect repellent for the rainy season
DEET insect repellent for the evenings from November to March. This is for mosquitoes as a nuisance rather than for malaria, which is a northern Botswana issue rather than a Gaborone one.
The small things
Pula in cash for combis and craft stalls, though Gaborone has good card acceptance and working ATMs, which makes it the place to draw cash before heading north. A copy of your passport photo page, which the FCDO notes you should always carry. Modest dress is not required and smart-casual is appreciated, because Batswana dress well. And nothing visible worth taking in a car, which is the whole of the local crime advice in one line.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Gaborone
Emergency numbers: 999 for police, 997 for ambulance and 998 for fire. Gaborone has a central police station and Botswana Police Service stations across the districts; there is no dedicated tourist police force. For violence against women, the Botswana Gender Based Violence Prevention and Support Centre operates a national helpline and the police have a dedicated unit, and Botswana's Domestic Violence Act provides for protection orders. A written police report is required for any insurance claim. Your hotel is the practical first point of contact for anything involving transport or a driver.
US State Department travel advisory: the Botswana advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/botswana, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: Gaborone has the best medical provision in Botswana by a wide margin, which is worth knowing if you are heading north afterwards. Princess Marina Hospital is the main public referral hospital, Bokamoso Private Hospital and Gaborone Private Hospital are the private facilities foreign visitors and insurers use, and both are modern. For anything beyond local capability the answer is Johannesburg, under an hour by air and five hours by road, which is where serious cases from across the region go and where the specialist private hospitals are. That proximity makes Gaborone a comparatively safe place to be unwell by regional standards. Note that if your trip continues to Chobe or the Okavango, the medical picture changes completely and air evacuation cover becomes essential rather than prudent.
Official health authority: the Botswana Ministry of Health and Wellness. MALARIA IS NOT A SIGNIFICANT RISK IN GABORONE, which sits in the dry south; the malarial areas are northern Botswana, so prophylaxis is a question for a Chobe or Okavango leg rather than for the capital. Note the health link here is the Ministry of Health and Wellness's own working domain rather than the government portal, which fails certificate verification
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Gaborone.
Official tourism authority: the Botswana Tourism Organisation. Botswana Tourism Organisation was returning a server error when this post was written, so if the link does not resolve, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks covers the Gaborone Game Reserve and Mokolodi is privately run with its own booking for the walking programmes
The car is where the risk is in Gaborone, not the pavement. Doors locked, nothing visible.
June and July nights drop to two or three degrees. Bring a warm layer.
Solo women safety assessment: Gaborone is a manageable destination for a woman travelling alone and is an orderly, modern capital rather than a demanding one, with the practical caveat that it is a driving city with long distances and few people on foot. BOTSWANA CARRIES NO ADVISED-AGAINST AREAS ANYWHERE and the FCDO records that although there is no recent history of terrorism, attacks cannot be ruled out, which is the standard formulation where there is no specific threat. ITS CRIME SECTION NAMES THIS CITY FIRST: attacks on tourists are rare but VIOLENT CRIME IS INCREASING PARTICULARLY IN THE MAJOR TOWNS OF GABORONE, FRANCISTOWN AND MAUN, with hold-ups and robberies of restaurants during peak hours and armed house burglaries that are common though not usually aimed at tourists. The FCDO's own countermeasures are specific and worth following exactly: keep doors locked and windows closed at traffic lights, keep handbags, phones and laptops out of sight, avoid carrying luggage visibly in a vehicle, do not stop for people at the roadside, and lock your room. THE EFFECT IS THAT THE CAR IS WHERE THE RISK CONCENTRATES HERE RATHER THAN THE PAVEMENT, which inverts the usual city advice: ride-hailing or a hotel car with the doors locked is the right default and the Main Mall in daylight is unremarkable. ON SEXUAL ASSAULT THE FCDO IS BLUNT: BOTSWANA HAS A HIGH NUMBER OF SEXUAL ASSAULTS, adding that foreign visitors are unlikely to be targeted and that women should take care when walking and avoid walking alone at night. In a city with long distances, intermittent pavements and nobody on foot after dark, that second half is easy to follow, and it is what residents do: book transport rather than walking. THE WILDLIFE RULES APPLY EVEN IN THE CAPITAL because the game reserve is inside the city and Mokolodi is fifteen minutes out: dangerous animals roam on open highways inside and outside reserves, and the FCDO says not to bathe in rivers and lakes because of animal attack and water-borne disease. ROADS carry stray wildlife and livestock as a particular risk at night, with speeding and drink-driving causing frequent fatal accidents, so do not drive between towns after dark. DRY HEAT DEHYDRATES WITHOUT VISIBLE SWEATING, which is how people get into trouble on Kgale Hill in October. Malaria is not a significant risk here, unlike northern Botswana. Photography near military and government installations is illegal and you should always ask before photographing people. Same-sex activity is no longer prohibited but public attitudes are less tolerant. 999 for police, 997 for ambulance, no tourist police force, and Bokamoso or Gaborone Private Hospital for care, with Johannesburg under an hour by air for anything serious.
Reading On
Gaborone is the way into Botswana rather than the reason to go. The Chobe packing list covers the elephant country in the far north-east, where the FCDO names the river-fronting lodges, and the Okavango packing list the delta, which is the country's real draw and a completely different kind of trip. Across the borders, the Victoria Falls packing list and the Livingstone packing list cover the falls, and the Johannesburg packing list the South African city an hour away by air that is the regional medical and transport hub. The Botswana travel guide for women and the Botswana packing list carry the country-level advice, including the malaria geography and the wildlife rules. For why a merino layer belongs in a bag for a country people associate with desert heat, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
