Lilongwe

Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi.

Culture and History

The capital of Malawi, but not its largest city (that honor belongs to Blantyre), Lilongwe is fairly reasonably sized with a population of about 250,000.

Orientation

Lilongwe is divided into the Old Town (to the South) and the New Town (to the North) with the Lilongwe Nature Sanctury between the two. The Old Town is built around the former village of Lilongwe, while the New Town (also called City Centre or Capital City) sprung up after former dictator Hastings Banda moved the capital from Zomba to Lilongwe.

Travel to Lilongwe, visa requirements

Flights to Lilongwe, airtickets

Lilongwe's Kamuzu International Airport (LLW) fields regular flights to Johannesburg, Harare, Nairobi and Zimbabwe, as well as domestic services to Blantyre, Mzuzu and Karonga. For neighboring Zambia, there are flights both to capital Lusaka and safari destination Mfuwe. An international departure tax of US$30 (cash only) is charged for all passengers with foreign passports (pay it on the first floor before heading up to the departure hall!), while domestic departure tax is K200.

The airport is about 25 km north of town and the taxi mafia charges a flat K2500 (US$20) for the journey.

By train

By car

Lilongwe is about 110 kilometers from Mchinji on the Zambian border. Taxis generally charge upwards of K5000 for the trip.

Buses to Lilongwe

By boat

Get around

The town is very spread out so getting around can be a bit of a chore. You can pick up taxis from the Lilongwe Hotel (in the Old Town) and the Capital Hotel (in the Capital City).

Lilongwe attractions and sightseeing

City tours

Learn

Work

Shopping, Lilongwe souvenirs

• Old Town Mall. Catering mostly to the tourist, expat, and wealthy Malawian community, Old Town Mall offers two impressive art and craft galleries, a DVD rental shop, grocery store catering to expat tastes, travel agencies, and upmarket clothing stores. Mamma Mia's Italian Restaurant (see below) is located as well in Old Town Mall.
• Crossroads Complex, Mchinji Roundabout. Lilongwe's newest shopping mall, with a couple of decent gift shops, a post office, a petrol station, two ATMs and a couple of fast food joints.

• 7-Eleven. No relation to the American outfit, this is just a popular supermarket (complete with in-house butchery) that stocks a wide range of products local and imported.

Good restaurants and cheap meals

Budget

Mid-range

• Don Brioni's Bistro, next to the Old Town post office. Serving pizza, pasta, steaks and daily specials. Good food in generous quantities. $5-$10 for a main dish.
• Bohemia Cafe, along the road from Don Brioni's. Open for breakfast and lunch. Light meals (breakfast, toasted sandwiches, baked potato, quiche), fresh fruit juice, very good tea and coffee and great cakes. About $5 for for a sandwich, a cup of tea and a cake.

Splurge

• Mamma Mia, Old Town Mall. Lilongwe's fanciest Italian restaurant, much favored by the expat community so reservations strongly advised on weekends. Real Italian pizza, pasta and more, but expect to pay over K2000/head (US$20) for a full meal with a glass of wine, and food quality is a little uneven.

Lilongwe nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.

There's a place for drinking like bwandiro (area 47) where there's a lot of pubs. There's now a new Pirate cassino where people usually go almost every day up to midnight.

Hotels, youth hostels, lodging

Budget

• Mabuya Camp, to the south of the Old Town, tel. +265 (0)1 754 978 / +265 (0)9 746 239 /+265 (0)9 664 651, info@mabuyacamp.com, [1]. Camping, A-frames, chalets and dorms. Formerly run by and named Kiboko Camp.

Mid-range

• Kiboko Town Hotel, in the centre of the Old Town, above Don Brioni's Bistro, tel. +265 (0)1 751 226 / (0)9 838 485, KTH@kiboko-safaris.com, [2]. Has its own cafe and a residents-only bar. Used to be the Imperial Hotel. Clean, pleasant and friendly, in a very convenient location. They also run good-value safaris to South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. $45-$75 (all are en-suite, more expensive rooms have a bath and TV).

• Korean Garden Lodge offers a comfortable and relaxing setting close to downtown Lilongwe but in a quiet residential area. Swimming pool, television, rooms ranging from budget dorm-style to more luxuriant and private.

Splurge

• Cresta Crossroads Hotel, Crossroads Complex, Mchinji Roundabout, tel. +265-175-0333, [3]. Opened December 2004, this four-star hotel operated by a South African chain offers modern if somewhat uninspiring comfort. Pool, jacuzzi, gym, speedy wireless Internet and a shopping mall next door. Single/double from US$120/140.
• Capital Hotel, [4]. Also uninspiring but comfortable with very similar facilities to Cresta Crossroads Hotel. En-suite double rooms from $110.

Contact

Stay safe

Transport is not always easy to get at late hours of the night so always make sure you have means of transport to getting back to where you're staying. Taxis are available.

Cope

Get out

• Cape Maclear, a laid-back village on the south end of Lake Malawi.

• Salima, the easiest entry point to Lake Malawi, 1-2 hours away. Nice resorts (including Livingstonia Beach Resort) available with gorgeous beaches. A signposted turn off 3 kms before Salima beckons travelers to Kuti Wildlife Park with camp sites, bar/braii facilities, game drives and walks, horse back riding, etc. Animals found in the park include sable, nyala, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich, giraffe and waterbuck. At night civets, genets, servals and aardvarks may be spotted. A great spot for birding too! If you plan to go during rainy season, be sure to take a 4x4 just in case. Fore more info telephone 09563004 or 09188132.

• Chipata, the eastern gateway to Zambia, 1-2 hours away

• South Luangwa National Park – a fantastic wildlife reserve in Zambia. Kiboko Safaris (see Kiboko Town Hotel in Sleep section of this page) and possibly a few others run roundtrip excursions to the park, and with advance notice can arrange visa waivers. The park is great, and this is an easy way to see it if you've got time for a sidetrip.

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