The short answer
- Three days is the minimum for gorillas by road: drive, trek, drive back.
- Flying saves the long drives, but you still arrive the day before your trek.
- Seven days fits chimpanzees, a savannah park and gorillas. Ten fits most of the country.
- Murchison Falls and Bwindi are at opposite ends of the west, and Kidepo is a trip of its own.
On this page
The honest answer depends on how you get there and what else you want to see. The gorilla trek itself takes one morning, sometimes a whole day, but Bwindi is 8-9 hours by road from Kampala, and the ranger briefing is early, so the days around the trek are what set the length of the trip.
Three days: gorillas only, by road
Day one is the drive to the park, day two is the trek, day three is the drive back. It is the minimum, and it works: our Bwindi Gorilla Trekking Safari is exactly this, built around the Rushaga sector. The cost is two long days in the vehicle for one morning with the gorillas.
The same three days can go to Mgahinga instead, where the last morning is spent tracking golden monkeys before the drive home: our Gorilla & Golden Monkey Trek.
Flying in: shorter drives, same early start
A flight to Kihihi or Kisoro turns each nine-hour drive into about two hours in the air plus a transfer (see getting to Bwindi). You still arrive the day before your trek, so flying makes the trip easier rather than much shorter.
Four to five days: room to breathe
One or two extra days buy you a rest after the trek, or one more experience:
- The Batwa Trail in Mgahinga, led by the Batwa community: see our Batwa Heritage Trail.
- Lake Mburo on the way down, which breaks the drive with zebra, impala and a boat trip. See the Lake Mburo safari.
- A second gorilla trek, on a second permit. Two different families on two days is a very different experience from one.
Seven days: chimps, savannah and gorillas
A week covers Uganda’s three headline experiences in one line down the west: chimpanzee tracking in Kibale, game drives and the Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth, the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha, and gorillas in Bwindi. That is our Primates & Big Game Safari.
Ten days: most of the country
Ten days adds Murchison Falls in the north-west, where the Nile forces itself through a narrow gorge, and Lake Mburo on the way home: our Uganda Wildlife Highlights.
What does not fit
- Murchison Falls and Bwindi in under a week. They sit at opposite ends of western Uganda. Both in five days means most of it spent driving.
- Kidepo as an add-on. Kidepo Valley is in the far north-east, a long way from everything else, and a trip of its own: see the Kidepo Valley Safari.
- 3
- Gorillas in Bwindi, or gorillas and golden monkeys in Mgahinga
- Bwindi Gorilla Trekking, Gorilla & Golden Monkey Trek
- 4-5
- A rest, Lake Mburo on the way, a second trek or the Batwa Trail
- Lake Mburo Safari, Batwa Heritage Trail
- 7
- Chimps, Queen Elizabeth and gorillas
- Primates & Big Game
- 10
- Murchison, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi and Lake Mburo
- Wildlife Highlights
Questions we get about this
- Can you see gorillas in Uganda in one day?
- Not from Entebbe or Kampala. The trek starts with an early-morning briefing, and Bwindi is 8-9 hours away by road, so you arrive the day before. Three days is the minimum by road.
- Is it worth doing two gorilla treks?
- For many people, yes. Each trek is one hour with one family, and a second day with a different family, or the four-hour Habituation Experience, is a very different encounter. It needs a second permit.
Who writes these
IZ Agency Team, in Kampala: the people who plan and run the trips described here. Permit rules, roads and lodges change. If something here is out of date, tell us on WhatsApp.