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Regional Travel Chapter

Africa

Honest distances, strong hostel scenes in a few key cities, and flights you should plan early.

Table Mountain above Cape Town, South Africa

Table Mountain above Cape Town, South Africa - photo: Dietmar Rabich (Wikimedia Commons)

Why this region works the way it does

Africa is not one route, it is several separate ones, and pretending otherwise leads to expensive mistakes. Cape Town to Nairobi overland is months of work. Cape Town to Nairobi by plane is six hours and usually cheaper than the bus chain.

Where hostels are good they are very good: Cape Town, Marrakech, Zanzibar Town, Kigali and Nairobi all have places with proper kitchens and real information desks. Between them, distance is the main cost, so we build our chapter around three separate loops instead of one line on a map.

Places worth building a route around

  • Long Street, Cape Town. Hostels with Table Mountain hikes from the door.
  • Medina, Marrakech. Riad style hostels around Jemaa el-Fnaa.
  • Stone Town, Zanzibar. Ferry from Dar es Salaam, then dala dala north.
  • Victoria Falls. Livingstone and Vic Falls town both work as a base.

Africa guides

Other regional chapters

Europe by Rail: A Hostel-to-Hostel Route That Actually WorksSoutheast and East Asia: Where the Classic Backpacker Route Still Holds UpNorth America on a Hostel Budget: City-to-City Without a CarThe Andes Route: Cusco to La Paz Without Flying Every LegAustralia, New Zealand and Fiji: The Real Distances Between the Good Bits