🇧🇼 Botswana

10 best places in Gaborone

Botswana's young, low-key capital grew up almost from scratch after independence, mixing business towers, craft markets and open bushveld just minutes from downtown.

Park

Kgale Hill

The city's highest point, with panoramic views over Gaborone and its dam, popular for sunrise hikes.

Sight

Gaborone Dam

A reservoir on the city's edge with birdwatching spots and picnic viewpoints.

Museum

Botswana National Museum and Art Gallery

The country's leading museum, covering the natural history and peoples of Botswana.

District

Botswana Craft

A cluster of craft shops and cafés in an industrial estate selling handmade carvings, ceramics and baskets.

Café

Sanitas Tea Garden

A shaded café inside the country's oldest plant nursery, known for wood-fired pizza and homemade lemonade.

Café

K'Reo Café

A relaxed spot for light breakfasts and lunches, a favourite among locals.

Restaurant

Basilico

One of Gaborone's earliest fine-dining restaurants, open since 2016.

Restaurant

Caravela

A Portuguese restaurant many consider the best table in the country, known for grilled fish and seafood.

Restaurant

Bull & Bush

A lively pub-style restaurant serving hearty Botswanan grills.

Sight

Main Mall and Parliament Square

The pedestrian civic heart of the capital, next to the National Assembly building.

FAQ

Best time to visit Gaborone?

May to August is the most comfortable stretch: it is the local winter, warm and dry by day and genuinely cool at night. From October to March it gets hot, with rain arriving in short heavy bursts. The dry season is also the best window for safaris elsewhere in Botswana.

How many days do you need in Gaborone?

One or two days is enough. Gaborone is a calm administrative capital rather than a sightseeing city, and that gives you time to climb Kgale Hill for the view, visit the National Museum and slow down at Sanitas Tea Garden. Botswana's headline landscapes - the Okavango, Chobe, the Kalahari - are far to the north.

Is Gaborone safe?

By regional standards Botswana is one of the calmer, more stable countries, but pickpocketing and street robbery do happen. Use a car or a taxi after dark rather than walking, and keep your phone out of sight in crowds. The city is spread out, so getting around without a car is awkward.

Can you move to Botswana?

Botswana mostly works for people an employer relocates: there is no mass investment residency and no remote-worker route, so the usual paths are a work permit or setting up a business. The draws are political stability, English as the working language and comparatively low crime for the region. Immigration rules get revised from time to time, so confirm the current requirements before you start on paperwork.