Where to Go in Botswana: Regions, Cities & Routes

Base · 3 nights

Botswana’s essential landscape: an inland maze of channels, lagoons, islands and floodplains where a good camp can combine mokoro trips, boating and close wildlife viewing. Pick the specific camp for its seasonal water and land activities; “the Delta” is not a uniform experience.

first-timerscouplesbirders

Moremi Game Reserve and Khwai

Base · 3–4 nights

The best all-round first safari base: big game, varied Delta-edge habitats and stronger land-based game driving than many deep-water Delta camps. It also works for mobile safaris and capable self-drivers, though the tracks are real 4WD terrain.

first-timersphotographersfamilies

Chobe National Park and Kasane

Base · 2–4 nights

The Chobe Riverfront delivers Botswana’s most accessible big-animal spectacle, especially dry-season elephants and buffalo, with boat cruises adding a different perspective. Kasane is the practical gateway rather than a destination town, and the popular riverfront can feel busy.

first-timersfamiliesmultigenerational groups

Savuti

Base · 3 nights

A drier, tougher corner of Chobe built around predator country, elephant movement, baobabs and enormous skies. It earns at least two nights: getting there over rough tracks is part of the commitment.

wildlife enthusiastsrepeat visitors4WD campers

Linyanti, Kwando and Selinda

Base · 3 nights

This private-concession belt between Chobe and the Delta is for low guest numbers, riverine wilderness and excellent elephant, buffalo and predator viewing. Fly-in camps can add night drives and walks unavailable in national parks, but this is firmly high-end Botswana.

honeymoonersluxury safari travelersrepeat visitors

Makgadikgadi Pans and Nxai Pan

Base · 3 nights

A sharp reset from wetland safari: salt flats, baobabs, grassland and horizons so empty they feel theatrical. Wildlife and the famous migration scenes depend heavily on rainfall, so go for the landscape as much as the animals.

landscape photographersfamiliesroad-trippers

Central Kalahari Game Reserve

A vast, spare wilderness of pans, grassland and night sky, most compelling after summer rains when herds and predators gather on the northern grasslands. This is a self-sufficient 4WD or guided-mobile-safari destination, not a casual detour from Maun.

experienced self-driversmobile safari travelerswilderness enthusiasts

Maun

Short stop · 1 night

The working gateway to the Okavango, useful for charter flights, rental cars, supplies and an arrival buffer before heading into the bush. Give it one night for logistics or a budget Delta day trip, not several nights for town atmosphere.

independent travelersself-driversbudget-conscious safari travelers

Northern Tuli Game Reserve

Base · 3 nights

In Botswana’s far east, Tuli offers sandstone outcrops, mopane woodland and river valleys rather than Delta flatness, with strong elephant and leopard viewing. It makes most sense for road arrivals from South Africa or travelers who value varied terrain over the classic northern circuit.

photographersroad-tripperstravelers entering from South Africa

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and the Southern Kalahari

Red dunes, gemsbok, raptors and solitary desert driving define this remote southern borderland shared with South Africa. It is a proper overland trip, not an efficient add-on to an Okavango–Chobe first visit.

serious overlanderscampersdesert lovers

Gaborone

Short stop · 1 night

The capital is a practical southern arrival or departure point, with restaurants and nearby reserves offering a little context beyond safari camps. It is useful on a South Africa road trip, but it should not displace time in the north on a first wildlife-focused visit.

business travelersroad-tripperstravelers entering from South Africa

Sample routes

Classic first Botswana safari

8 nights

Maun (1 night) → Okavango Delta (3 nights) → Chobe National Park and Kasane (4 nights)

The cleanest first trip: one night in Maun protects against flight delays, then three nights for the Delta’s water-and-island atmosphere and four in Chobe for river cruises and reliably abundant elephants. Fly Maun–Kasane if possible; the 7–9-hour road transfer is a waste of an eight-night holiday.

Plan this route

Northbound mobile safari: Moremi to Savuti to Chobe

10 nights

Maun (1 night) → Moremi Game Reserve and Khwai (3 nights) → Savuti (3 nights) → Chobe National Park and Kasane (3 nights)

This is the coherent route for a guided mobile safari or serious 4WD trip: start in game-rich Delta-edge country, move into Savuti’s harsher predator terrain, then finish on the Chobe River. The drives are part of the safari, not quick transfers, so do not compress Savuti into a token overnight.

Plan this route

High-comfort fly-in northern circuit

12 nights

Maun (1 night) → Okavango Delta (3 nights) → Moremi Game Reserve and Khwai (3 nights) → Linyanti, Kwando and Selinda (3 nights) → Chobe National Park and Kasane (2 nights)

For travellers willing to pay for bush flights, this gives each northern habitat a distinct job: water-focused Delta camp, land-based Moremi/Khwai game driving, private-concession solitude in Linyanti or Selinda, then Chobe’s riverfront finale. Three nights per bush camp is the sensible minimum; changing camps daily is expensive self-sabotage.

Plan this route

Southern-to-northern self-drive contrast

15 nights

Gaborone (1 night) → Northern Tuli Game Reserve (3 nights) → Makgadikgadi Pans and Nxai Pan (3 nights) → Maun (1 night) → Moremi Game Reserve and Khwai (4 nights) → Chobe National Park and Kasane (3 nights)

A proper road-trip for confident 4WD travellers arriving from South Africa: Tuli’s rocky river valleys, the theatrical emptiness of the pans, then the northern wildlife circuit. Use paved roads for the long southern transits and save your 4WD skills for the pans and Moremi/Khwai. Do not casually add Savuti or the Central Kalahari; either needs several more nights and changes the trip’s logistics.

Plan this route

Sample routes

Botswana

Regions and cities in Botswana