Kigali

Kigali is the easiest capital in East Africa to arrive in: an airport twenty minutes from the centre, roads that are clean and signposted, and a city spread over hills that makes every drive a viewpoint. Give it a day at the start or the end of a trip.

Kigali Genocide Memorial

At Gisozi, the Kigali Genocide Memorial is the resting place of more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Opened in 2004, it is both a memorial and an education centre, with a wall of names that is still being completed and gardens for reflection. It also supports survivors, including orphans and widows rebuilding their lives. Every visitor to Rwanda should come; allow two hours and go quietly. Other memorials — Nyamata, Ntarama, Murambi, Nyanza — can be visited on the road south.

Kandt House Museum

The former home of Richard Kandt, the first German colonial resident, walks through three chapters: pre-colonial Rwanda and how it was governed, the German and Belgian colonial period after the 1884 Berlin Conference, and the growth of Kigali from a hillside post into the capital after independence in 1962.

Rwanda Art Museum

Formerly the Presidential Palace Museum at Kanombe, near the airport, the Rwanda Art Museum now shows contemporary work by Rwandan and international artists, tracing how traditional patterns and crafts are reinterpreted today. In the garden lies the wreckage of the presidential jet shot down on 6 April 1994 — a heritage site in its own right.

Neighbourhoods, coffee and craft

Nyamirambo is the old, lively quarter for a walking tour and the best evening food; the craft markets at Caplaki and the Kimironko market are where to find baskets, Imigongo panels and fabric; and the city's roasteries pour some of the best coffee in Africa. Kigali Cultural Village, on the edge of the city, adds Intore dance, weaving and pottery in an afternoon.

Driving in Kigali

Driving is on the right, speed limits are low and enforced, and moto-taxis share every lane — keep your distance and check mirrors. Parking is easy and the RAV4 is the car our clients like for the city. If you would rather not drive, a driver for the day costs the same as anywhere else in Rwanda.

We would take the Toyota RAV4.