Things to Do in Victoria Falls: 15 Activities on Both Sides

Prices and Times for Every Activity

This table compares the main activities by which side of the border they sit on, how much time to allow, and what they cost. Tour figures are the from prices per person shown on the listings covered in the Zambezi River tours comparison. Park entry fees are shown where a listing states what the operator collects.

Where an official current price is not published, the cell says so rather than guessing.

Sunset Cruises

A sunset cruise is the first thing most visitors book. Standard trips last about 2 hours and board around 16:30 in summer or 16:00 in winter, because the sun sets earlier in the dry months. Animals come to the riverbank to drink at dusk, and hippo and crocodile are regularly seen. The Zambezi river cruise guide compares the boats in detail. The cheapest listing on this site is the 2-hour luxury sunset cruise on the Zambezi Explorer at $69 with canapes and drinks. For a quieter boat, the Ra-Ikane carries only 14-16 guests in a vintage style.

If you want dinner too, the Pure Africa dinner cruise runs 3 hours on the water with a four-course meal cooked on board and drinks included, from $110. There is also a cruise and dinner combo at The Eatery at $112.84, which pairs the 2-hour cruise with a three-course meal on land.

White-Water Rafting

Rafting on the Zambezi runs 23 km of the Batoka Gorge on Grade 4 and 5 rapids, and it is widely rated among the best one-day commercial rafting runs anywhere. Low-water season, roughly August to early December, starts at the Boiling Pot right below the bridge and runs rapids 1 through 19. In high water the put-in moves downstream to Rapid 11, and rafting can close entirely at peak flood around April and May. Minimum age depends on the listing: 13 on the Shockwave full-day trip from Victoria Falls at $180, and not suitable under 12 on the Maano half-day trip from Livingstone at $140, with 15 the general operator guidance elsewhere. Full details are in the white-water rafting guide.

Be ready for the climb. Both trips involve a steep hike into and out of the gorge, and a reasonable fitness level is needed.

Canoeing

Upper Zambezi canoe safaris paddle flat water among the islands well upstream of the falls, following a qualified guide in two-seater canoes. Bundu Adventures charges $105 per person for a half day with a minimum age of 12. In Livingstone, Makora Quest runs about 3.5 hours door to door with roughly 2.5 hours on the water, departing around 08:30 or 13:30.

Hippos and crocodiles are present year round, and in the dry season from July to November elephants sometimes come down to drink.

Tiger Fishing

Half-day tiger fishing trips cost around $230 per person for up to six hours, and full-day trips around $345, both figures reported by aggregator listings with VAT included. A separate national parks fee of $24 is payable on the day. Trips include a fully equipped boat, tackle, a skipper and transfers, and full days add lunch and a run up to the Kandahar Rapids, drifting to within about 400 m of the falls.

Tiger fish are caught on a catch-and-release basis, with bream a common second catch.

The Rainforest Walk

On the Zimbabwe side, the Rainforest is the classic walkway along the falls, with viewpoints facing the full curtain. The gate is open 06:00-18:00 daily. Entry figures differ between published fee schedules: one aggregator citing 2026 ZimParks rates lists $50 per international adult, while another source cites $58 at the main gate, so sources differ and the Cuckoo Safaris tour listing states $58 paid on the Zimbabwe side.

For the whole day in one booking, the guided both-sides tour handles the border, raincoats and guides for $63 before entry fees.

The Zambia Side and Knife Edge Bridge

The Zambia side puts you closer to the water. Knife Edge Bridge is about 70 metres long and hangs around 100 metres above the gorge in front of the Eastern Cataract, and it is only 1.5 metres wide. At high flow you will get soaked.

Entry to Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park is listed at $10 per international adult per day on Zambia Tourism's own schedule, though one aggregator cites $20, and the tour listing states $20 paid on the Zambia side.

Devil's Pool

Devil's Pool is a natural infinity pool at the very lip of the falls on Livingstone Island, reachable only when the river is low enough, roughly mid-August to mid-January. It closes during high water, with the closure window running from roughly March or April to May or June depending on that year's flood. Trips start around $90 for a breakfast slot and reach about $158 for a lunch package with alcohol.

The Devil's Pool guide covers the windows and booking detail.

The Moonbow

On the three nights around each full moon, a lunar rainbow forms in the spray. Guided moonbow tours of the Rainforest last about 2 hours, and the displays are strongest in high water from roughly February to August, peaking around April and May. More detail is in the moonbow guide.

Helicopter Flights

The Flight of Angels is a 12-13 minute flight over the falls in a figure-eight pattern. Zambezi Helicopter Company prices it at $210 per person in total, a $173 base plus a $37 government and fuel levy, with park fees extra and payable in cash. Wild Horizons lists flights from $173.25 per person across 12-13, 22, 25 and 30-minute options, with exact per-tier pricing not published.

On the Zambia side, United Air Charter charges $330 for a 30-minute flight with 10 percent off for direct booking, and Batoka Sky offers 15 and 22-minute flights, with current official pricing not located. Prices vary a lot between operators, so compare before booking.

Victoria Falls Bridge

The bridge spanning the Second Gorge was completed in 1905 and links the two countries. Walking across between the border posts covers roughly 2 km, and day visitors can get a stamped bridge pass from immigration instead of a full visa. For the brave, the bridge bungee is a 111-metre freefall.

The Victoria Falls Bridge guide has the crossing details.

Zambezi National Park

Zambezi National Park is only about a 5-minute drive from Victoria Falls town, making it the closest game-drive option on the Zimbabwe side. Drives run about 3 hours, with morning departures around 06:00 including a light breakfast, and afternoon departures around 15:00 with drinks and snacks. Elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, hippo and crocodile are all recorded there, along with more than 400 bird species.

Reported pricing runs from about $186 to $340 depending on the operator and package. The Zambezi National Park guide covers the park in full.

Chobe Day Trip

Chobe National Park in Botswana, reached via the Kazungula crossing, about 79 km from Victoria Falls town by road, is famous for holding the largest elephant population of any national park in Africa, plus more than 460 recorded bird species. Day trips typically run 10-11 hours, departing 07:00-08:00 and returning by 18:00-19:00, with a morning river cruise and an afternoon game drive. Reported prices range from $150 to $350 per person including transport, fees and the cruise.

A KAZA UniVisa holder can do the day trip without invalidating the visa, as long as they sleep back in Zimbabwe or Zambia.

Rhino Walk

Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park on the Zambia side is the only place near the falls where you can track white rhino on foot. Wild Horizons' Rhino Walk runs about 3 hours with an armed ranger, and walkers often also see giraffe, warthog and zebra. One operator's price was reported at about $95 per person from 2023, with no confirmed current official rate published.

Vulture Feeding

Vulture Culture at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge is a free daily vulture-feeding presentation at 13:00, viewed from a shaded hide near the Buffalo Bar. Arrive about 15 minutes early for the conservation briefing before the feed. The lodge has run the programme for roughly 19 years, and it pairs well with lunch in town.

Markets and Craft Shopping

Elephant's Walk Shopping and Artist's Village at 273 Adam Stander Drive is open daily 08:00-17:00 with free entry, housing studios, galleries, a jewellery workshop and the small Jafuta Heritage Centre. Curio markets near the falls entrance in both towns sell carvings, jewellery and paintings. For fabrics and local rather than tourist shopping, Livingstone's Maramba Market a few kilometres from town is the better bet for negotiating.

High Tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel

The Victoria Falls Hotel serves traditional high tea daily from 15:00 to 17:00 on Stanley's Terrace, with views of the bridge and the spray. The reported price is about $30 per person. There is no enforced dress code, though most guests dress up.

On the Zambia side, the Royal Livingstone Hotel is the other landmark tea venue, where zebra and giraffe commonly walk the grounds.

The Boma Dinner and Drum Show

The Boma serves a four-course meal of starters, campfire soup, a braai buffet and dessert, with menu items including smoked crocodile tail, warthog steak, Zambezi bream and mopani worms alongside conventional choices. The night includes chitenge dressing, a dance and drumming show, face painting and a fortune teller, with one welcome drink included. Reported pricing ranges from about $45 to $55 per adult and about $22 for children under 12, with transfers from town hotels addable for about $12.

No current official figure is published on the operator's own rates page, so confirm at booking.

The Big Tree

The Big Tree is a giant baobab on Zambezi Drive about 2 km from the falls, radiocarbon dated to about 1,150 years old, standing 24 metres tall with a girth of 22.4 metres. It is free to visit as a roadside stop on the way to the Rainforest entrance. Despite its popular nickname, David Livingstone carved his initials on a different baobab on Garden Island, not this one.

Livingstone Museum

Across the border, the Livingstone Museum is the oldest and largest museum in Zambia, founded in 1934, with five permanent galleries including the David Livingstone collection of letters and memorabilia. It is open daily 09:00-16:30, closed only on 25 December and 1 January. Non-resident entry is $5 for adults and $3 for children.