Travel Costs Breakdown for a Trip to Rwanda

How much should you plan for your leisure trip to Rwanda? In this post, I’ll be writing about the costs needed to travel from Lagos to Kigali, Gisenyi and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. We made this trip from Nairobi and apart from the costs of flights, everything else is applicable when travelling from Nigeria to Rwanda.

This breakdown is based solely on my experience and is only intended for trip planning and presenting a fair idea of how much to budget. All prices stated here are either approximate or exact at the time of this writing. Scroll down to the end of the post to view a tabular summary of all costs.

The best time for Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda
Thinking of taking a trip to Rwanda? Find out how much it costs to do so with this extensive cost and budget breakdown! Click To Share This!

Getting There: How to Get a Visa from Nigeria to Rwanda

Nigerian citizens visiting Rwanda for tourism do not require a visa to enter the country. Travellers may be required to present their return flight tickets and hotel reservations, so be sure to have this handy when you go through immigration. Though it might not be asked for, a yellow fever certificate is mandatory for entry.

Also, at the time of this writing, PCR tests are not needed for entry into the country. However, if you plan to go gorilla trekking, then you would need one. There are test centres available in all major cities within the country.

Nyamirambo Art Walls

How Much is a Flight Ticket from Lagos to Kigali?

The price for a flight from Nigeria to Rwanda will vary depending on the dates you book them and the airline you choose to fly with. At the time of this writing, RwandAir operates direct flights from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) to Kigali, Rwanda. The total flight time takes about 4.5 hours.

When I checked for cheap flights from Lagos and Abuja, I found prices as low as ₦160,000. Flying from Nairobi, we paid approximately $430 each, however, while writing this article, I found prices as low as $199.

When booking your flights, booking directly with the airline is always advisable. This allows you to manage changes easily in case there’s any need. However, if you’d like an easy way to compare and track cheap flights from multiple airlines, then an aggregator like WayAway can be used to do just that.

PS: You can select different origin and destination cities, as well your vacation duration, by clicking on the blue icon at the top of the widget below.

Apart from RwandAir, other airlines such as Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways also fly to Kigali, stopping first at their respective hubs.

Trip to Rwanda: Transportation Costs

Our transportation costs for our stay in Rwanda, including airport transfers and rides within Kigali, and excluding the cost of our rental car were approximately $20. We rented a car (Rav4) with Kigali Car Rentals for 7 days and paid $40/day for it. In total, including fuel costs, we spent $380 on transportation.

Cost-saving Tip: Public transfers are usually cheaper if you're looking to save costs on transportation

Trip to Rwanda: Accommodation Costs

We stayed in 3 hotels in 3 different cities in Rwanda. Our first stay was at Phoenix Apartments in Kigali. We spent a total of 7 nights here and it cost us $420. In Gisenyi, we stayed at Gorillas Lake Kivu Hotel for 3 nights at $270. Lastly, in Musanze, we stayed at La Locanda‘s Master Suite for 2 nights and paid $370

Pending my review article of all three places, I will say that Gorillas Lake Kivu Hotel is the only one on the list I would probably not recommend a stay in, as it had more cons than positives for me.

Trip to Rwanda: Costs for Feeding, Activities + Miscellaneous Expenses

Our total food tab for 2 weeks was approximately $250. We combined eating out with preparing our meals in the self-catering apartment in Kigali. As for activities, we didn’t do much in Kigali and Gisenyi. In Kigali, I visited Kimironko Market (free to enter), got some fabric and had a dress and shorts made for about $20.

We also paid $15 each for a tour of the Nyamirambo neighbourhood with the Nyamirambo Women’s Center in Kigali and spent a little extra cash shopping at the store there. Our single most significant expense was $500 each, the cost of the gorilla trekking experience in Musanze/Kingi.

I have written a series of posts about how we spent our time in Rwanda. You can find them here.

Here’s an overview of everything we spent during our trip to Rwanda. Again, this breakdown is based solely on our experiences and is only intended for the purpose of trip planning and to present a fair idea of how much to budget. All prices stated here are either approximate or exact at the time of this writing.

Oaxaca Centro Colourful buildings

stay safe while you travel

Protect yourself from the unexpected while you travel by purchasing insurance coverage. I use SafetyWing, which is affordable and covers several travel-related risks, such as unexpected illness or injury, eligible hospital expenses, lost luggage and more. Click here to purchase a cover for your travel and visa application needs.

Summary Trip to Rwanda Cost Breakdown

Items, ActivitiesPricesComments
Flights from Lagos to Kigali$860From Lagos, flights average around ₦225,000 with the lowest price I found being 160,000
Visas$0
Accommodation in Kigali (x 7 nights)$420
Accommodation in Gisenyi (x 3 nights)$270
Accommodation in Musanze (x2 nights)$370
Activities in Kigali$30
Gorilla Trekking$1,000
Transportation: transfers within the city, car rental$380
Feeding costs (x14 days)$250
Covid-19 PCR Tests (for the trek)$100
Miscellaneous$50Tips, Boot rental, Sim cards, Shopping at Kimironko Market, etc.
Total costs for 2 people$3,730$1,865 per person for 2 Weeks (including Gorilla Trek)

How Affordable is a Trip to Rwanda?

Excluding the costs of the gorilla trekking experience, I found Rwanda to be an affordable destination for Nigerian travellers to visit. The country caters to all budget types, and the cost of flights from Nigeria is among the cheapest for international destinations.

travel to kigali

I hope you find this trip to Rwanda’s cost breakdown useful. Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think / if you have any questions!

And don’t forget to share (on Twitter), and follow my adventures on Instagram

3 comments

  1. I love your Rwanda series so much. As someone who is looking to visit East Africa anytime from next year, this post has provided me with lots of information on what to expect.

    Thank you!

    A question though, does the flight cost include return tickets?

I love to hear from you, Leave a comment here!

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I travelled for hours from Geoje to visit Sucheon and am pleased to report that it did not disappoint! 💙✨️

At 4pm, when I visited, the themed gardens were sparsely populated. Coming from Japan, where many beautiful places are often filled with tourists, this was a pleasant surprise! 🌼

I visited in spring and caught the last of cherry blossom petals on the trees but it was really the tulips 🌷 that took the spotlight. I explored various themed gardens and my favourite were the Korean and Netherlands Gardens.

Overall, this place was an absolute delight! I definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area!
I travelled for hours from Geoje to visit Sucheon and am pleased to report that it did not disappoint! 💙✨️ At 4pm, when I visited, the themed gardens were sparsely populated. Coming from Japan, where many beautiful places are often filled with tourists, this was a pleasant surprise! 🌼 I visited in spring and caught the last of cherry blossom petals on the trees but it was really the tulips 🌷 that took the spotlight. I explored various themed gardens and my favourite were the Korean and Netherlands Gardens. Overall, this place was an absolute delight! I definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area!
2 days ago
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Story Time ⏰️
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Story Time ⏰️
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Story Time ⏰️
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Story Time ⏰️
Story Time ⏰️
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The beautiful places that made me fall in love with Japan 💙
The beautiful places that made me fall in love with Japan 💙
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Urgent decision needed! 🙏🏽 Help me out!
Urgent decision needed! 🙏🏽 Help me out!
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✋🏾Before you go skincare shopping in Korea, you should get this FREE skin analysis done, especially if you're a novice like me!

🫒 I went to Olive Young during my last visit and walked out with nothing! I was so overwhelmed! 😰

This time, I decided to get a skincare analysis done first. I got mine done at the Mixsoon store (Olive Young has it too) It was quite detailed and 100%💲FREE, plus it took only a few minutes.

Would you try this? 💬⏬️

#kbeautyskincare #skincaretips #travelhacks #koreanskincare
✋🏾Before you go skincare shopping in Korea, you should get this FREE skin analysis done, especially if you're a novice like me! 🫒 I went to Olive Young during my last visit and walked out with nothing! I was so overwhelmed! 😰 This time, I decided to get a skincare analysis done first. I got mine done at the Mixsoon store (Olive Young has it too) It was quite detailed and 100%💲FREE, plus it took only a few minutes. Would you try this? 💬⏬️ #kbeautyskincare #skincaretips #travelhacks #koreanskincare
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Will I ever be able to fly economy again?😭

Just kidding. Find me in 43G next flight! Manifesting another upgrade though!✨️🧘🏽‍♀️
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Can't get over this view! 😍😍

Mount Fuji - stunning from every viewpoint!
Can't get over this view! 😍😍

Mount Fuji - stunning from every viewpoint!
Can't get over this view! 😍😍

Mount Fuji - stunning from every viewpoint!
Can't get over this view! 😍😍

Mount Fuji - stunning from every viewpoint!
Can't get over this view! 😍😍

Mount Fuji - stunning from every viewpoint!
Can't get over this view! 😍😍

Mount Fuji - stunning from every viewpoint!
Can't get over this view! 😍😍

Mount Fuji - stunning from every viewpoint!
Can't get over this view! 😍😍

Mount Fuji - stunning from every viewpoint!
Can't get over this view! 😍😍 Mount Fuji - stunning from every viewpoint!
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I recently took a Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong trip and if you plan to replicate an itinerary like this one, here's the sequence I recommend to applying for your visas. 

Let me know if you have any questions in the comment section below!
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When in Hong Kong!

An exciting way to see parts of the city is to ride the tram to The Peak.
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