Victoria Falls: Zimbabwe Side, Zambia Side or Both?
3 min read
Short answer: if you have one day, take a guided tour that covers both sides, such as the tour from both sides. A guide takes you across the border and back, and you see the falls from lookouts in both countries. Budget for the park entrance fees on top. If you only have a morning, the half-day tour covers both sides in less time, and it is private: only your group goes.
One waterfall, two countries
Victoria Falls is a single World Heritage property shared by Zimbabwe and Zambia. UNESCO lists it as Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls, inscribed in 1989 and about 1,708 m wide; the Zimbabwean part sits in the Victoria Falls and Zambezi National Parks, the Zambian part in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. The name Mosi-oa-Tunya means “the smoke that thunders”, and one of the helicopter listings uses it for the “1700m vast curtain of water”.
Because the river is the border, no single path shows you everything. That is the case for seeing both sides, not one.
The two tours
| Tour | Price | Rating | What the listing says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guided tour of the falls from both sides | €56.11 | 4.7 (526) | About 3 hours on the Zimbabwean side and 2 on the Zambian side, a stop at a local market; hotel pickup in Victoria Falls or Livingstone; small group of up to 15; listed at 6 hours |
| Guided half-day tour, Zimbabwe and Zambia | €71.24 | 4.6 (99) | Private, for your group only (up to 15); the rainforest, both sides and a walk across the Victoria Falls Bridge; hotel pickup in Victoria Falls, extra fare if you stay in Zambia or Botswana; listed at 5 hours |
Entrance fees. Each side charges its own park entrance. The first listing says the fees are not in the price and gives them as USD 58 for the Zimbabwean side and USD 20 for the Zambian side. The second lists USD 58 and USD 30; ask the operator whether they are in the price before you book. Compare the two tours with the fees added, not only the headline prices.
Border and visa. Both pages tell you to bring your passport, and you go through immigration on both sides. The visa is your own responsibility. The first listing points to the KAZA Uni-Visa, which it describes as valid for Zimbabwe and Zambia for up to 30 days and available on arrival at points such as Livingstone Airport and the Victoria Falls border crossing. Whether you can get it depends on your nationality, so check before you travel rather than at the border.
What the water does
The falls look different through the year, because the river is much fuller in some months than in others. A 2018 article on zambiatourism.com by Green Safaris, who run tours to Livingstone Island, gives the Devil’s Pool season as usually August to January, depending on the water level, which tells you the river is low in those months (see our Devil’s Pool guide). The same article says Livingstone Island closes at high water, roughly mid-March to mid-June. In the fuller months expect more spray and less clear views; the first listing mentions raincoats for the high-spray season. At low water more rock shows. Neither is wrong, so decide which you prefer, and ask the operator about the water on your dates.
Our recommendation
For most visitors: the tour from both sides. It is the more reviewed of the two, it gives you the most time, about three hours of it on the Zimbabwean side, and it picks up in both Victoria Falls and Livingstone. Choose the half-day tour if the afternoon is already booked, for example for a helicopter flight, or if you want a guide for your own group. More options are on our things to do page.
