Travel journal: the road to Bulawayo, and places we visited there

Written by Beth

We stopped over in Bulawayo for a night during our journey from Harare to Hwange National Park. This article discusses the Harare to Bulawayo road (such as the tolls and police roadblocks). I’ll also share details of our accommodation in Bulawayo, the restaurants we visited, and the shops where we bought provisions for our journey onwards to Hwange and Matobo National Park.

Bulawayo is the second-largest city in Zimbabwe, but it is arguaby the most historically significant place in the country. It was a royal capital for the Ndebele state before the colonists came along.

This Bulawayo visit was part of our 20-day Cape Town and Zimbabwe holiday, which we self-booked and self-drove. You can read the in-depth article of how we planned the entire 20-day trip here. Also check out my articles Bulawayo travel guide and Best things to do in Bulawayo.

The state of the road from Harare to Bulawayo

We self-drove in August 2024 using borrowed cars from relatives. See my post Driving in Zimbabwe for general info on car hire, etc.

We took the A5 route via Kadoma, KweKwe and Gweru, and on the whole, the conditions were good. You can see the real-life videos of what it was like driving through these towns in the post Urban Zimbabwe.

In an ideal world, rubbish would be collected from the side of the road more often, in tandem with more refuse centres and local trash collections provided. We did see people collecting rubbish outside Chegutu.

There was good signage in general. We left Harare at 6:45am, took a long break (intentionally) in KweKwe and arrived in Bulawayo at 1:45pm. You could probably do the journey in 5 to 6 hours.

The grass was the colour of melted sugar at this time of year; the trees looked as if someone had sketched them on to the landscape with a charcoal pencil. They look dead, but as soon as the rains come in November, they’ll turn green again.

The (empty) railway line is your companion as you drive this route. Note that after Gweru, there’s less traffic, but more cattle and goats on the road.

Tolls on the road

There were 5 toll gates between Harare and Bulawayo, each costing US $4 per toll (2024). The first toll was outside the town of Norton, and a few kilometres after this the dual carriageway ended (49 kilometres before Chegutu).

Second toll was about 60 kilometres before KweKwe. There was some dual carriageway between KweKwe and Gweru.

I did notice that after a toll, the road was slightly better but they didn’t bother finishing off the edges, letting them run ragged. However the roads were usually wide, with painted lines, and with cats eyes.

Third toll was just before Gweru. Fourth toll between Gweru and Bulawayo. Fifth toll 20 kilometres before Bulawayo. This toll gate sadly had a lot of litter around it, and empty glass bottles on the floor nearby.

Police roadblocks

These are temporary barriers manned by police, to check that vehicles are roadworthy and to discourage speeding. Approach them slowly, roll down your window and greet the police officer, waiting for further instruction.

We saw 6 roadblocks but were waved through all of them without needing to stop. See my post Driving in Zimbabwe for more info on police.

Accommodation in Bulawayo

We stayed in a guest lodge in one of the suburbs of Bulawayo, set in an idyllic garden with bougainvilleas. After the hot car drive, I loved lying on the sunbed by the pool, looking up at the palm trees and birds flitting between the fronds.

Our lodge was Travellers’ Guest House (located on Banff Road), and we had a lovely family room that suited us perfectly.

What a flower! I have small hands, but this was about twice the size of them! This was in the garden of our lodge.

A little more of the peaceful garden at Traveller’s Guest House on Banff Road where there was a family room large enough for our needs.

Eating out in Bulawayo

We went out for dinner – and needed to let the kids expel some energy after being cooped up in the car. So we headed to the Spur on Banff Road. Top tip for eating out with kids in southern Africa – take them to a Spur. Burgers, milkshakes, and free entensive play areas. The chain might not be sophisticated, but they serve food that kids will love, with play areas that would cost a pretty penny in the UK. Ten times better than Macdonald’s.

We also visited Roosters Pub & Grill in Bradfield for lunch. Go through the shopping mall and head all the way to the back of the restaurant …

You’ll be rewarded with a sprinkler-green lawn and a small lake. The crowning glory is an enormous fever tree, sprawling majestically above the tables.

There’s also a wooden play area for the kids, which is a win.

Shopping in Bulawayo

The Zonkizizwe Shopping Centre in Bradfield has two large supermarkets – a Food Lovers and Pick n’ Pay – as well as a pharmacy, ice-cream shop, stationery shop and more restaurants. There’s a large, fenced car park which is guarded.

We stocked up at Zonkizizwe twice: for lunchables and drinks for our Hwange leg, and braai meats on the way through to Matobo National Park after Hwange.

I spent far too much time examining the local drinks and unusual foods in the supermarkets, from baobab coffee to lemon and ginger ‘concoctions’ – which would you want to try?

Bulawayo’s museums warrant more time spent here, so check out my post Things to do in Bulawayo for more info on those, or of course the Zimbabwe itinerary suggestion for how you should make the most of your time in the City of Kings.

We were off on the road to Hwange National Park, which would prove to be the highlight of our time in Zimbabwe.

Other articles in this Cape Town Zim diary series

• Read the previous post about our time in Harare here
• Read the overview of our Zimbabwe part of the trip here
• Read the big in-depth article about our independent 20-day Cape Town and Zimbabwe holiday here
• I recorded videos of the real-life streets of Bulawayo as we drove through them – see them on YouTube here

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