Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Burundi can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Burundi itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required for all travelers to Burundi aged one year and older, and you can be refused entry without it. Recommended vaccines include hepatitis A, typhoid, tetanus-diphtheria and polio boosters, plus hepatitis B and rabies for longer stays or rural travel. Cholera vaccination is worth considering. Malaria is present nationwide, including Bujumbura, so take antimalarial tablets and use repellent. See a travel clinic 6 to 8 weeks before departure.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Burundi, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
Burundian culture values reserve, respect for elders and politeness. Hand over money and gifts with your right hand, or with both hands as a sign of respect, and wait for the eldest to start eating at shared meals. Accept offered drinks or food, even if you only take a little. Avoid public displays of affection, loud arguments and showing anger. Do not discuss ethnicity or politics, and never photograph government buildings, police, soldiers or the presidential palace, because people have been detained for it. Ask before photographing people, especially in rural villages. Outside the lake beaches, women in particular should cover their shoulders and knees. Group jogging has been restricted since 2014, so run alone or with one friend. Same-sex couples should avoid any visible affection, because homosexuality is illegal in Burundi.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Burundi.
- Ibiharage: Red beans stewed with onion and palm oil, often served with plantain or cassava. Beans are eaten almost daily across Burundi, and this is the country’s staple comfort food.
- Mukeke: A firm white fish found only in Lake Tanganyika, grilled or fried whole and served with rice or fries. It is the signature dish of Bujumbura’s lakeside restaurants.
- Ndagala: Tiny sardine-like lake fish, sun-dried or fried crisp and eaten whole. They are a cheap, protein-rich staple sold in heaps at markets.
- Ubugali: A stiff dough of cassava or maize flour, torn by hand and dipped into bean or leafy sauces. It is the backbone of most home meals.
- Brochettes: Goat or beef skewers grilled over charcoal, usually with grilled plantain and a big bottle of Primus beer. This is the classic evening meal in Burundi’s bars.
- Urwarwa: A fermented banana beer brewed at home and shared from a communal pot at weddings and family gatherings. It plays a central role in rural hospitality.
Tap water in Burundi is not safe to drink, and most locals boil or filter it first. Travelers should stick to sealed bottled water, which is sold everywhere in towns, or use a filter bottle or purification tablets. Ice and raw salads washed in tap water are worth skipping outside better restaurants.
The main language in Burundi is
Kirundi. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Kirundi skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for Burundi includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - is spoken only in patches in Burundi. You will find it at upscale hotels, NGOs and some businesses in Bujumbura, and younger, university-educated Burundians often speak a little. In rural areas almost no one speaks it. French is by far the most useful second language, and Swahili helps in markets and with drivers in Bujumbura. Download offline French and Swahili packs in a translation app, and learn a few Kirundi words such as “amahoro” (peace, used as a greeting) and “murakoze” (thank you).
Money & Payments
The local currency of Burundi is BIF (Fr).
Cash rules in Burundi, and ATMs are scarce outside Bujumbura and Gitega. Even in the capital, only a handful of bank machines accept foreign Visa cards, Mastercard often fails, and withdrawals come with fees of roughly US$5 to 10 plus your home bank’s charges. Cards are accepted only at top hotels, a few upscale restaurants and the airport, so plan to pay cash everywhere else. Bring enough crisp US dollars printed after 2013 to cover your whole trip, because damaged or older notes are refused and US$50 and US$100 bills get the best rate. Euros are a second choice. Exchange at banks or your hotel, and avoid street changers: their rates are tempting, but black-market exchange is illegal and scams are common.
Tipping in Burundi is appreciated but not expected in everyday settings like local bars and minibuses. In sit-down restaurants and hotels in Bujumbura, leaving 5 to 10 percent or rounding up the bill is a kind gesture. Guides and drivers usually get around US$5 to 10 a day.
Best Backpacking
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere..jpg)
Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.v2.webp){kind=logo}
