Your 10-Day Malawi Itinerary

This ten-day route through southern and central Malawi suits travelers who prefer mountains, rock art and wildlife to beach time. The pace is moderate, with two-night stays and short transfers. You will travel by minibus and coach on the M1, plus taxis or bicycle taxis for short hops, and arrange a porter on Mount Mulanje.

Days 1-2: Lilongwe and Dedza

Treat Lilongwe as a landing pad: one night, a market walk, an early start. Dedza is just 1.5 hours south. In Dedza, the cool highland air is a shock after the capital, and the town is known for its pottery. That afternoon, go with a guide to the Chongoni Rock Art Area, where red geometric paintings by Batwa hunter-gatherers sit beside later white Chewa images tied to the Nyau secret societies. Book the guide in town, since the shelters are scattered across the forest.

Days 3-4: Liwonde

Head south down the M1 through Ntcheu and Balaka to Liwonde, 4 to 5 hours by minibus. The town sits on the Shire River and serves as the gateway to Liwonde National … read more 👉

This ten-day route through southern and central Malawi suits travelers who prefer mountains, rock art and wildlife to beach time. The pace is moderate, with two-night stays and short transfers. You will travel by minibus and coach on the M1, plus taxis or bicycle taxis for short hops, and arrange a porter on Mount Mulanje.

Days 1-2: Lilongwe and Dedza

Treat Lilongwe as a landing pad: one night, a market walk, an early start. Dedza is just 1.5 hours south. In Dedza, the cool highland air is a shock after the capital, and the town is known for its pottery. That afternoon, go with a guide to the Chongoni Rock Art Area, where red geometric paintings by Batwa hunter-gatherers sit beside later white Chewa images tied to the Nyau secret societies. Book the guide in town, since the shelters are scattered across the forest.

Days 3-4: Liwonde

Head south down the M1 through Ntcheu and Balaka to Liwonde, 4 to 5 hours by minibus. The town sits on the Shire River and serves as the gateway to Liwonde National Park, now managed by African Parks. A boat safari in the late afternoon brings you close to hippos, elephants and fish eagles, and a morning game drive gives you a chance at the reintroduced black rhino.

Days 5-6: Zomba Plateau

Only an hour from Liwonde, the Zomba Plateau rises about 1,000 meters above the old colonial capital. Sleep up top so you have two cool mornings: walk to Chingwe’s Hole and the Emperor’s View, and buy raspberries from the sellers on the road. Trails through the pine forest are easy to follow and quiet on weekdays.

Days 7-9: Mulanje and Mount Mulanje

Travel via Blantyre to Mulanje, about 3 hours, and stay near the Likhubula forestry office, where you register and hire porters. Then spend two nights on Mount Mulanje, sleeping in the basic forestry huts on the Chambe plateau. The climb is steep but well marked, and the plateau gives you grassland, streams to swim in and views of Sapitwa, at 3,002 meters the highest point in Malawi. Strong hikers can attempt the summit with a guide.

Day 10: Blantyre

Descend early and ride 1.5 hours to Blantyre. Visit Mandala House, built in the 1880s by the African Lakes Corporation, and the La Caverna Art Gallery inside it for Malawian paintings and sculpture. If time allows, the Museum of Malawi in Chichiri has Nyau masks and an old steam locomotive, before you fly out from Chileka.

With one more day, take a minibus from Zomba to Kachulu and a fishing boat to Chisi Island on Lake Chilwa, where village life follows the rhythm of the fishing boats.