Top Tourist Attractions in Malawi

Malawi is a land of lakes and plateaux, delineated by the great ridges of the East African Rift. The nation is long and thin, snaking its way like a rare Nyika lizard around the lands of Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. The most defining geographical feature has to be that long finger of blue: Lake Malawi. Dominating the north-eastern edge of the nation, this belt of cobalt mountain waters has long been the lifeblood for the locals here. A haven for fishing and commerce, it supports rustic bamboo villages and old colonial hubs bearing the names of folk like Livingstone.

Liwonde National Park

The most accomplished wildlife spotting and safari area in all of Malawi makes its home along the courses of the Shire River.

A vast reserve of flood plains and wetland swamps, of swaying grass fields and baobab groves, it’s a picture of the beautiful backcountry of East Africa.

A smattering of good holidaying lodges offers easy access to the park, where walking and motorized safaris showcase everything from bush elephants to side-striped jackals, hyena packs to impalas, waterbucks, baboons and more.

There’s also a great diversity of flora to witness, from huge and waxy orchids to pretty lily-spotted ponds.

Blantyre

A business-minded metropolis of nearly one million people, Blantyre is the only real rival to Lilongwe when it comes to competing for the crown for the economic kingpin of the nation.

However, history also runs deep here, and the town boasts more than 150 years since it was first established by missionaries working for the Church of Scotland – hence the moniker: a namesake of Blantyre on the edge of the highlands back in the UK. Visitors can come and spy out old structures like the Mandala House, or get a feel for the invigorated Malawian economy at the Malawi Stock Exchange and the various tobacco packing factories that have popped up in recent decades.

Kasungu National Park

The Kasungu National Park is one of East Africa’s more off-the-beaten-track nature reserves.

Encompassing a whopping 2,100 square kilometers of land, where the rolling plateaus of western Malawi give way to the borderlands with Zambia, the area is a mosaic of swaying savannah and bush, sporadic miombo woodland and dusty plains.

Once known for its booming population of African elephants, Kasungu has been hit by hefty poaching problems in recent decades.

However, a clutch of lodges around the lake waters of Lifupa have helped raise the ecotourism profile, and safari going here is now all but back on track.

Lilongwe

Set to the distinct scents of recently-harvested tobacco and wafts of petrol fumes from the endless streams of traffic that pulse through the dusty streets, this nigh on one-million-strong capital represents the beating political and commercial heart of Malawi.

Linger a few days and you’re bound to unearth its wonders, which range from a particularly well-kempt nature reserve on the edge of the city (the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre) to a heady marketplace that throbs with haggling sellers touting everything from stacks of green mangoes to whittled wood figurines to multi-coloured pulses right throughout the week.

There are also oodles of lively local beer bars to kick-back in with a regionally brewed Carlsberg when you get thirsty!

Lake Malawi National Park

Once trodden by the revered Scottish expeditionary and missionary, David Livingstone, the lands of the Lake Malawi National Park are a must for both nature lovers and history buffs.

Nestled between he verdant, sylvan hillsides that ring the shores of the country’s largest lake, they encompass both freshwater habitats (famed for their uniquely evolved fish species) and swathes of land to boot.

Baboons and antelopes can be spotted strolling the shore, while a clutch of great safari lodges can be found on the reserve’s various islands, from pretty Domwe to handsome Mumbo.

There are also the relics of old missionary settlements to see.

Nyika National Park

A world of montane landscapes that extends across great swathes of the central Malawian plateaux, the Nyika National Park is the largest of its kind in the entire country, and one of the most unique natural habitats in East Africa besides.

Known as the source of headwaters for many of the region’s river ways, it’s a place of verdant grass plains and colourful orchid beds, where elephants roam and water buffalo coalesce between the scrub.

Horse riding safaris are uber-popular with visitors, while hiking and bird spotting remain other major draws.

Karonga

Shrouded by the dusty mountains of the Malawian north and clutching to the far-flung edge of great Lake Malawi just a short jaunt from the Tanzanian border, the welcoming little town of Karonga is a great place to spend a night or two in this less-visited corner of the nation.

Expect banks, good bus connections and a clutch of earthy little guesthouses: all you’ll need to stock up before moving on.

And then there are the fossils, which are perhaps Karonga’s single most impressive claim to fame.

These come in the form of huge Malawisaurus remains, now lurking in the exhibition rooms of the local Culture and Museum Centre.

Nkhotakota

Nkhotakota sits nestled right in the heart of Malawi’s central backcountry.

Verdant and pretty, it’s dressed in green dashes of miombo woods, cut-through by several winding rivers (each on their way to join the waters of Lake Malawi itself) and backed by its eponymous Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve.

It’s here that most travelers will head, to seek out the acclaimed safari lodges that clutch the edge of the waters, to wonder at tropical birds and see elephants, buffalo and maybe even leopards in the wild.

Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve

Rising like a great backbone of stone from the dusty plains of southern Malawi, just a stone’s throw from the border with Mozambique, the hulking mass of stone and rock that is the Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve has to be one of the country’s most breathtaking.

Hailed as the highest peak in the nation – and the region as a whole, in fact – its whopping height of 3,000 meters above sea level is enough to host a whole array of different habitats.

The most famous is perhaps the woodlands of the endangered widdringtonia African cypress tree, which pepper the ridges sporadically as they rise to meet the sky.

Zomba

The gateway to its eponymous plateau, Zomba sits on the edge of the Shire Highlands.

Once the hub of British Central Africa, the town has a rich colonial past, with interesting little frontispieces belying the Anglo influence on corners throughout the place.

However, it’s the wildernesses that erupt around the city that draw most of the travelers.

These come peppered with rare cypress trees and juniper bushes, and roll out to meet verdant forests and highland lakes as they go.

Many opt to hike to the summit of the great escarpment, where sweeping views of Mulunguzi River and the Shire River can be enjoyed from the lookouts.