Entrance fees for Bwindi forest national park 2024 are the charges paid during visits to Bwindi national park. Bwindi national park is located in south western Uganda and is known for being home of the mountain gorillas. Tourists visiting the national park for gorilla trekking or gorilla habituation experiences are not charged park entrance fees.
However, when visiting Bwindi national park for other activities such as bird watching, nature walks and hiking tourists are charged park entrance fees to visit the destination.
The different activities can be done across the different sectors of Bwindi national park such as Buhoma sector, Rushaga sector, Nkuringo sector and Ruhija sector.
Park entrance fees for Bwindi national park varies depending on the nationality of the tourist which can be foreign nonresidents, foreign residents and East African citizens. And the entrance fees are valid for a period of 24 hours from the time of entry into the national park.
- Park entrance fees for foreign non-residents in 2024
Foreign nonresidents visiting Bwindi national park in 2024 are charged park entrance fee of 40 USD per person during tours at the destination.
Gorilla permits for foreign nonresidents visiting Bwindi national park in 2024 is 800 USD per person which includes park entrance fees for the national park and also guide fees.
The fee paid for birding and guided nature walks by foreign nonresidents visiting Bwindi national park is 30 USD per person. Foreign nonresidents pay a fee of 40 USD to engage in Batwa forest experiences around the national park.
- Park entrance fees for foreign residents in 2024
Gorilla trekking permits for foreign residents visiting Bwindi national park for gorilla trekking is 800 USD per person including park entrance fees and guide fees. During gorilla habituation experiences in Bwindi, foreign residents are charged 1000 USD for habituation permits.
To engage in other activities around Bwindi national park, foreign residents are charged park entrance fee of 30 USD per person. They are also charged 15 USD for guided nature walks in Bwindi national park and 25 USD per person for bird watching tours around the destination.
Foreign residents visiting Bwindi national park are charged a fee of 40 USD per person for Batwa forest experiences.
- Park entrance fees for East African citizens in 2024
East African citizens are charged park entrance fee f 20,000 Uganda shillings for visiting Bwindi national park.
The gorilla permit fee for East African citizens visiting Bwindi national park is 250,000 Uganda shillings. East Africans are citizens of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi visiting Bwindi national park for gorilla tours.
For bird watching tours in Bwindi national park, East African citizens are charged a fee of 20,000 Uganda shillings and for nature walks around the national park they are charged a fee of 10,000 Uganda shillings.
East African citizens engaging in Batwa forest experiences in Bwindi national park are charged a fee of 40,000 Uganda shillings per person.
Cost of a tour in Bwindi national park in 2024
Apart from park entrance fees, there are many other costs incurred during tours in Bwindi national park and they include transport and accommodation costs.
These costs are affected by factors such as the type of tour, the duration of the gorilla tour and also the number of people going for the tour in Bwindi national park.
- The type of tour in Bwindi national park can be a private tour or as part of a group gorilla trekking tour in Uganda.
Group tours are known to be cheap because of shared costs as compared to private tours around the national park.
- Duration of the tour in Bwindi national park affects the cost of a tour in a way that short gorilla trekking tours are cheap as compared to the long gorilla trekking safaris around the destination.
Gorilla
The gorilla tours to Bwindi can be as short as 3 day gorilla treks.
Transport costs to Bwindi national park
Transport costs when visiting Bwindi national park depend on whether the tourist chooses to fly to the destination or drive to the national park. Vehicle hire to the national park can range between 100 USD to 300 USD per day while the flights cost about 300 USD for one way flights and about 560USD per person for return flights.
The route used to get to Bwindi national park is the Kampala-Mbarara-Kabale route and the drive takes about 8 hours. Airstrips which tourists can use to get to the national park from Entebbe international airport include Kisoro airstrip and Kihihi airstrip.
The flights to Kisoro airstrip in Bwindi national park from Entebbe international airport depart at 07:00 am and 10:15 am and arrive at 08:10 am and 11:30 am.
Flights to Kihihi airstrip in Bwindi national park from Entebbe international airport are offered 3 times a day and they depart at 07:00 am, 10:15 am and 01:00 pm and the arrival times at the airstrip are 08:45am, 11:25 am and 3:30 pm.
Accommodation costs for tours in Bwindi national park
Accommodations found around Bwindi National Park include budget lodges, midrange lodges and luxury lodges.
The cost of accommodation during tours in Bwindi national park varies depending on the type of accommodation and also the duration of the stay. Tours with longer stays at the lodges are more costly as compared to the short stays at the lodges.
Budget lodges in Bwindi national park cost about 100 USD per night, midrange lodges cost about 200 USD per night and luxury lodges cost about 350 USD per night. The cost of the room depends on the type of room which include single rooms, double rooms and triple rooms. The price of rooms can be charged per room or on a basis of per person per night.
Other additional costs incurred when visiting Bwindi National Park include tips and gratuities as well as personal expenses for the tourist.
Putting into consideration all these costs, a 3 day tour to Bwindi national park can cost about 1200 USD per person.
