Is Victoria Falls safe? Travel tips, health and money

Is Victoria Falls safe for tourists?

Victoria Falls is a regional centre for adventure tourism⁴, and the safety advice for the town is practical: touts, night walks and wildlife. Here’s what to watch for:

• Touts: they’re aggressive and best avoided¹. Tourist police may meet you¹ when you arrive in town.
• After dark: the riverside path from the falls to the Victoria Falls Hotel is not safe to walk after dark¹, so get a taxi instead.
• Walking into town: the road runs through the national park, where walkers may meet dangerous wild animals².
• Monkeys: at the Rainforest Café, monkeys will try to snatch your food⁵ if you’re not paying attention.
• Markets: Wikivoyage calls the town’s markets safe, with polite traders⁵.

Short walks help: most places in town are no more than 3 km⁵ from the falls, so a base close to the park keeps evening trips short. There’s more on where to stay on the hotels page.

Crossing to Livingstone, Zambia

Victoria Falls lies at the western tip of Zimbabwe⁷, with Livingstone across the border in Zambia⁵. Wikivoyage calls Livingstone a generally fairly safe town, but take care walking downtown at night, especially after drinking⁸.

Don’t plan to walk between the two. Sources put the distance at 8 to 10 km, and walking it is not generally recommended⁸ for tourists. For the bigger picture, read more on Victoria Falls and its two sides.

Do you need malaria pills for Victoria Falls?

The US CDC recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria³ for travellers to Zimbabwe, so see your doctor or travel clinic well before you fly.

The other health advice for Zimbabwe comes down to water and animals:

• Don’t swim in fresh, unchlorinated water such as lakes, ponds or rivers³ (CDC advice).
• Bilharzia is present in some Zimbabwean lakes⁹, so ask locally before swimming anywhere.
• Rabid dogs are common, according to the CDC, which says don’t touch or feed animals you don’t know³.
• Wikivoyage advises you to boil tap water⁹ before drinking it.

Hospitals, clinics and pharmacies

Victoria Falls town has Victoria Falls District Hospital, the Chinotimba and Mkhosana clinics, a few surgeries and The Health Bridge private hospital⁴. Over the border, the Falls Park shopping centre in Livingstone has a Link Pharmacy⁸.

Money: US dollars, cards and ATMs

Bring US dollars, ideally in small notes. In Victoria Falls, street vendors, taxi drivers, supermarkets, restaurants and activity operators all work in US dollars⁹.

Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) has been the official currency since 8 April 2024, but foreign currencies remain legal tender¹⁰.

Cash and cards in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

• ATMs pay out US dollars, often in $100 notes⁵. Small notes are hard to find, but shops and restaurants can break them.
• You can pay for activities by credit card in US dollars, but foreign cards are rarely accepted outside Victoria Falls⁵.
• Card payments are unreliable at border posts¹¹, so keep small US dollar notes for the crossing.

ATMs in Livingstone, Zambia

• ATMs are in the town centre, the shopping centre on the way to the falls, and at the airport⁸.
• They dispense only Zambian kwacha⁸.
• Stanbic Bank on Mosi-oa-Tunya Road, in the Shoprite mall, is listed as open 24 hours⁸.

Phone signal and SIM cards

For a local SIM, go to an Econet shop or a small phone shop, and bring ID: you need it to buy an Econet SIM⁹.

Coverage in town has grown. ZiFM Stereo reported that in July 2025 Econet doubled its 5G base stations in Victoria Falls from four to eight¹². The new sites include the international airport, Elephant Hills Hotel and the central business district¹².

How do you get to Victoria Falls by car?

You drive in on the A8 road⁴, which links Victoria Falls to the rest of Zimbabwe, and the most direct overland route is from Bulawayo⁵.

From Harare the drive takes roughly 9 to 10 hours¹¹. If you’d rather not drive, the overnight train from Bulawayo runs once a week (as of 2026)⁵. The road, rail and air routes to Victoria Falls are compared on their own page.

What closes when, and when not to go

Victoria Falls National Park is open all year, from 06:00 to 18:00⁵, with its Rainforest gate right next to the Zimbabwe border post. Some river activities are seasonal, so check before you plan around them.

Operators disagree on when Devil’s Pool opens. Tongabezi says mid-August¹⁵, while Wild Horizons says mid-September¹³. If your dates are flexible, later in the season is the safer bet.

The rainy season runs November to March⁵, while winter, from May to August¹⁶, brings mild, largely dry days. See the rainy and dry seasons month by month before you fix dates, and the things to do guide for each activity.

Livingstone Island and Devil’s Pool rules

Devil’s Pool sits on the lip of the falls, on the Zambian side¹⁷, and Livingstone Island trips run under firm rules:

• Minimum age to visit the island: 8¹⁸.
• Minimum age to swim in any pool: 12¹⁸, and children must be with a responsible adult.
• Swimming is allowed only when water levels are judged safe, under strict supervision by trained guides¹⁸.
• Life jackets are mandatory¹⁸ on the boat out.
• The island closes when the Zambezi is too high¹⁵.

Non-slip water shoes can be hired for US$2¹⁸ (checked October 2026) a pair at the launch site.

Tour · 3 hours

From Victoria Falls: Livingstone Island Tour & Devils Pool

4.6 (282 reviews) on GetYourGuide, checked October 2026

Free cancellation · Pickup included

FromUS$230

See dates on GetYourGuide

Shopping: markets, malls and supermarkets

Shopping for visitors in Victoria Falls is centred on Elephant’s Walk and Sawanga Shopping Mall⁴, and you can bargain at the curio markets. Livingstone has its own markets and supermarkets across the border.

• Traders in the sculpture markets will barter: hats, shoes, T-shirts, pens and batteries are in demand⁵.
• For groceries in Victoria Falls there are Pick n Pay and OK⁵ supermarkets.
• Livingstone’s curio markets are near the town and near the falls entrance, and Wikivoyage says they sell much the same goods at similar prices⁸.

Maramba is Livingstone’s largest market¹⁹ and where local people do their shopping²⁰. Beyond fabric and food, it sells pots and pans made from old car parts, farm tools, chickens, beads and clothes¹⁹.

Luciano Tours runs a guided Maramba Market tour from US$34 (checked October 2026) per person, with pick-ups at 08:00 and 14:00¹⁹. Bushtracks Africa says it runs its tour every day, all year round²¹.

Local rules worth knowing

Tourists are strongly discouraged from attending political rallies or events⁹ in Zimbabwe. And when a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is a public holiday⁹, so plan errands around it.

Questions people ask