If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD1,840.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
The Big Five come to you at Victoria Falls River Lodge, an imperturbable riverside safari lodge in sight of the spray rising above its namesake natural wonder. Spot parades of elephants wading through the Zambezi from your private plunge pool, and spend evenings swapping stories of the day’s take (strictly photographic) in the central thatched lodge over fine Southern African cuisine. The grand dame of waterfalls is a short transfer away, close enough to hear her roar at night. Toast her might with a ritual sundowner – this is the Africa that Attenborough showed you.
There are 27 rooms, including two villas, six suites and 13 luxury tents hidden throughout the scrub.
Check–Out
2pm is the earliest check-in (4pm is the latest to take part in that evening’s game drive or river cruise) and be sure to check out by 10am – but the lodge is flexible on timings where possible.
Prices
Double rooms from £1473.41 ($1,840). Please note the hotel charges an additional resort fee of $15.00 per person per night on check-out.
More details
Room rates include all meals and all soft and some alcoholic drinks, and a selection of activities including transfers to Victoria Falls, a game-spotting drive, and a sunrise or sunset river cruise.
Also
Unfortunately, this wild-as-can-be stay isn’t suitable for those with mobility issues.
At the hotel
Four restaurants, bar, lounge, spa, fitness centre, waterhole viewing platform. In rooms: decks overlooking the Zambezi River, private plunge pool, separate bedroom and sitting area, indoor and outdoor waterfall showers, ceiling fans and air-conditioning, mosquito nets and repellent, free WiFi, and laundry service (excluding Luxury Tented Suites and Malachite Tented Suites).
Our favourite rooms
Sleep amid the birds on a remote private island – the Starbed Treehouse at Victoria Falls River Lodge has a dreamy outdoor rooftop bedroom with panoramic views through the foliage to the flowing Zambezi. Don’t fret – there’s also an indoor bedroom for when the rains come.
Poolside
All suites and tents have a private deck with sunloungers and a plunge pool, from where you can observe other animals also splashing about (although it’s unlikely those animals will be doing so with a glass of wine). To get a few laps in, the central safari lodge has a larger infinity pool open to all guests with – you guessed it – commanding Zambezi views.
Spa
It’s a time-worn trope of many a spa to have some sort of soothing jungle playlist in the background, but the Toa Spa at Victoria Falls River Lodge is actually in the open jungle and that elephant snort is indeed real. Set on a raised deck, just a short walk from the central lodge, is a treatment room with indoor and outdoor facilities, where you can take couples’ treatments too. The spa uses all-natural products from Africology, and the menu includes facial and massage therapies, full-body treatments and beauty services. For those looking to break a sweat, the fitness centre is equipped with a rower, treadmill, stationary bikes, dumbbells, and yoga mats.
Packing tips
Bring your best binoculars for birding: flocks of heron, egret, stork, weaver, woodpecker and fish eagle all frequent the treetops and lagoons.
Also
From a historic steam train journey across Victoria Falls Bridge to a fishing safari or swimming in Devil’s Pool, the lodge reception can make activity bookings and arrange the transfers for you.
Children
Kids under three stay for free; otherwise it’s 25 per cent of the adult rate for four to 11 years and 50 per cent for 12 to 17 year olds. Luxury Family Tents can accommodate up to three kids.
Best for
Adventurers aged over four can take part in the included children’s activities.
Recommended rooms
The Luxury Family Tents live up to their name, but owing to the lodge being unfenced it is not recommended for kids under 16 to occupy a tent without supervision. Similarly, guests under 16 are not permitted to stay in the Island Treehouse Suites.
Activities
Kids will love discovering this wild eco-system for themselves on the ‘Junior Discoverer’s Drive’ or the ‘Young Bush Wackers’ hike, two special outings developed to share these natural wonders with younger guests.
Babysitting
Babysitting can be arranged for an additional charge – please enquire at time of booking.
Sustainability efforts
Biodegradable guest amenities are used, single-use plastic is banned, and an on-site solar plant keeps the lights on. The lodge has built a preschool in the nearest village for the children of staff and contributes funding to the Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit.
Dinnertime hippo-spotting is possible from almost all of the tables.
Dress Code
Your very best Nigel Thornberry safari suit, obviously.
Hotel restaurant
Guests gather under a vast thatched roof in the central lodge for sundowners and a meal every evening. The design is open-plan, and the bond of shared experience creates freewheeling conversation as the plates spill out of the kitchen. When you’ve witnessed the majesty of Victoria Falls for the first time or photographed a herd of water buffalo bathing in the soft evening light, how could you possibly keep that to yourself? Chef Bruce Bromberg (a Le Cordon Bleu Paris alumni) crafted the menu to blend staple South African flavours with a fine-dining influence, served with the warm hospitality that the region is famous for. Breakfast is à la carte and the lunch and dinner menus are set, with a heady cellar of South African wines to hand. Don’t leave without trying the famous smoked mopane worms (avoid overthinking it if you’re not accustomed – they’re delicious) or the salted sardine-like kapenta fish. The kitchen’s signature dish is the ostrich steak, an incredibly lean meat that will have you running for more.
Hotel bar
There’s scarcely a better way to finish a day in Africa than a few glasses of cold Zambezi (the national beer) at sunset, sipped at either of the lodge’s bars. The drinks list is strong on local beers and spirits, and South African wines, which are all included in the room rate. The bars are named literally – the River Side Bar in the main lodge has fantastic – you guessed it – river views, and suite guests on the private Kandahar Island will head to the elevated Sunset Bar for their daily sundowner.
A short hop upstream from where the Zambezi famously falls off a basalt cliff sits Victoria Falls River Lodge, on the bank of the rushing river in the north-east corner of the Victoria Falls National Park.
Planes
Transfer via Johannesburg or Cape Town to Victoria Falls International Airport, or via Nairobi or Addis Ababa to Zambia’s Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport. Both are around 30 minutes away by car, and transfers are included. Private charter flights can also land at Botswana’s Kasane Airport, 90 minutes away by car.
Trains
Travel overland in style on the three-day Rovos Rail luxury train line. Departing from Pretoria, the route takes in over 1,400 kilometres of Southern Africa’s most dramatic scenery before traversing the Hwange National Park and arriving at Victoria Falls. The Royal Suite gifts travellers a half-carriage to themselves with butler service, a private lounge area and ensuite bathroom.
Automobiles
Driving is only for the truly committed and with transfers to all the local sights easily available, there’s no need to have your own car. But to be master of your domain, cars can be hired from either international airport and parking at the lodge is available. Committed overlanders can hire a four-wheel drive in Johannesburg and make the 1,250 kilometre journey over several days.
Other
The lodge offers free boat transfers to and from Victoria Falls Town. You may spot crocodiles, water monitor lizards and hippos as you glide into the lodge.
Worth getting out of bed for
If you listen carefully, you can hear the roar of Victoria Falls from your suite, and in the high-water season it throws its spray over 400 metres into the air, which can be seen from the lodge. With a width of 1.7 kilometres and a dizzying 108-metre drop, Victoria Falls is the largest in the world and more than twice the height and width of the Niagara Falls. The array of possible activity in and around this natural wonder of the world is dazzling – you can fly over it in a helicopter, zipline through it, swim in it, observe it from two different countries, and hike above and below it. The Victoria Falls River Lodge reception can arrange all of these adventures and more. Spring and summer is hot and brings the lowest water levels, making it the ideal time for rafting and for peering over the falls-edge while swimming at Devil’s Pool. Autumn brings the highest water levels and the gigantic rainbow-inducing spray, and is the most spectacular time for viewing the falls from land. The Zambezi River acts as the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and the impressive steel Victorian era Victoria Falls Bridge is the border crossing – just bring your passport and a visa can easily be purchased on arrival. June to October is the best time to go on safari, and the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, Hwange National Park, and Botswana’s Chobe National Park are all within reach.
Local restaurants
You’ve come for the wilderness but that doesn’t mean there aren’t great dining experiences in Victoria Falls Town, and the lodge runs a free daily boat transfer. Do as the British Royals did in 1947 and take high tea on Stanley’s Terrace at the Victoria Falls Hotel, with spectacular views to the Victoria Falls Bridge and the Zimbabwe/Zambia border. Lola’s Tapasand Carnivore Restaurantis the place to sample a dazzling offering of game meats, and for a home-cooked African menu head to Mama Africa Eating House. For your afternoon libation, its cocktails on the cliff-edge at the Lookout Café or craft beers from the River Brewing Co. Their Resurrection Ale isn’t a morning-after cure – leaves from the resurrection bush (named for its ability to grow on seemingly barren rock after the rains) are infused in the brew.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this safari lodge in Zimbabwe and unpacked their cameras and rolls of film, a full account of their wilderness break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Victoria Falls River Lodge on the banks of the Zambezi …
The Scottish explorer Dr David Livingstone was first shown Mosi-oa-Tunya in 1855, but the locals had been worshipping this holy place for thousands of years prior to his arrival. The cliff-edge is the bit that makes it to Instagram but the savannah behind it is every bit as exciting, and staying amid the wildlife on safari at Victoria Falls River Lodge means you can see both at once. The property is one of the very few private concessions inside the boundaries of the Victoria Falls National Park, which is crucial because it means you don’t have to spend hours travelling out on safari. You can slow down for a relaxing break, enjoying fine dining, a spa treatment, or getting lost in a novel, all with the flowing Zambezi and its many residents as the constant backdrop. At the lodge there is the choice of luxury thatched tents (constructed of canvas, glass and wood, with air-conditioning) or a small number of suites, which are situated on a nearby private island and reached by boat transfer. Either option offers total seclusion, a private and totally unique view of the Zambezi, and your own deck with sunloungers and a plunge pool. An African safari has never been this relaxing, which is exactly the point of the Victoria Falls River Lodge.
