Namibia vacations 2024 & 2025

Namibia is known for its enormous, sculpted sand dunes, grand, cinematic landscapes, extraordinary wildlife viewing, and off-the-beaten track experiences. Rent a car and explore independently in a country that encompasses the world’s highest dunes, a vast, gaping canyon, and remote lodges that offer luxury as well as unmatched safaris.

You can take a hot-air-balloon ride over the desert, sandboard down dunes, visit seal colonies by kayak, or see hundreds of elephant gather around a diminishing water hole. Get out on foot and hike Fish River Canyon, or ride across grassy plains on horseback. Namibia’s allure lies in its diversity, and the variety and quality of the experiences it has to offer.

In Namibia, you can stay in boutique hotels, historic guesthouses, tented camps, lodges, and farmhouses. Namibia has a great choice of places to stay and whether you’d like to bed down in a thatched chalet near the mountains, at an owner-run guest farm, or a rustic safari camp, we can help you find the right options.

You could stay in a luxurious ecolodge, join nature drives from a rural farmstead, or base yourself at a characterful wilderness lodge, and if you enjoy hiking, there’s always the option to join a multi-day trek where you camp under the stars. To get some more ideas, browse our collection of places to stay in Namibia.

In Namibia, you should visit Etosha National Park, Sossusvlei, Damaraland, and the Skeleton Coast for a good overview of the country. Most visitors arrive in the small but cosmopolitan capital Windhoek and spend a night there before moving on to the Naukluft Mountains, a scenic area for wildlife watching, and Sossusvlei to see the towering dunes.

The water holes in Etosha National Park attract huge herds of elephant and other wildlife, while wild and remote Damaraland is another great spot for wildlife watching or to see ancient rock art. For shipwrecks, canyons, and dramatic rock formations, the Skeleton Coast is an otherworldly place where the desert dunes drop into the sea.

In Namibia, you can see black rhino, desert-adapted elephant, lion, giraffe, and cheetah. Wildebeest graze on the arid grasslands. Hyena, kudu, oryx, springbok, and zebra are easily spotted, leopard laze in trees, and a huge variety of birdlife inhabits the parks and reserves. You can also spot seals along the coast.

It takes around 24 hours to fly from the East Coast of the US to Namibia; from the West Coast it takes around 27 hours.

The time zone in Namibia is UTC+2 hours. Daylight Savings Time is not observed.

The best way to get around Namibia is to drive. The roads are well maintained, traffic is light, and the scenery you pass along the way is a highlight. If you’d prefer not to drive yourself, we can arrange for a private driver to take you to your destination. Once you reach your camp, guides will take you on foot or by 4x4 to remote areas. Alternatively, you could choose to fly between camps and see Namibia from the air.

US citizens don’t need a visa for stays up to 90 days in Namibia. Nationalities of other countries should check their visa requirements.

Your doctor can provide you with immunization advice for Namibia, but you should also ensure you’re up to date with the recommended vaccinations for your home country. You can also check the recommended vaccinations by visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Malaria is a risk throughout Namibia. Please see your doctor for advice about which antimalarial medication you should take.

Avoiding mosquito bites is the most effective step you can take to reduce your risk. Wear long, loose clothing, use a mosquito net in unscreened rooms, and wear a repellent, ideally with 50% DEET. Take repellent from home just in case there’s a shortage locally.

Check that your passport is valid for at least six months from the date of entry into Namibia and has a minimum of two consecutive blank pages.