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Lilongwe

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Malawi's capital since 1975, a low, tree-lined city on its plateau with a patch of river forest at its heart.

Fly to Lilongwe All of Malawi
Arrival
Kamuzu International · LLW
To the city
About 25 km from the centre
Private jets
Airport of entry, handling compulsory
Best time
April to November

The city

Old Town and the planned capital.

Lilongwe started as a boma on the Lilongwe River around 1902 and took over from Zomba as capital in 1975, though the last ministries only arrived in 2005. Districts are called Areas, from 1 to 58, and the numbers follow the order in which each was created, so the number tells you nothing about where an Area lies.

Old Town keeps the markets, the bus stations and the cafés. The newer city has the ministries on Capital Hill, the embassies and the hotels. Between the two runs a strip of forest along the Lingadzi River, and Malawians call Lilongwe the green city for its gardens and trees. Close to a million people lived here at the 2018 census.

  • Lilongwe Wildlife Centre Seventy hectares of forest on the Lingadzi River, with a boardwalk, a bird hide and trails of up to five kilometres; closed on Wednesdays.
  • Kamuzu Mausoleum The tomb of Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Malawi's first president, in War Memorial Park.
  • Old Town markets Street stalls and walled markets in the oldest part of the city.

Arriving

One long runway north of town.

Kamuzu International opened in 1983 at Lumbadzi, about 25 km north of the city, and its terminals were rebuilt with Japanese help and handed over in 2019. The runway is 3,540 metres long.

Business & First Class Scheduled flights Ethiopian Airlines connects from Addis Ababa, Kenya Airways from Nairobi and Airlink from Johannesburg. Malawi Airlines adds Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Harare and Lusaka. For the lake and the parks, Ulendo Airlink flies on to Likoma Island, Monkey Bay and Mfuwe in Zambia. Business & First fares Private Jet Private aircraft LLW is an airport of entry with customs and Jet A-1. A handler is compulsory, and AC-U-KWIK lists international firms such as Jetmate Aviation and JetPlus. Published hours are 07:30 to 17:00 local time, with other hours on request. Charter a jet
Approximate flying time by midsize jet
  • Nairobi 2 h 15
  • Johannesburg 2 h 15
  • Luanda 3 h 20
  • Addis Ababa 3 h 45
  • Riyadh 6 h 10 long-range jet

When to go

April to November.

At over a thousand metres the heat is moderate. From May to October almost no rain falls, and June and July bring days of about 24 °C. October and November are the warmest months at 30 °C, before the rains set in from December to March.

  1. 27° J 223
  2. 27° F 188
  3. 27° M 129
  4. 27° A 45
  5. 26° M 9
  6. 24° J 1
  7. 24° J 1
  8. 25° A 0
  9. 28° S 1
  10. 30° O 8
  11. 30° N 59
  12. 28° D 179
Best months weather2travel.com, long-term averages

Where to stay

Where to stay.

Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.

Elsewhere in Malawi

More reasons to come.

All of Malawi

Flying to Lilongwe?

Choose how you arrive.

A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.

Business & First Private Jet