Become a member

Gitega

Now15° Tomorrow26°

Burundi's political capital on the central plateau, a town of royal courts and sacred drums, a road's climb up from the lake.

Fly to Gitega All of Burundi
Arrival
Bujumbura Melchior Ndadaye · BJM
To the city
About 62 km east of Bujumbura as the crow flies
Private jets
Into BJM; Gitega's airfield is closed
Best time
June to September

The city

The plateau and the drums.

In January 2019 Parliament made Gitega the political capital of Burundi, and the ministries began their move up from Bujumbura. The town, of some 135,000 people, stands at about 1,500 metres in the middle of the country, on the old heartland of the kingdom.

The monarchy left its mark in the royal court, the ibwami, and in the sanctuaries where the karyenda drums were kept. The National Museum is here too. Gitega is fresher than the lakeshore; June to September is the dry season.

  • The National Museum Burundi's national museum, in the plateau capital.
  • Gishora An ancient royal court north of town on the RN15, one of the sanctuaries of the sacred drums.
  • Christ the King The town's cathedral, one of its landmarks with the royal court and the mosques.

Arriving

Land at the lake, then climb.

Gitega's own airport no longer operates. Every arrival, scheduled or private, comes into Bujumbura on Lake Tanganyika, about 62 kilometres to the west, and continues by road into the hills.

Business & First Class Scheduled flights Brussels Airlines flies to Bujumbura from Brussels. Ethiopian, Kenya Airways and RwandAir connect through Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Kigali. Business & First fares Private Jet Private jets Bujumbura's 3,600-metre runway takes any business jet, around the clock, with customs on site and no slot requirement. Charter a jet
Approximate flying time by midsize jet
  • Kigali 35 min
  • Nairobi 1 h 25
  • Luanda 2 h 50
  • Abu Dhabi 5 h 35
  • Vienna 7 h 55 long-range jet

When to go

June to September.

These are Bujumbura's figures, the nearest long record; Gitega, some 700 metres higher, is noticeably cooler. The pattern holds: a dry season from June to September, and rain through the rest of the year, heaviest around April.

  1. 27° J 166
  2. 27° F 140
  3. 27° M 170
  4. 27° A 196
  5. 27° M 103
  6. 27° J 18
  7. 27° J 6
  8. 28° A 23
  9. 29° S 75
  10. 28° O 113
  11. 27° N 174
  12. 27° D 164
Best months weather2travel.com, long-term averages (Bujumbura)

Elsewhere in Burundi

More reasons to come.

All of Burundi

Flying to Gitega?

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