Getting to Queen Elizabeth National Park is possible by road or flight. Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in western Uganda, shared by districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri, and is one of the oldest and most famous national parks in Uganda and East Africa. The park was gazetted in1952.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is approximately 400 kilometers (250 mi) by road southwest of Kampala, Uganda’s capital. That is roughly a seven (7) hours drive. The town of Kasese is just outside the northeastern edge of the park, while the town of Rubirizi is just outside the park’s southeastern boundaries.
Getting to Queen Elizabeth By Road
The park can be reached on road using two routes which are both roughly a 5-6 hours drive from Kampala. The park can be reached via Masaka – Mbarara – Bushenyi route (420 km) or Via Mubende – Fort Portal – Kasese route (410 km).
The route via Masaka – Mbarara is on the direct road to Queen Elizabeth National Park, with a short glimpse of Lake Mburo National Park, along the way. The second route via Mubende – Fort Portal – Kasese highway runs through the main tourism hub to Mweya Peninsula, taking you through Kibale National Park – famous for chimpanzee trekking safaris.
Both routes combined make an attractive circuit with a short detour to visit Lake Mburo, Kibale, Rwenzori mountains and Semuliki national parks.
Queen Elizabeth National Park can also be accessed from the south via Rwanda – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It can be reached via the Ishasha sector, which is south of Queen Elizabeth from or to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
There are daily public means, from Kampala to Kasese, which one can use to access the park. En route to the park, visitors have the opportunity to enjoy short detours and a photo moment at the two Equator crossings.
By Air
Scheduled flights are now available and can be arranged from Entebbe International Airport to either Kasese, Mweya or Ishasha airstrips. Daily morning and afternoon flight schedule can be arranged. The morning flight departs Entebbe at 07:00 am, arriving before 09:00 am. Should you be interested in taking the afternoon flights, it is also possible. This departs from12:45 pm and arrives at 14:35 pm.
There also private chartered flights from Kajjansi airfield to the Kasese, Mweya, and Ishasha airfields in Queen Elizabeth National Park. These can be arranged through your tour operators or direct contact with the flight companies, such as Aerolink and Eagle Air – who do charter daily flights to the park.
At the moment the cost of a one-way flight to Queen Elizabeth is US$ 270.00 and US$ 452.00 for return ticket with Aerolink.
Besides guided nature walking safaris and wildlife game drives, visitors to Queen Elizabeth National Park always complement their visit with a gorilla trekking safari in the nearby Bwindi Forest National Park. Some go for a chimpanzee trekking expedition in Kibale National Park, while others opt for a boat cruise on the Victoria Nile to Murchison Falls.