There are two (02) ways of getting to Bwindi from Gulu City. You can either get there by road or air. In this article, explain in detail what it involves for whichever mode you choose.
Getting to Bwindi from Gulu City
By Road:
The driving distance between Gulu to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is ±791 km/491 mi. The journey getting to Bwindi from Gulu by road takes approximately ±13 hours. This trip is not something you can do in one (01) day. You may consider breaking the trip into two (02) sections. The first section would be driving from Gulu through Murchison Falls National Park to Hoima Via the Bulisa route and continuing to Fort portal where you should consider staying overnight (See: Where to stay in Fort Portal). If you have the luxury of time and can afford to throw in a day, you should consider doing Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest National Park. Chimpanzee tracking In Kibale happens both in the morning (Am session starting at 8:00 am) and in the afternoon (PM session starting at 2:00 pm) – We recommend booking the morning sessions, however, this can be affected by the availability of permits at the time of booking your tour with Us.
Alternatively, if you are not into chimpanzee tracking, you may then opt to look through our comprehensive list of things to see & do in Kibale Forest National Park.
You will eventually continue your drive from Fort Portal to Bwindi Forest National Park to either Buhoma & Ruhija region. The other regions (Rushaga & Nkuringo) are a lot further and require extra hours of driving to get there.
- Fort Portal to Buhoma, you will require about ±6-hours to cover a distance of approximately 246 km/153 mi. (*Most recommended)
- Fort Portal to Ruhija, you will require about ±7-hours to cover a distance of approximately 268 km/167 mi.
- Fort Portal to Rushaga, you will require about ±9-hours to cover a distance of approximately 377 km/234 mi.
- Fort Portal to Nkuringo, you will require about ±9-hours to cover a distance of approximately 394 km/245 mi.
By Air:
You may hire a chartered flight to Bwindi departing out of Gulu airport and flying into Kihihi or Kisoro.
Bwindi Forest is only 40 Km/ 24 mi by road from Kihihi airport. You will be picked up at the airport in Kihihi by a representative of Realm Africa Safaris™.
Alternatively, you may drive to Pakuba or Bugugu airstrips in Murchison Falls National Park and get onto a scheduled aero link flight that takes you to Kihihi or Kisoro.
There is also the option of driving to Entebbe and flying to Bwindi aboard an aero link scheduled flight to Kihihi or Kisoro.
* Our recommendation is that you consider flying into Kihihi other than Kisoro because flying into Kisoro can be very challenging given the mist & fog cover that may last a couple of hours and thus affect your travel time(s) and further connections.
Our Popular Gorilla Safaris starting in Gulu
