The Best Places to Go in Africa in 2025

For luxe safari lodges, a landmark museum opening, and island-hopping in the Indian ocean.

Photo: James Bedford

By Sarah Khan

If you were looking to this list to help you narrow down your options for the best places to go in Africa in 2025, we’re going to apologize right now: Given the abundance of thrilling new openings to choose from, chances are, when you finish reading, your travel wish list will be longer than ever. But before you blow your budget entirely, a good place to start could be figuring out your “why”—what is it that excites you most about your next trip, and why do you travel?

There are myriad compelling reasons dotting the continent in the year ahead. Do arts and culture appeal to your creative side? Then a landmark museum in Nigeria beckons. If a leisurely sailing journey is your vibe, might we suggest one of several Nile river cruises? There’s something for every kind of beach lover, too—unwind on a secluded Zanzibari strand, cheer on your team at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Seychelles, or savor under-the-radar culinary discoveries in Djerba, a beguiling Tunisian island that’s been anointed the World Capital of Island Cuisine. Maybe you’re looking for fresh reasons to revisit an old favorite—then look no further than Cape Town and the Winelands, a long-beloved region in the throes of an exciting hotel and restaurant boom. And for anyone plotting out their next big safari, the choices are endless: classics like Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater and Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park are brimming with stunning new camps, while ambitious openings bring attention to lesser-visited stretches of Zambia and Kenya. Hmmm—we haven’t made your planning any easier, have we? —Sarah Khan

The Best Places to Go in Africa in 2024

Cape Town and the Winelands

Go for: a hotel boom and a dizzying array of additions to an already vibrant dining scene

On a private estate in Franschhoek, La Residence will soon offer a fully staffed private villa with six bedrooms and a games room. Photo: La Residence | A new speakeasy will make Fyn, a 50 Best stalwart, an even bigger draw of Cape Town's gourmet dining scene. Photo: Bruce Tuck/Fyn

There’s a hotel boom afoot in Cape Town, as a host of global brands will arrive in the Mother City in the year ahead. The fun-loving Mama Shelter, with rooftop dining and a bowling arcade, will open its doors on the foodie mile of Bree Street, and in Camps Bay, guests can stay at a 92-key ocean-view Autograph Collection by Marriott. Come 2025, at the V&A Waterfront, the beloved Table Bay Hotel first opened by the late Nelson Mandela, is returning as an Intercontinental after a $55 million makeover. But the most exciting openings are from proudly South African brands: Newmark Hotels is pioneering the 21-suite Apostle Battery Mountain Lodge in the Table Mountain National Park above Llandudno beach, an ambitious restoration of a historic military site. Kove Collection’s new, full-service boutique hotel in Sea Point will have 60 luxe sea-view suites, a spa, and a street-side cocktail lounge. And Noah Hotels’ second property, Amé by Noah, has just opened in an equally chic Victorian in Tamboerskloof.

Signature restaurants are also coming to the fore. In tony Bantry Bay, the ultra-exclusive Ellerman House will waive its residents-only policy for the first time when it launches a seasonal pop-up restaurant helmed by executive chef Kieran Whyte in the hotel’s intimate wine gallery. Celebrity chef David Higgs has brought his fire-concept Marble Restaurant from Johannesburg to the V&A Waterfront, and Peter Tempelhoff’s World’s 50 Best stalwart Fyn has plans to add a speakeasy-style sake bar.

The excitement carries over into the historic Cape Winelands, where a meticulous restoration of Spier Wine Farm in Stellenbosch will wrap up in March with an 80-suite hotel and a wellness center. Nearby in the Franschhoek Valley, the Royal Portfolio unveils Franschhoek House this December at La Residence, a fully staffed, colorfully decorated private villa with six bedrooms and a games room. And Magnas Tours and Transfers’ privately chauffeured wine tours, promising exclusive access to farms not on the well-trodden Wine Tram route, will be a game changer when it begins in summer 2025. —Jane Broughton

Djerba, Tunisia

Go for: a multicultural North African take on Mediterranean island vibes; culinary revivals; street art steeped in history

With 1,000-year-old villages, turquoise beaches, and plenty of delicious food—it's no wonder that Djerba is called the Island of Dreams. Photo: Hans Georg Roth/Getty

Home to Africa’s oldest synagogue, more than 300 mosques, a Catholic church, and a thousand-year-old village bedecked in contemporary murals, Djerba is a delightfully unorthodox—and much needed—reminder that humans thrown together in splendid isolation can get things right. This island of date palms and olive groves, which sits on the southern edge of the Mediterranean Sea and is said to be the real-life Land of the Lotus Eaters (where Odysseus’s men consumed mythical fruits that vanquished all thoughts of home), is trading in more benign forms of culinary bewitchment these days. As host of the first-ever World Capital of Island Cuisine festival in 2025, Djerba will welcome chefs representing island cuisines from around the globe in a competition for gastronomical glory, with live music and nautical activities as the anticipated supporting acts. Foodies who can’t make the festival can still enjoy Destination Djerba’s recently launched “culinary/culture” tours. An homage to the island’s artisanal olive oil industry, events like gourmet workshops (think local chefs and mixologists playing with regional flavors) and olive oil tastings are reanimating the island’s ancient underground mills. Lest you forget that Djerba is also a famous beach escape—complete with turquoise waters, flocks of flamingos, and well-dressed camels— Marriott Djerba, An All-Inclusive Resort will open on the island in the latter half of the year. Looking for something more intimate? The beloved Dar Dhiafa guesthouse, a gem of traditional architecture, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a renovation that promises a stunning refresh by summer 2025. Finally, Easy Jet’s November 2024 addition of two direct flight routes from the UK (London and Manchester), combined with Tunisia’s recently announced visa-free policy for 95 countries, makes it easier than ever to access the aptly named Island of Dreams. —Lee Middleton

Laikipia, Northern Kenya

Go for: a tranquil, wildlife-rich alternative to the Masai Mara

Laikipia boasts the second-largest elephant population in Kenya, and more endangered species than anywhere else in East Africa. Photo: Crookes And Jackson | When luxury lodge Segera opens in 2025, it will become part of an ambitious plan to create one of the largest interconnected rhino sanctuaries in the world. Photo: Crookes And Jackson

Stretching from the Rift Valley to the slopes of Mount Kenya, the vast Laikipia Plateau is a compelling alternative to the Masai Mara—where overcrowding can impact the wilderness experience, especially during the peak of the migration. Offering exclusivity regardless of the season, private conservation projects in Laikipia’s wildlife conservancies have a limited tourism footprint. Game viewing has the edge over the Mara, too: Laikipia boasts the second-largest elephant population in Kenya, and more endangered species than anywhere else in East Africa. Tracking black (or melanistic) leopards is on every wildlife photographer’s bucket list, and Laikipia is home to the largest known population. Half of Kenya’s rhinos are protected in private conservancies; when luxury lodge Segera opens its rhino sanctuary in 2025, it will become part of the Kenya Rhino Range Expansion (KRRE), an ambitious collaborative plan among neighboring conservancies to create one of the largest interconnected rhino sanctuaries in the world, straddling up to 840,000 acres. If you’re planning a safari in 2025, AndBeyond will have you covered when it opens its plush Suyian Lodge in July, as part of a regenerative project in the 44,478-acre Suyian Conservancy in partnership with global conservation charity Space for Giants. Built between ancient granite kopjes with Mount Kenya views, the lodge’s 14 luxury, low-impact suites will be among the largest in the region, starting at a generous 1,292 square feet each. —Jane Broughton

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Go for: game viewing at the edge of a volcanic crater

Ngorongoro's crater floor teems with wildlife—and supports large population of lions, spotted hyaenas, and rhino. Photo: Alberto Cassani/Getty | End your safari adventures with a sojourn on the sands of the beguiling archipelago of Zanzibar—new flights from Paris make it easier than ever to get here. Photo: Tom Parker

One of the world’s largest volcanic calderas has long been a top-tier safari destination, but there are compelling new reasons to visit Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater in 2025. In July, Lemala Camps & Lodges will open Lemala Osonjoi Lodge at the eastern edge of the crater; it will have 20 contemporary suites appointed with oversized beds and wood-burning stoves, a must in the region’s chilly highlands. Later in the year, Elewana will unveil Ngorongoro Explorer, the second hotel under its premier Explorer brand. Set at the highest point of the crater rim, the lodge looks down from 1,600 feet over the caldera. And there’s a reason so many travelers like to end their safari adventures with a sojourn on the sand: Bush and beach have been a pairing for the ages. The beguiling Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar is a natural add-on to any Ngorongoro Crater outing, and there are a handful of resorts worth keeping an eye on. Egyptian hotel group opened Jaz Adonia, a 182-room resort on a private beach in Uroa Bay, in October; Jaz Amaluna will follow in December; while Jaz Aurora is scheduled to open in early 2025. October also saw the reopening of AndBeyond Mnemba Island, a romantic getaway with 12 rustic-chic beachside bandas just off Zanzibar’s northeast coast, and in 2025, Marriott International brings its first Le Méridien property to the beaches of Bwejuu, on the main island’s east coast. There’s plenty of connectivity to both the Ngorongoro Crater and Zanzibar, but there’s always room for one more flight. In November, Air France inaugurates a Mount Kilimanjaro stop to its Paris-Zanzibar route, making it easier than ever to get here. —Mwende Mutuli Musau

The Nile River, Egypt

Go for: luxury cruises winding through ancient history

Pair a visit through Egypt's tourist circuit with a Nile sail along the iconic Luxor-Aswan circuit. Photo: Jérôme Galland | A host of new luxury riverboats will raise the bar for experiencing the teeming life along the Nile. Photo: Jérôme Galland

Tourists looking to pair the pharaonic sites of Upper Egypt with a sail down the Nile will be spoiled for choice this year, thanks to a host of new riverboats that promise to raise the bar for five-star experiences along the iconic Luxor-Aswan circuit. Oberoi has a busy year ahead: The Oberoi Zahra cruiser added a two-bedroom suite this October, and the brand is poised to introduce two new luxury dahabeyas to its fleet: The Oberoi Melouk and the Malekat Luxury Nile Dahabeyas, each with five cabins and two suites, are designed in collaboration with Egyptian architect Karim Mekhtigian and slated for an early-2025 launch. Viking unveiled the four-deck, 41-suite Viking Sobek—its sixth ship on the Nile—in October 2024, while German company TUI River Cruises makes its Nile debut with the 74-cabin adults-only Al Horeya, setting sail in November 2024, with packages that include direct charter flights to Luxor from London Gatwick and Manchester. And Abercrombie & Kent, a pioneer when it launched its first Nile cruise, in 1977, will add a fifth vessel to its fleet in late 2025. Arriving in Luxor is becoming easier than ever now, too, thanks to a new, twice-weekly EasyJet departure from Gatwick starting on November 11; the airline’s holiday division has also teamed up with Jaz Hotels and Resorts’ 21-ship fleet to offer Nile cruise packages. For those preferring to stay on land, Luxor’s beloved boutique hotel Al Moudira has plans to open 12 local artisan workshops in 2025 to help showcase local craftspersons and keep generations-old traditions alive. And the US Agency for International Development (USAID) concluded several multiyear cultural tourism projects across the country this year, including renovations at the Carter House and the Tombs of the Nobles sites in Luxor and, 35 miles south, the revitalization of key sites in Esna. Of course, a trip to Egypt is not complete without a visit to Cairo and the Pyramids of Giza. Winter 2025 will see the debut of the Jaz Palmira Pyramids Resort, and while it’s anyone’s guess when the much-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum will finally fully open, patrons can now book tours for the 12 main galleries, the Grand Staircase, and the Children’s Museum. The Tutankhamun galleries, which will feature all 5,000-plus artifacts discovered in the boy king’s tomb and two Khufu solar boats, remain under wraps—but there are promises that they are “coming soon.” —Nada El Sawy

Book a stay at Al Moudira

Southwestern Nigeria

Go for: a landmark new museum and a vibrant arts scene

Felabration is an annual festival honoring the legacy of Nigeria's musical legend, Fela Anikulakpo Kuti. Photo: Ebet Roberts/Getty | The opening of the Museum of West African Art in Benin City, closely linked with the projected restitution of Benin Bronzes from European collections, is a milestone cultural event. Photo: Museum of West African Art (MOWAA)

Nigeria has long been one of Africa’s most dynamic cultural destinations, and the global art world will be paying close attention as a major institution unveils its first phase this November in the western province of Edo. Following the repatriation of looted Benin Bronze statues and other valuables from European and American collections, the long-awaited arrival of the Museum of West African Art in Benin City is a milestone event, celebrating the restoration of lost cultural heritage. Designed by Adjaye Associates, led by famed Ghanaian British architect David Adjaye, the campus will include a Rainforest Gallery with 15,000 square feet of gallery space, an Art Guesthouse for visiting creatives, and an Artisans Hall that spotlights craft traditions from the region. While this museum’s opening may anoint Benin City as a buzzy new destination for art pilgrimages, Lagos, a 90-minute flight away, has long been a cultural capital in its own right. Each year the city hosts festivals that celebrate creativity and culture, including the Art X Lagos fair, the banner event on the calendar, and electrifying music events like the Lagos International Jazz Festival in April and the one-week Fela Kuti Felabration at the New Africa shrine every October. And there are new lodgings that will soon call the city home: In early 2025 Hyatt Regency will debut in the thriving commercial hub of Ikeja, followed by the plush Koko Beach Resort Ilashe Lagos, Curio Collection by Hilton, which will open its doors on Ilashe beach. In addition to a new Radisson hotel in Benin City gearing up to welcome travelers next year, the brand is set to open new properties in Abuja and Lagos. Flying to Lagos will also get easier courtesy of Delta Airlines, which revives its daily service from New York City in December, complementing its existing flights from Atlanta. Meanwhile, Nigerian carrier Air Peace, which launched a route to London Gatwick this March, also plans to debut flights to New York and Houston by the end of 2024. —Harriet Akinyi

Seychelles

Go for: island hopping with a side of beach soccer

With over a hundred paradisiacal islands to explore, Seychelles is a no-brainer—but in the summer of 2025 it will also host the Beach Soccer World Cup, marking the first time that this FIFA tournament will be played in Africa. Photo: Getty

It’s easy to see why the Seychelles is constantly compared to the Maldives: Both promise the paradisiacal landscapes that you’d expect of an archipelago in the Indian Ocean. A closer look, however, reveals that the Seychelles offers much more to explore than just sun loungers and plunge pools. In fact, we’d argue that its free-roaming giant tortoises, towering granite formations, fabled pirate treasures, and suggestive coco de mer seeds put the debate to rest. Between the luxury castaway feel of Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island, which opened earlier this year, and the organic design of Cheval Blanc Seychelles, launching at the end of 2024 on Mahé Island’s idyllic Anse Intendance beach, there are more reasons than ever to linger. Looking ahead, Fregate Island will reopen at the end 2025 after a three-year closure; occupying the easternmost of the granitic inner islands, this retreat is currently undergoing an ambitious restoration project that spans design upgrades and sustainability innovations. If you’re looking to poke around multiple islands—the archipelago has 115 to explore, after all—this winter the new six-stateroom catamaran Spirit of Ponant will start island-hopping in the Seychelles, and luxe cruise line Aqua Expeditions adds a sixth ship to its fleet in December 2025, sailing through the remote Aldabra Atoll. Also in December, the debut of the Indian Ocean itinerary of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s new yacht Luminara (launching in July 2025), with stops in Mauritius, Seychelles, and the Maldives. Back on land, the country will also host the Beach Soccer World Cup from May 1 to 11 in its capital of Victoria, marking the first time that this FIFA tournament will be played in Africa. —Samia Qaiyum

Uganda

Go for: luxe new lodges across several of the country’s national parks

Kibale Lodge, Volcanoes Safaris’ new chimpanzee lodge, is one among many new and reimagined lodges that offer fresh reasons to experience Uganda's exceptional wilderness. Photo: Shaun Ritchie/Kibale Lodge

“Put a stick in the ground and it will grow,” they say of the heart of Africa. From papyrus wetlands and semi-arid savannas, to gorilla trekking in mist-shrouded forests and marveling at alpine flora on snowcapped Mountains of the Moon—the nickname for the Rwenzori Mountain—Uganda offers wilderness in the raw, and in 2025 travelers will experience it in style. Gorilla Forest Camp, an A&K sanctuary in the heart of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park—home to more than half the world’s mountain gorilla population—has always offered unparalleled access, but in April 2025, it will open with a gorgeous new design after a complete rebuild. Also entirely reimagined and slated to open in early 2025 is neighboring Silverback Lodge, offering 12 sumptuously furnished “nests” by award-winning Hesse Kleinloog studio (responsible for Rwanda’s Singita Kwitonda). From either location, it’s fairly easy to tack on a stop in Kibale Forest National Park, and Volcanoes Safaris’ newly launched Kibale Lodge is an excellent reason to do so. At the end of 2025, you’ll also be able to base yourself at Lake Nyamirima Cottages, 30 minutes away, with views of surrounding crater lakes. A game changer for underrated Queen Elizabeth National Park is the opening of the River Station, the new luxury camp built by Wildplaces Africa on the banks of the Kazinga Channel. Wild Places is also busy in Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP) with Kulu Ora opening on a remote new concession on the banks of the Nile around Spring 2025. Elsewhere in MFNP, Pabidi Lodge, Budongo will be built by Great Lakes Safaris in their Budongo Forest conservancy, on the site of a former Jane Goodall research center. And with Uganda Airlines’ new direct flight from Heathrow to Entebbe, getting here, at least for UK visitors, is now a cinch. Karibu sana (or “welcome”). —Pippa de Bruyn

Zambia

Go for: new and revamped safari openings and epic wildlife restoration efforts

With forests, floodplains, and lagoons, Nsumbu National Park at the northernmost tip of Zambia is a pristine landscape with exceptional wildlife. Photo: Dana Allen/Chindeni | Chindeni, a micro-camp in the southern section of the Nsumbu National Park, will open in May with just four tents that include a spacious family option. Photo: Chindeni

Victoria Falls, locally called Mosi-oa-Tunya, is always worth a visit—but travelers in search of Zambia’s less-frequented falls should head north. In 2024, Proflight launched thrice-weekly flights from Lusaka to the town of Kasama, a starting point for a road trip to visit waterfalls such as Chishimba, Kalambo, and Lumangwe. Meanwhile, in the country’s northern reaches, a lion reintroduction project in Nsumbu National Park in late 2024 brings balance back to the landscape’s ecosystem. When the historic Chichele Presidential Lodge reopens in South Luangwa National Park after a refurbishment in March 2025, guests staying in each of the 10 suites will have endless views of the surrounding plains. Micro-camps are becoming the best way to explore this biodiverse country: The Bushcamp company’s Chindeni, in the southern section of the park, is also undergoing a transformation; it will open in May with just four tents including a family tent. In North Luangwa National Park, Classic Zambia safaris opens the three-tent Kutandala camp in July on the banks of the Mwaleshi River. Seasonal flights introduced by Proflight to Kafue National Park’s Chunga airstrip provide easier access to Africa’s second largest park—where Anantara Kafue River Tented Camp marks the brand’s first foray into safari lodges, with 12 plush tents tucked away between two islands in the Kafue River. —Mazuba Kapambwe

Read the original article on Condé Nast Traveler.