Masvingo Zimbabwe

The home of the Great Zimbabwe Ruins

Masvingo in Zimbabwe is amongst the top cities in Zimbabwe. It is the capital of Masvingo province and is located in the south-eastern part of the country. The capital of Zimbabwe is Harare. Masvingo is essentially a tourist city because of the massive and amazing Great Zimbabwe monument located a few kilometers from the city itself.

The city has a significant number of people as its populace with a small central business district where grocery supplies can be purchased. There are also restaurants and take-aways to access Zimbabwe food. Banking facilities are also available in Masvingo with international banks such as Barclays Bank present. These now accept international credit cards. Now that Zimbabwe currency is essentially foreign currency, it is much easier to find basic supplies in shops including fuel for cars. It is also less of a hassle to be dealing with any Zimbabwe exchange rate as was the case during the dark Zimbabwe dollar days.

Masvingo is not serviced by any commercial airlines. Most visitors drive. Charter aircraft can be arranged from Harare International Airport or Charles Prince Airport in Harare. However only small aircraft like the Cessna and other slightly bigger ones will be able to access Masvingo.

A visitor on a Zimbabwe trip to Masvingo from say the USA or Europe typically takes the following route. Fly into Johannesburg, South Africa. Connect on South African Airways into Harare (afternoon or evening). Drive from Harare to Masvingo. Or fly from London direct to Harare on Air Zimbabwe ( British Airways removed direct flights to Harare sighting poor business performance). Then drive from Harare to Masvingo. It is also possible to fly into Johannesburg South Africa and drive by road some gruesome 800 km or 500 miles to Masvingo.

Once in Harare it is possible to hire a car to travel to Masvingo with. In Harare there are car hire companies such as Europecar and Avis.

The city is some 300km south of Harare and is linked to the country's capital by a tared road which passes through the city all the way to the boarder with South Africa at Beitbridge border post. It is therefore possible to drive from South Africa to Masvingo in Zimbabwe. This highway has some toll gates along the way requiring all small vehicles to pay about US$1.00 (one dollar) per crossing.

For visitors extra care is needed on the Masvingo highway which is notorious for deadly accidents. The wife of Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai died in a freak accident in 2009 on this same highway.

The highest institution of learning in Masvingo is the Masvingo State University. The city also has full fledged police service, hospitals, doctors and pharmacies for any medication requirements.

Visitors to Masvingo report a great hospitality of the Zimbabwe people. The most popular hotel in Masvingo is Great Zimbabwe Hotel which is owned and operated by African Sun Hotels with head office in Harare. It is possible to make your booking via central reservations in Harare or over the internet by email.

There are other hotels and bed and breakfast facilities in Masvingo Zimbabwe but these are outdone by Great Zimbabwe Hotel due to its close proximity to the great Zimbabwe monument. Whilst in Masvingo you may also find Zimbabwe stone art and craft works. You may also purchase special Zimbabwe clothing garments such as batiks.

Many foreign visitors have favorable memories of Masvingo in general and great Zimbabwe hotel in particular.

 Do you have  an experience to share on Masvingo Zimbabwe? Submit your experience below