Nkhata Bay

How to get from Lilongwe to Nkhata Bay

It takes approximately 6 hours to travel by bus from Lilongwe to Mzuzu but then if you are wondering how to get from Lilongwe to Nkhata Bay, you should know it takes that little bit longer.

Taking a bus from Lilongwe to Nkhata Bay

Firstly, there is no direct bus from Lilongwe to Nkhata Bay (Which is a shame, there should be) but what you can do, is take a bus from Lilongwe to Mzuzu Town and then onward from there to Nkhata Bay. At one point there was a way to travel along the lake all the way north but this is no longer possible unless you want to take 20 different minibus rides to get there.

Mzuzu is relatively small but there is a large shopping centre with a Shoprite in the middle, banks, Atm’s, exchange and everything else really so if you want to shop before heading to Nkhata Bay but don’t fancy doing it in Lilongwe, you can do so here when changing bus. The cost of the bus from Liongwe to Nkhata Bay is cheap and it is reasonably comfortable but expect a smaller minibus to Nkhata Bay.

Taxi from Lilongwe to Nkhata Bay

It is possible for sure but you can expect to pay in excess of $100 to go by taxi to Nkhata Bay. That being said, it goes direct so no changing buses and no delays, if you have a few people to travel with you then this might be a good option.

Minibus to Nkhata Bay

As mentioned above, you can take a minibus (Matatu) to Nkhata Bay but they are not the safest in terms of how fast they travel and how many people are on board.

Or maybe Fly to Mzuzu

Another option although the timing is rarely what you want, you can fly from Lilongwe to Mzuzu and then travel to Nkhata Bay.

The roads are pretty good and a lot better than you might imagine for somewhere in this part of the world but there are always delays along the way from police checkpoints to chickens crossing the road. Sit back, treat it like an adventure and enjoy – taking the bus from Lilongwe to Nkhata Bay is not the worst in the world !

Don’t forget to check out all the best Malawi day tours when you get there !

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