Virunga National Park
Visitors to Virunga National Park usually fly into Kigali International Airport and take the 3+ hour taxi ride to the border crossing at Gisenyi, Rwanda / Goma, DRC. Take note of the details of your tourists travel arrangements and plan accordingly as international flights often arrive in the late afternoon or evening.
Alternatively, guests can fly into Goma airport. Ethiopian Airlines and many domestic DRC airlines fly into Goma. It is advised to book accommodation in Goma on the day of your arrival since flights are regularly delayed.
Transportation
If you are arriving to DRC by car, the entry point for visitors travelling to Virunga National Park is through the city of Goma at the Grand Barrière border crossing. The best way to reach Goma by road is through neighboring Rwanda. Goma is three-hours by car from Kigali International Airport. Package booked via a tourist operator, the tour operator is free to organize your own transport within Goma, however, it is mandatory that travel to, from and within the Park be with official Virunga transport as well bring the tourists to point of departure in a timely manner. Please note for all packages, tourists will start and end at the Goma Tourism Office.
Arrival Times for Packages
On arrival in DRC, all tourists must go to the tourism office and check in with their tourism team. On the day of the start of their package the tourists must check in for their package at the tourism office (the tourism office is now located in the DRC building of Grande Barrier). All transport to the park will depart from the office; there will be no other departure points.
- Nyiragongo – arrive Grande Barrier at 7:00am and must check into the tourism office at the latest 8:00am
- Mikeno Mist – arrive Grande Barrier at 10:30am and must check into the tourism office at the latest 11:15am.
- Tchegera – the boat will leave the dock at 12:30 and return at 13:30
Please note, failure to arrive at the require times will mean that your tourist will not be able to travel on their package that day and could result in the loss of the full booking with no refund.