Burundi is open to tourism and receives visitors regularly, but it remains a genuinely under-visited country, and it is worth being honest about what that means in practice rather than glossing over it.

Tourism infrastructure is far less developed than in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda or Tanzania. There are fewer established tour operators, fewer English-speaking guides, and accommodation options are more limited outside Bujumbura, particularly at the higher end. This is not the same as being unsafe, but it does mean you should treat a Burundi trip as requiring more planning and a well-connected local operator, rather than something you can improvise easily.

The situation on the ground has been considerably calmer in recent years compared with the political instability of the mid-2010s, and Bujumbura in particular functions as a normal, liveable capital city day to day. That said, we always recommend checking current travel advisories from your own government before booking, as with any country, and staying informed rather than relying on general reputation either way.

What draws people who do visit is genuine: Lake Tanganyika’s beaches on Burundi’s side are beautiful and largely undeveloped, the drumming heritage is a genuinely world class cultural experience, and the country has a rawness and lack of tourist infrastructure that some travellers find appealing precisely because so few people go.

We would recommend Burundi as an add-on for travellers who have already done Rwanda or Tanzania and want something further off the beaten path, arranged through an operator with real local contacts, rather than as a first standalone East Africa trip.