From the airport to the city centre Rwanda
Kigali International Airport is located 12 km east of the city. It takes about 25 minutes to reach the city center. Cabs are available 24 hours a day. The fare to the center is US$20 or the equivalent in Rwandan francs. Most hotels in Kigali can arrange for transfers on arrival and departure. Depending on the hotel, the transfer is free. Kigali Bus Service (KBS) also operates an hourly bus service between Kigali Airport and the Union Trade Center (UTC). The bus stop is located less than 400 meters from the terminal on KN5. The fare is 1,000 Frw.
Public transport Rwanda
You will have no trouble getting around by public transport in Rwanda. There are numerous regional buses and minibuses connecting most cities. Some companies provide international connections to Kampala in Uganda, Bujumbura in Burundi (regularly suspended due to tensions between the two countries - ask for information) and even Nairobi in Kenya. In Kigali, the main train station is in Nyabugogo. Companies usually run from dawn to dusk, very rarely after.
Bike, scooters & co Rwanda
Motorcycles and "motobylettes" are mostly found in the cities, less so between cities. Bicycles remain one of the main means of transportation for Rwandans, and you will see them along the roads, loaded with people (bicycle-taxis) or various products: banana bunches, beer shipments, chickens and turkeys, construction materials, wood, sugar cane, loads of carrots, potatoes and other vegetables, mattresses, furniture, water cans, milk, bags of rice... everything goes! You will see them speeding down the hills, often without braking, or painfully pushing up the hills on foot. Expatriates and Rwandans alike are increasingly cycling from Kigali, at least on Sundays. It is quite possible to rent road bikes or mountain bikes for a day or several days. But be careful: the protection of "weak users" is still far from being a reality in Rwanda. It is the law of the strongest: the truck chases the car, which chases the motorcycle, which chases the bicycle, which chases the pedestrian... The same type of remark is valid for motorized two-wheelers, to which motorists do not pay much more attention. The best thing to do if you want to travel by bike is to contact a travel agency. Mercator Assistance, whose director is a cycling enthusiast, offers various mountain bike tours, including the famous Congo Nil Trail along Lake Kivu.
With a driver Rwanda
Cabs are readily available, especially in the capital. An application, Yego (Yego Cabs and Yego Moto), to be downloaded on a smartphone, allows to order safe and affordable rides. Service available only in Kigali. You can also call 911. Motorcycle cabs are ubiquitous (very numerous in the capital) and cheaper. Drivers must have helmets for passengers by law; you should not have to pay more than Rwf 1,000 for a motorcycle ride in the capital. Drivers drive carefully, and if they don't, tell them, they will adjust. Another cab service, "Move," run by Volkswagen, via an app you can download on your smartphone, also offers 24-hour service in Kigali.
By car Rwanda
Driving is on the right, as in Europe. The paved roads are in excellent condition. Traffic, with the exception of Kigali, remains very moderate, even at peak times. We are far from the traffic jams and chaos that most African megacities can experience. A European driving license is sufficient for a limited time.
When renting a vehicle, especially if you plan to drive in the interior of the country, the fuel budget is important and must be taken into account(especially when renting an off-road vehicle, which is much more fuel hungry). All the big cities have gas stations, and in any case the distances are short. In case of a breakdown, the main roads and good tracks are usually close to a town, big or small, so it is quite easy to repair the vehicle there, except in case of replacement of a particular and hard to find broken part. Fortunately, these extreme situations are rather rare and in most cases, the breakdowns find a solution on the spot. The resourcefulness of Rwandans is phenomenal: in case of breakdown, they will be numerous to offer their services. They are able, for example, to repair in the dark a defective window mechanism after having disassembled and reassembled the whole door in less than an hour, with only one tool... Something seen in Musanze! When a vehicle is broken down (or crashed), other users are alerted to the presence of the vehicle by putting branches on the road or on the track.
The car fleet is in relatively good condition, as the police carry out strict controls and cars must undergo regular technical inspections. However, care should be taken when driving, especially when overtaking and crossing towns. The speed limit is 60 km/h on most roads in Rwanda (rarely 80 km/h) and there are many fixed and mobile speed cameras. Excessive speeding will be punished by a fine of 25,000 Frw. Beware of bicycles too, especially when they arrive in front of you on a slope, loaded with banana bunches... When, on a track, you meet a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, you have to press your fingers on the windshield, to avoid that a possible stone thrown by the other vehicle makes it burst.
Accessibility Rwanda
The Rwandan Federation of Transport Cooperatives (RFTC) has put into service a dozen buses designed to allow people with reduced mobility to board and disembark without assistance. However, Rwanda is a hilly country, nothing is flat and ramps are not yet widespread.
