Visit Kampala, Uganda

Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. It is a relatively safe city with a good range of accommodation options. You would use Kampala as a base for travelling further afield.

History of Kampala

The hills surrounding modern day Kampala had been at the political centre of the Kingdom of Buganda for many years before Captain Lugard, a representative of the British East Africa Company, set up camp on Kampala Hill in 1890.

The most significant point in the growth of Kampala was the arrival in 1901 of the railway line from Mombasa on the Kenyan coast. This allowed Kampala to become the trading centre of Uganda and a bustling city.

In the early years of independence, Kampala was considered to be the epitome of how an African city should develop but during the Idi Amin years the city disintegrated into chaos. However, during the 1990s, Kampala managed to regenerate itself and is now a typical African city.

Modern Kampala

In the centre is a small, bustling, high-rise modern business district surrounded by a spread of dusty but vibrant suburban sprawl switching between the extremes of wealth and poverty. On the outskirts of the city, the green and hilly suburbs merge into the surrounding rural countryside of banana, maize and millet plantations and cattle farms.

Although there is little of interest to tourists and it is not a particularly pretty place, Kampala is a pleasant and safe city.