Maputo
the capital, on a bay in the far south, with a Portuguese-era centre and the bay's seafood. Most international flights land here. The FCDO says street crime is common in Maputo, so we use taxis after dark rather than walking.
Africa
Mozambique
A long Indian Ocean coast of beaches, islands and diving, from Maputo and Tofo to the Bazaruto Archipelago and the Island of Mozambique.
- Currency
- Mozambican Metical (MZN)
- Language
- Portuguese
- Best time
- May – September (dry season)
- Visa
- Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) required for tourist visits up to 30 days: apply and pay on evisa.gov.mz at least 5 working days ahead (about US$47, per FCDO). It cannot be paid on arrival.
FCDO advises against all travel to parts of Mozambique
FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of Mozambique
See which areas are affected
Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office — the definitive source. Check it close to your travel dates.
Flight cancelled or delayed because of this? Your rights under UK261 / EU261 →
Why visit
Why Mozambique
A long Indian Ocean coast of beaches, islands and diving, from Maputo and Tofo to the Bazaruto Archipelago and the Island of Mozambique.
- Maputo & its bay
- Tofo & the Inhambane coast
- Ponta do Ouro
- Dhows in the Bazaruto Archipelago
- Gorongosa National Park
- Island of Mozambique (UNESCO)
- Piri-piri prawns & matapa
- Timbila & marrabenta music
Read more
Mozambique runs for a very long way down the Indian Ocean coast of southern Africa, and most visitors come for that coast: warm water, offshore islands, seafood and a mix of African, Arab and Portuguese history you can still see in the buildings. It takes more planning than its neighbours. Flights connect, roads are slow, and the far north has serious security problems, so we plan trips around the south, the centre and the Island of Mozambique, and check the FCDO advice before booking anything.
Where to go
The regions of Mozambique
The south coast
Ponta do Ouro, close to the South African border, and Tofo, near the old town of Inhambane, are the beach and diving bases of the south. Our stay near Inhambane is Sussurro.
The Bazaruto Archipelago
a group of islands off Vilankulo, protected as a national park, with dhow trips, snorkelling and a handful of island lodges such as andBeyond Benguerra Island. Vilankulo has its own airport.
Gorongosa National Park
in Sofala province in the centre, and one of Africa's best-known wildlife recoveries. The park's own advice is to fly to Beira, then drive about four hours (200 km) to Chitengo camp; the park can arrange the transfer, and Air Gorongosa flies charters into the park.
The Island of Mozambique
a small coral island in Nampula province, joined to the mainland by a causeway, and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1991. Its stone town and reed-roofed macuti town were built the same way for five centuries. Our Island of Mozambique guide has the detail; the nearest airport is Nampula.
A note on safety
The far north: the Quirimbas Archipelago lies off Cabo Delgado province, where the FCDO advises against all travel (apart from Palma town and the area around Pemba and Afungi, which are all but essential travel only). We are not recommending it while that advice stands, and we do not recommend the advise-against districts of Niassa province either, which take in much of the Niassa Special Reserve.
Mozambique in pictures
A pillar, not a footnote
Eat your way through Mozambique
The single reason many travellers come back — the food culture worth reshaping a trip around, and the dishes to seek out region by region.
Mozambique
Piri-piri prawns off the grill and Portuguese bread on the side — the Indian Ocean coast at its most delicious.
Mozambique's kitchen is where Africa, Portugal and the Indian Ocean meet. On the coast that means seafood and fire: fat prawns and crayfish split and grilled, then lashed with piri-piri — the bird's-eye chilli, garlic, lemon and vinegar sauce this country gave the world. You eat them with your fingers, a cold 2M beer sweating on the table, Portuguese bread rolls to mop the juices.
Away from the grill the flavours turn deeper: matapa, cassava leaves stewed slow with ground peanuts and coconut milk, often with prawns folded through and spooned over rice. Five centuries of Portugal left prego steak rolls and rissóis prawn pastries on every corner; the northern coast leans Swahili-spiced, the south more Lisbon. Coconut, cassava leaf and chilli — taste those three and you've tasted Mozambique.
Dishes to seek out
- Piri-piri prawns (chilli-grilled prawns)
- Matapa (cassava leaves in peanut-coconut sauce)
- Frango à piri-piri (grilled chilli chicken)
- Xima (maize-meal porridge)
- Caril de caranguejo (coconut crab curry)
- Rissóis de camarão (fried prawn pastries)
- 2M (national lager)
Nature, culture and the outdoors
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Maputo and its bay
Maputo
The capital, on a bay in the far south, with a Portuguese-era centre.
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Tofo and Ponta do Ouro
The south coast
The beach and diving bases of the south: Tofo near the old town of Inhambane, and Ponta do Ouro close to the South African border.
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Dhows in the Bazaruto Archipelago
Off Vilankulo
Islands protected as a national park, with dhow trips, snorkelling and a handful of island lodges. Vilankulo has its own airport.
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Gorongosa National Park
Sofala
One of Africa's best-known wildlife recoveries. The park's advice: fly to Beira, then drive about four hours (200 km) to Chitengo camp; it can arrange the transfer.
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The Island of Mozambique
Nampula
A coral island joined to the mainland by a causeway and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1991, with a stone town and a reed-roofed macuti town.
All our Mozambique guides
- Mozambique island
Where to stay
Browse all Mozambique stays → Hand-checked places in Mozambique
Plan
Getting there, getting around and where to stay
Getting there from the UK
There are no direct flights from the UK. The simplest route is via Johannesburg: British Airways flies there from London in about 11 hours, and Airlink flies on from Johannesburg to Maputo and to Vilankulo, and to Beira for Gorongosa. TAP flies to Maputo from Lisbon and Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa. Within the country, the national airline, LAM (now AirMozambique), links Maputo with Inhambane, Vilankulo, Beira, Chimoio and Nampula. Distances are long and the FCDO advises travelling by road outside the cities in daylight only, so we fly the long hops. If you drive, a UK photocard licence is valid for up to 90 days, and you must carry two warning triangles and reflective vests; police checks are frequent.
When to go
Weather & timing in Mozambique RIGHT NOW 26°C mostly clear
Best Jun–Aug · Shoulder Apr, Oct–Nov
Units
Next 7 days
Forecast · Met Office · updated 13 Nov · Powered by Met Office data
Typical · climate data
Best time to visit
May – September (dry season)
Best for
At a glance
Part of East Africa →
Sunshine 10.1 hr/day
Rainfall 69 mm/mo
Wettest February · 182.8mm
Driest August · 8.8mm
By season
Units
Spring (Sep–Nov)
What to expect — Daytime highs average about 28°C with overnight lows near 19°C.
What's best — Warm & dry, then Warm, then Shoulder season. Sep and Oct are among the best months here (warm & dry, sunny).
Summer (Dec–Feb)
What to expect — Daytime highs average about 30°C with overnight lows near 23°C — the wettest stretch of the year.
What's best — Wet, then Warm.
Autumn (Mar–May)
What to expect — Daytime highs average about 28°C with overnight lows near 20°C.
What's best — Shoulder season, then Warm, then Warm & dry. Apr and May are among the best months here (warm, sun and cloud).
Winter (Jun–Aug)
What to expect — Daytime highs average about 25°C with overnight lows near 15°C, and it stays largely dry.
What's best — Warm & dry. Jun, Jul and Aug are among the best months here (warm & dry, sunny).
Local weather agencies
- Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INAM) · National service
- Météo-France La Réunion: cyclone centre (RSMC La Réunion) · south-west Indian Ocean cyclones
Heat, rain and the best months, region by region
Our climate data for Maputo shows average highs of about 25°C in June and July, rising to about 30°C from December to February, so it is warm rather than very hot. The dry season, May to September, is the best time: July and August average around 10 mm of rain each. The wet season brings much more, about 144 mm in December and 183 mm in February. The FCDO says cyclones and floods are common in the rainy season from November to April, when roads, including in Maputo, can flood at short notice; INAM, the national weather service, and Météo-France's cyclone centre on La Réunion issue the warnings.
| Area | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maputo | 30 | 30 | 30 | 28 | 27 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Colours as on the month tiles above. Bold: hot, 32°C or more (go early or late in the day). Outlined: very hot, 35°C or more. Wet: 150 mm of rain or more.
A little context
A little history
To read what you're looking at — the empires and eras that shaped Mozambique's food, art and streets.
Swahili-Arab trading ports such as Ilha de Moçambique and Sofala linked the coast to Indian Ocean gold and ivory from before 1000 CE — leaving a Swahili-Islamic culture and coral-stone architecture now UNESCO-listed — reached by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and built into Portuguese East Africa by 1885, which gave the country its language, Catholic faith and piri-piri-and-bread food culture — independent under FRELIMO on 25 June 1975 — then torn by a civil war from 1977 to 1992 that killed around a million — and since 2017 destabilised by an Islamist insurgency in far-northern Cabo Delgado, the fact behind current travel restrictions there, even as southern beaches thrive.
Culture
Culture and etiquette
Food and culture
The coast eats seafood: prawns grilled with piri-piri, crab curry with coconut, and matapa, cassava leaves stewed with peanut and coconut. Portuguese rolls and pastries are everywhere, and 2M is the local beer, though drinking alcohol on public beaches is illegal. The Chopi timbila, xylophone orchestras from the south, are on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and marrabenta is the dance music you will hear in Maputo.
Practical
Entry, money and health
Entry and visas (British passport holders)
British citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for tourist visits of up to 30 days. Apply and pay on the official portal, evisa.gov.mz, at least five working days before you travel; you cannot pay at the border. The FCDO puts the fee at about US$47. Your passport needs six months' validity on arrival and two blank pages, and you may be asked for proof of accommodation, an onward ticket and funds. The currency is the metical (MT), issued by the Banco de Moçambique; US dollars and South African rand are the easiest to exchange, Mastercard is not always accepted, and you must carry your passport at all times, as police will not accept copies.
Read the FCDO travel advice for Mozambique in full. As of 28 October 2026 it advises against all travel to most of Cabo Delgado, to the Memba and Eráti districts of Nampula and to the Mecula and Marrupa districts of Niassa, and warns of a terrorist threat in the north, protests that can start at short notice, carjacking and kidnap for ransom, mainly in Maputo. Malaria risk is high across the country and TravelHealthPro recommends antimalarials; there is also a cholera outbreak in central and northern areas.
UK government travel advice
Read the FCDO's travel advice for Mozambique travel guide before booking and again before you go; it changes, and it is the official word on safety and entry.
Sources · last checked 28 October 2026
We write this guide from official sources only: GOV.UK, national immigration portals, tourism boards, airports and operators, central banks and met services. Rules change, so check the linked pages before you book.
- FCDO advises against all travel to Cabo Delgado except Palma town and area around Pemba an: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- FCDO page last updated: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- ETA required for tourist visits up to 30 days, apply ≥5 working days ahead, not payable on: visa_note (checked 2026-10-28)
- Official ETA/eVisa portal: visa_note (checked 2026-10-28)
- USD and ZAR main exchange currencies; Mastercard not always accepted: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Currency issuer: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Cholera outbreak in central and northern areas: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Emergency numbers: emergency_number (checked 2026-10-28)
- High malaria risk; antimalarials recommended: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Maputo average highs: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- BA London–Johannesburg flight time: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Airlink Johannesburg–Maputo direct: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Airlink Johannesburg–Vilankulo direct: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- TAP Lisbon–Maputo: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Ethiopian Addis Ababa–Maputo: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- LAM/AirMozambique domestic points: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Gorongosa access: Beira then ~4 h / 200 km to Chitengo; park closes 6 pm: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Gorongosa is in Sofala province: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Island of Mozambique UNESCO World Heritage: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
- Chopi timbila UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage: mediumDescription (checked 2026-10-28)
Before you book
Know before you go
The practical back-matter — safety, drones and the essentials, in one place.
Safety
2 FCDO advisories in force — see above FCDO advice →
Official UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office guidance is the definitive source — check it close to your travel dates.
Drone rules (sub-250g)
- Mozambique Flyable with paperwork: register the drone with IACM and file a letter of notification at least a week ahead, then fly low, by day and within sight. Generally one drone per person through customs. ⚠ Marine and national parks (Bazaruto, Quirimbas, Gorongosa) restrict drones, and the Cabo Delgado insurgency zone in the north is a de-facto no-fly area — confirm approvals with IACM. Rules checked: Jul 2026
National parks, protected sites and religious/heritage venues often have their own rules and permits — always check the specific site before you fly.
The essentials
Plug & voltage Type C/F/M · 220V
Daily budget Mid-range (island resorts and marine-park fees add up)
Region Eastern Africa