Northern Malawi plateau city, useful for reaching Nyika, Vwaza Marsh, Livingstonia, and Nkhata Bay
Malawi's third-largest city sits at 1,000 metres on a cool, open plateau in the Northern Region, about 370km north of Lilongwe. It's a proper working city — a university town with a functioning airport and a commercial centre that has been growing steadily — rather than a tourist destination in its own right. Most travellers pass through on their way north or south, and that's not a bad instinct: Mzuzu is a useful base, not a highlight.
What makes it worth a stop is its position. The Nyika Plateau lies to the north, a vast 3,000-metre grassland with good wildlife, excellent hiking, and some of the finest views in Central Africa. The Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve is to the northwest. The historic Livingstonia Mission sits dramatically on an escarpment above Lake Malawi to the northeast, and Nkhata Bay — with its lake beaches and diving — is a couple of hours to the southeast. Mzuzu airport has flights to Lilongwe, Blantyre, and Karonga, and twice-weekly flights serve Nyika directly.
The city itself has everything you need: banks, fuel, supermarkets, and decent restaurants. The main market in the centre is the most interesting place to spend an hour, and the Mzuzu Coffee Den — the flagship shop of the country's only Fairtrade coffee cooperative — is the obvious place to wait for a bus or meet other travellers. Roads to both Nyika and Vwaza can deteriorate badly in the rainy season (November to April), so check conditions before heading out.
Guide
Eating Out
Mzuzu has a small but respectable selection of restaurants, mostly clustered around the centre of town and the few hotels along the main road. Expect Malawian staples — nsima with relish, grilled chambo fish, beef stew — with a smattering of Indian and continental options.
Mzuzu Hotel has a long-running restaurant that does a reliable buffet at lunch and a decent dinner menu; the gardens are pleasant in the cool of the evening. Sombrero does proper wood-fired pizza in a small dining room near the main road, often with live music at weekends. Mufasa Eco Lodge at the edge of town has a kitchen serving Malawian food on a deck overlooking the bush — popular with NGO staff. For something quick and cheap, the Indian-run Sunbird Bakery does samosas, pies, and pastries to take away.
The Mzuzu Coffee Den (see Things to Do) is the obvious all-day option for a sandwich, a salad, and decent coffee.
Guide
Getting There
Mzuzu sits on the M1, the main road that runs the length of Malawi from Karonga in the north to Blantyre in the south. The road is tarred and in reasonable condition; allow about six hours from Lilongwe by car or AXA executive coach (the coaches run twice daily and are by far the most comfortable bus option). From Nkhata Bay on the lake, it is a slow, scenic two hours up the escarpment.
Mzuzu Airport is 4 km west of town and has flights several times a week to Lilongwe with Malawian Airlines, plus a twice-weekly service to Nyika that lets you skip the long drive in. Internal flights are not cheap by African standards but save a full day each way over road travel.
