Victoria Falls — One of the great natural spectacles on earth. The Zambezi River plunges over a 1,700-metre-wide basalt cliff into a narrow gorge, sending a column of spray visible from 50 kilometres away. The Zimbabwean side offers the best views, with a network of paths along the gorge rim through drenching spray and rainforest. At peak flow (February to May) you will get absolutely soaked. See Victoria Falls.
Hwange National Park — Zimbabwe's largest game reserve covers nearly 15,000 square kilometres of Kalahari sand woodland and grassland. It is home to one of Africa's biggest elephant populations — over 40,000 — along with lion, leopard, wild dog, giraffe and sable antelope. The park is less visited and less expensive than equivalents in Botswana or Kenya, which means you can have extraordinary sightings largely to yourself.
Matobo Hills — A landscape unlike anywhere else in Africa. Enormous granite boulders, some balancing improbably on top of each other, are scattered across the hills south of Bulawayo. The area is sacred to the Ndebele and was important to the San people, who left thousands of rock paintings in caves and overhangs. The hills shelter the world's densest population of leopards and the highest concentration of black eagles. Cecil Rhodes is buried here, on a hilltop he called "View of the World."
Great Zimbabwe — The largest stone ruins in sub-Saharan Africa, built between the 11th and 15th centuries by the ancestors of the Shona people. The Great Enclosure, with walls up to 11 metres high built entirely without mortar, is an extraordinary feat of engineering. The site gave the country its name — "zimbabwe" means "great house of stone" in Shona. See Great Zimbabwe.
Mana Pools National Park — A UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Zambezi floodplain, famous for walking safaris. This is one of the few parks in Africa where you can walk unguided among elephants, buffalo and hippos. The albida woodland along the river attracts huge concentrations of wildlife in the dry season, and the canoeing safaris on the Zambezi are unforgettable.
Eastern Highlands — Zimbabwe's mountainous eastern border with Mozambique is a world away from the hot lowveld. Misty peaks, tea and coffee plantations, trout streams, and hiking trails through indigenous forest. Mutare is the base for exploring Nyanga, Vumba and Chimanimani — the last of these a remote wilderness of quartzite peaks and mountain pools that rewards serious hikers. See Eastern Highlands.
Lake Kariba — A vast man-made lake on the Zambian border, fringed by drowned forests whose skeletal trees create an eerie, beautiful landscape. Kariba is famous for tigerfish, spectacular sunsets, and houseboat holidays. The Matusadona National Park on the southern shore offers excellent game viewing. See Lake Kariba.
Gonarezhou National Park — Zimbabwe's second-largest park and one of its wildest. The red Chilojo Cliffs towering above the Save River are the signature sight, but the real draw is the remoteness — you can drive for hours without seeing another vehicle. Part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park linking with Kruger in South Africa. See Gonarezhou.