By plane

There are direct international flights into Kigali from Brussels (twice per week). There are also daily flights from Entebbe airport in Uganda, Johannesburg and Addis Ababa. Additionally, there are connections twice a day from Nairobi, and several flights a week to Bujumbura. Note that the Rwandan capital is also easily accessible (3hrs by road) from the Goma airstrip in DRC.

By car
By bus

In Uganda, several bus companies make the 8 hour journey from Kampala in Uganda to Kigali. The bus costs 15,000 or 20,000 /= (roughly US$7.50-10) depending on the time you chose to travel, early morning being cheaper. (As of Jan 31, 2011, it costs 7000 Rwandan Francs from Kigali to Kampala on Horizon. Jaguar costs between 6000-8000 RFr–early buses are cheaper).

Tanzania has one open border with Rwanda, but this is a far more difficult way to enter Rwanda due to the remoteness and lack of roads in western Tanzania. A bus runs from Mwanza to Benako (both Tanzania) and from Benako buses run onto Kigali. Another town to consider on this route is Ngara (Tanzania).

Several buses run from Dar es Salaam via Morogoro and Dodoma (they all leave Ubungo bus station around 6 – 7am) to Kahama daily. You will have to spend the night in Kahama and then get a minibus or shared taxi on to the boarder. From the Rwandan side of the boarder, there are minibuses to Kigali.

In Burundi, there are two ways to enter from Rwanda, and security in the border areas varies. For the intrepid, there is a daily direct service from Kigali to Bujumbura operated by Yahoo Car, and since 2007, a new “luxury” service operated by Belvedere Lines. If there are security concerns on the Bujumbura – Butare – Kigali route, it is also possible to go along the road bordering (but not entering) DRC. You will probably have to do this in a series of minibuses via Cibitoke, Bugerama (Rwanda) and Cyangugu (Rwanda). With both of these routes, check the security situation with your embassy (the Belgian embassy has the best information).

For Democratic Republic of the Congo, much of the country remains off limits to many tourists due to instability, though Goma and Bukavu can be visited easily from Rwanda.
By train

In 2009, Rwanda & Tanzania announced a plan to build a railway line between Isaka, Tanzania and Kigali.

Get around

Short distances can be travelled either on foot, or by taxi-velo (bicycle taxi). Taxi-velos are widespead, and are relatively inexpensive but not allowed in urban areas. A taxi-velo driver will cycle, and the passenger will sit rather precariously on the back. Motorcycle taxis (taxi-moto) are also popular, especially in Kigali, a normal journey will cost from 40c-$1. Slightly longer distances, indeed the whole country, can be travelled by Matatu (or Twegerane, literaly let get closer). These white minibuses are found throughout East Africa, and are crammed full of adults, children, and anything else you can think of (bags, chickens).