How To Plan The Ultimate Namibia Road Trip Itinerary

There are few countries on earth with so many unique landscapes, endless deserted roads, fantastic wildlife viewing and skies filled with a billion stars. Namibia is the epitome of a road trip destination and we’re here to help you plan your perfect Namibia road trip itinerary.

We’re lucky enough to have been to Namibia twice now, on 2 very different trips. On our first trip we spent 30 incredible days on an unforgettable road trip through Namibia, camping every night. Our first Namibia road trip itinerary took us to Africa’s largest canyon, abandoned towns, mountainous sand dunes and the desolate Skeleton Coast. Going on safari in Etosha National Park and driving all the way to the lesser known Caprivi Strip also formed part of our epic road trip.

On our second trip to Namibia we went for 3 weeks, and did a mix of camping and luxury lodges. We also focused on visiting fewer places, for longer, so that we didn’t spend as much time on the road.

With these 2 epic trips under our belt, we can now help you plan your perfect Namibia itinerary depending on the time of year you visit and what your main interests are.

How Long Are You Going To Spend In Namibia?

10 days, 2 weeks or a month? Namibia is huge and the distances between some of the best things to do mean hours of driving. The longer you have the more you’ll be able to see. If you can, try to spend at least 2 weeks in Namibia, but if you only have 10 days you can still squeeze a lot in.

What Are The Main Places In Namibia You Want To See?

Sossusvlei and Etosha National Park are two of the highlights on most people’s ‘must do’s’ in Namibia and we’d have to agree. If you have 10 nights or 2 weeks, you can still see many of the amazing places Namibia has to offer, but what you see and what you miss off depends on personal interest and how much extra driving you’re prepared to do. Below are some suggestions of what we recommend for different length itineraries.

Where you spend your first night will be dependant on what time your flight lands. It takes around 40 minutes to get to Windhoek from the international airport and then you need to allow enough time to be shown round your rental vehicle, stock up with food and make your way to your first stop before dark. On our last trip our flight landed at 7:00 am. We had to wait for people at the airport to go to the car rental place and with several people picking up cars at the same time, it took about 2 hours to do the paperwork and to be shown the camper. After also stocking up on food, we didn’t set off till about 1:00 pm.

All of the itineraries start and end in Windhoek so can also be done in reverse order.

Suggested Itinerary for 10 nights

• Day 1 – 1 night in Windhoek or a stop on the way to Sesriem – day of arrival to Namibia
• Day 2 & 3 – 2 nights in Sesriem – Sossusvlei sand dunes
• Day 4 & 5 – 2 nights in Swakopmund – optional side trip to Cape Cross Seal Colony & Zeila Shipwreck – 3 hour round trip
• Day 6 – 1 night in Spitzkoppe
• Day 7 & 8 – 2 nights in Etosha National Park – 2 nights in Okaukuejo Camp
• Day 9 & 10 – 2 nights at Okonjima Private Game Reserve
• Day 11 – drive back to Windhoek – driving time from Okonjima to Windhoek is around 3 hours, so if you have a late flight booked you will have time to drive back and fly on the same day. If you can only book an earlier flight out of Namibia, you may need to have an extra night in Windhoek.

This 10 day itinerary still involves a lot of driving, but misses out areas like the Skeleton Coast National Park and Fish River Canyon, which we believe would add too much driving time for a 10 night trip.

Suggested Itinerary for 2 weeks (14 nights)

• Day 1 – 1 night in Windhoek or near Quiver Tree Forest – stopover on way to Fish River Canyon
• Day 2 & 3 – 2 nights at Fish River Canyon
• Day 4 – 1 night in Luderitz – morning of day 5 go to Kolmonskop abandoned mining town for sunrise – leave by 10:00 am to make it to Sesriem before dark
• Day 5 & 6 – 2 nights in Sesriem – Sossusvlei sand dunes
• Day 7 & 8 – 2 nights in Swakopmund – Sandwich Harbour tour and optional side trip to Cape Cross Seal Colony & Zeila Shipwreck – 3 hour round trip
• Day 9 – 1 night in Spitzkoppe
• Day 10, 11 & 12 – 3 nights in Etosha National Park – 1 night at Olifantrus (camping)/Dolomite (not camping) and 2 nights at Okaukuejo – if you want to stay in another area of Etosha and see Hoba Meteorite on the way to Waterberg you could swap one of the nights in Okaukuejo for a night in Namutoni
• Day 13 – 1 night in Waterberg Plateau
• Day 14 – 1 night at Okonjima Private Game Reserve
• Day 15 – drive back to Windhoek – driving time from Okonjima to Windhoek is around 3 hours so if you have a late flight booked you will have time to drive back and fly on the same day. If you can only book an earlier flight out of Namibia, you may need to have an extra night in Windhoek.

This 2 week itinerary involves quite a lot of driving as you are going quite far south in Namibia. If you want to do a little less driving and see the Skeleton Coast instead of Fish River Canyon, we have also written an alternative 2 week Namibia Itinerary.

Suggested Itinerary For 3 weeks

• Day 1 – 1 night in Windhoek – day of arrival to Namibia
• Day 2 – 1 night at or near Quiver Tree Forest – stopover on way to Fish River Canyon
• Day 3 – 1 night at Fish River Canyon
• Day 4 – 1 night in Luderitz – morning of day 5 go to Kolmonskop abandoned mining town for sunrise – leave by 10:00 am to make it to Sesriem before dark
• Day 5 & 6 – 2 nights in Sesriem – Souvessvlei sand dunes
• Day 7 & 8 – 2 nights in Swakopmund – optional side trip to Cape Cross Seal Colony & Zeila Shipwreck – 3 hour round trip
• Day 9 – 1 night in Spitzkoppe
• Day 10, 11, 12 & 13 – 4 nights in Etosha National Park – 1 night at Olifantrus (camping)/Dolomite (not camping), 2 nights at Okaukuejo and 1 night Namutoni or a camp or lodge just outside that area of the park like Onguma
• Day 14 – 1 night near Rundu – stopover on way to the Caprivi Strip – stop at Hoba Meteorite on the way
• Day 15, 16 & 17 – 3 nights near the Kongolo area of Caprivi Strip – visit Kwando Core Area of the Bwabwata National Park, Mudumu National Park & Nkasa Rupara National Park
• Day 18 – 1 night near Popa Falls – visit Mahango Core Area of Bwabwata National Park
• Day 19 – 1 night near Grootfontien – stopover on way to Waterberg – although it means going a little out the way we can recommend Ghaub Nature Reserve & Farm
• Day 20 & 21 – 2 nights in Waterberg Plateau
• Day 22 – drive back to Windhoek – driving time from Waterberg to Windhoek is around 3 hours so if you have a late flight booked you will have time to drive back and fly on the same day. Our flight was at 5:00 pm so we left early and it was plenty of time. If you can only book an earlier flight out of Namibia book 1 night in Waterberg and 1 in Windhoek before you fly.

With 3 weeks you have more time to play with. You could swap around how many nights you want to spend at some of the places depending on personal interest.

We have included going to the Caprivi Strip (now officially called Zambezi Region) as we loved visiting this area of Namibia and highly recommend it. It is a lot of extra driving though and does mean driving back on yourself for a few hundred kilometres as there is only one road that goes there.

Suggested Itinerary For One Month

If you have a month like we did then we would suggest using our itinerary for Namibia – we have detailed all the camps we stayed at and all the distances driven. There is opportunity to amend it to your liking and you could even add in extra side trips to visit even more places if you wish.

Do You Want To Camp Or Stay In Accommodation?

4×4 Camper with rooftop tent

We can’t recommend renting a 4×4 with a rooftop tent enough. Neither of us had camped before this trip, but we thoroughly enjoyed camping in Namibia. A rooftop tent is much easier to put up than a ground tent, we’re talking a matter of minutes to put up and take down each day. The tent comes complete with a comfy mattress, pillows and sleeping bag and it was much more roomy and comfortable than we expected, even with Andy being 6 ft 5! We slept really well during our trip, never regretted our choice and were even sad to hand it back when we left.

Then there are the amazing campsites in Namibia that make camping so much easier. In many places you will find you have your own bathroom, but even when you’re sharing the ablution facilities they are generally clean and nearby to your camp.

For us, setting up a campfire, cooking our food over the flames and cosying up with a beer watching the millions of stars light up the night sky was a perfect way to end our days in Namibia.

Lodges

If we still haven’t convinced you that camping with a rooftop tent is the way to go then there are of course plenty of other accommodation options in Namibia, including some very luxurious lodges. Many of the places we stayed had campsites and one other type of accommodation like chalets, tree houses or lodges available. The prices range a lot depending on where you stay, but some of the more luxury options will be more expensive.

Whichever option you choose, if you’re going at peak season we suggest booking at least some of your accommodation in advance, especially Etosha and Sossouvlei as they can sell out months in advance.

A mix of the two – rooftop camper and lodges

On our most recent trip we did a mixture of staying in campsites with our rooftop tent and staying in lodges and it was a great mix. It wasn’t as enjoyable camping in winter as it got much colder at night and in the mornings.

Which option is cheapest?

In terms of budget, hiring a 4×4 with rooftop tent when travelling Namibia tends to be the cheaper option. Although the cost of this type of car hire is the most expensive and you need to pay for each campsite, it will generally work out cheaper than renting a regular car and staying in accommodation due to the high cost of lodges.

Decide What Type Of Car To Rent

The car hire options in Namibia are 4×4 camper with rooftop tent, a regular 4×4, a 2×4 SUV with a high clearance or a 2×4 Sedan.

4×4 camper with rooftop tent – recommended

So if you decide to camp with a rooftop tent then the decision is made – you’ll have a 4×4, rooftop tent and all the equipment you should need to sleep comfortably and to cook. There are various different companies that have these cars to rent and we recommend shopping around to get the best price. We also recommend booking in advance as these are a popular choice in Namibia and they can sell out. It’s also likely you will get the best price by booking early as they know options will be much more limited last minute.

4×4 car – recommended

We would highly recommend renting a 4×4 in Namibia. It will give you more space, a more comfortable journey, (especially on bumpy gravel roads) and a higher clearance, which is ideal for game viewing. It also gives you the ability to go off the beaten track and you never know when that opportunity may arise in Namibia.

If you are comfortable driving on sand then a 4×4 is absolutely required if you want to drive the last 5 km to Sossouvlei where the roads are sand (if you don’t want to drive there are jeeps you can pay to take you there and back). If you add the Caprivi Strip to your itinerary then you NEED a 4×4 vehicle. Some of the campsites are down sand roads and most of the national parks require you to drive on at least some sand roads.

2×4 SUV car – only suitable for certain itineraries

For some itineraries you may be able to get away with hiring a 2×4 SUV with a high clearance as you would benefit from it still being more comfortable and good for wildlife viewing. In saying this, for the added flexibility of having a 4×4 in a country like Namibia, we would say it’s worth paying that bit extra.

2×4 sedan – not recommended

To be honest we wouldn’t recommend a 2×4 Sedan in Namibia. Although many of the roads are tarred or well-maintained gravel you will be doing a lot of driving. You never know when you may come across a more difficult dirt track and you’ll feel those bumpy roads a lot more in a sedan.

Budget For A Namibia Road Trip – Average Costs

• Campsite – $240-$410 Namibian Dollars (NAD) a night for 2 people (~$16-$28 USD)
• Lodge – this can range massively, but the cheapest lodge will start at around $100 USD and on average we paid $200 USD a night
• Car Hire – 4×4 with rooftop tent – we shopped around a lot and found the prices varied considerably depending on how long you rent it for, the time of year you visit and the age and style of the vehicle. We paid $922 NAD ($45 USD) a day for ours on our first trip, which is a great deal, but companies can charge up to between $2000 ($100 USD) a day.
• Petrol – $21 NAD a litre ($1 USD)
• Meal in restaurant/fast food – we generally found it cheap to eat out in Namibia – a huge KFC meal cost $317 NAD ($15.60 USD) for 2 and a meal for 2 in an amazing buffet restaurant with 2 alcoholic drinks was $790 NAD ($39 USD)
• Bottle of water – $15 NAD (75 cents)
• National Park Fees – $80 NAD per person and $10 NAD per vehicle ($8.50 USD for 2 people and one car)
• Firewood at campsites – $60 NAD ($3 USD)

Tips For A Namibia Road Trip

• Ensure you have your driving licence with you in order to hire your car – most companies will accept a driving licence that is valid in your country of residence as long as it is written in English
• Take out car insurance – you may be charged a high amount for insurance in Namibia or have to pay a lot of money if things go wrong. There is a high chance of flat tire (we had 3 during our first trip) and you may need to pay for replacements and a chipped windscreen is also possible with all the gravel roads. Take out insurance with a company like icarhire insurance. It will mean you need to pay the car hire company first, but then you claim it back from the insurance company after – just make sure you keep copies of all the documents and receipts from the car hire company.
• Stock up on water whenever you can – you never know when you may break down or how long you may end up driving without seeing a shop so always ensure you have enough water before you set off.
• Fill up with petrol whenever you can – although there are petrol stations in most of the main towns, in many places there is just one petrol pump so you never know when they may run out. To be on the safe side set off with a full tank when you can. This is even more important if you don’t have a 4×4 with 2 tanks like we did, and even then we filled up regularly. The km’s fly by fast in Namibia and petrol can go down quicker than you think.
• Use an ATM when you’re in a main town – cash will be needed almost everywhere in Namibia so it will be useful to use the ATM whenever you are in one of the main towns so you don’t run out. We were able to use our card to pay in the larger supermarkets, petrol stations and some restaurants, which was useful, but that was about the only place we could. We did notice we could use our card much more on our 2nd trip, but still always had some cash.
• Buy a Namibian sim card – unsurprisingly, Namibia does not have great internet, so we aren’t suggesting you buy a sim card for data here, but it could come in useful if you break down or can’t find a campsite or lodge. The data will work in the main towns, but outside of those it’s unlikely the data will work. Some places say they have wifi, but again don’t expect it to always work and if does work it will be extremely slow and unreliable! Again, we found this had improved on our more recent trip.
• Make sure you know how to change a tire – we were pretty unlucky and got 3 punctures during our first road trip. With all the gravel and dirt roads, it is always a possibility so just make sure you know what to do should it happen as it’s not always likely anyone will be around to help.
• Get up early for sunrise – we’re not suggesting you do this everyday, but watching the sun rise over the African plains or unique rock formations in Spitzkoppe is something you’ll never forget.
• Stick to the speed limits – on the tar freeways the speed limit is 120 km/h and on gravel freeways the limit is 100 km/h. Although for safety our car hire company stated we needed to stick to 80 km/h on gravel and salt roads, which to be honest was about as fast as we’d want to go while driving on gravel anyway.
• Don’t drive at night – you may have noticed in our itineraries we have mentioned allowing enough time to arrive places before it gets dark. Namibia is an incredible place to drive in the day, but at night it is dangerous. Wild animals are everywhere in Namibia so there is always a possibility of an animal being on the road, which at night you probably won’t be able to see until it’s too late. There are no street lights outside of the main towns, so there is a higher possibility of an accident and if you do have one you may not have a phone signal to call for help. You will be doing a lot of driving in Namibia and the distances are long so make sure you allow time to stop and stretch your legs and plan your journey so that you’re not driving at night.

What To Pack For A Namibia Road Trip

• Layers – the weather temperature changes a lot from day to night, even in the desert and the weather varies greatly from the deserts to the coastal regions where its considerably cooler.
• Mobile phone with offline map app – before we discovered Maps.me we used Osamad and HereWeGo in Namibia. We found these offline maps worked very well and we always made it to our destinations. We did also have screen shots on our phone of the addresses of the camps and the location on Google Maps just in case the offline map couldn’t locate the name of our camp. On our 2nd trip we used Maps.me
• Camera and spare memory cards – trust us, you’ll take a lot of photos in Namibia so make sure you have extra memory cards so you don’t run out of space
• Spare camera batteries & USB charger – if you’re staying in camps, then not all of them have electricity (although the majority of them do) so you want to make sure you’re not without a camera battery. In Namibia there is always something you’ll want to photograph so don’t get caught out with no charged batteries. A USB charger is useful so you can charge two batteries at a time.
• Solar powered charger – we found this came in useful for charging our phones in the daytime. It can only be used in direct sunlight, but in Namibia that shouldn’t be a problem.
• Mosquito repellent – although malaria is not a problem in Namibia for most of the year, we would all rather not get bitten so a good mosquito repellent helps to keep them away. (Always check with your healthcare provider as to whether malaria is a risk before you visit. Advice can change depending on time of year and where you are going in Namibia.)