Gis photography · Pexels LicenseCountry Guide № 045 / 194 · Africa
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Nyiragongo's lava lake, mountain gorillas and bonobos - in a country the size of western Europe.
Advisory - travel not recommended · checked 26 Sept 2026
Foreign ministries advise against all travel to eastern DRC - North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri - where armed groups including M23 operate and Goma has changed hands. Virunga National Park has been closed to tourism since December 2024. Since May 2026 an Ebola outbreak declared a global health emergency has spread from Ituri into the Kivus, and the US and Australia advise against all travel to the whole country, Kinshasa included. Standard scores are suspended while this alert is active.
Official advisory →Every advisory in force →“Nyiragongo's lava lake, mountain gorillas and bonobos - in a country the size of western Europe.”
The DRC is the size of western Europe and holds a quarter of the world's tropical forest, the second-largest river by discharge on earth, the only wild bonobos anywhere, mountain gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas, okapi and an active lava lake at the summit of Nyiragongo. By any measure of natural wealth it is one of the most extraordinary countries in the world.
It also has an eastern conflict that has run since the mid-1990s and has killed millions. Armed groups including M23 operate across North and South Kivu and Ituri; Goma has changed hands; Virunga rangers have been killed in large numbers protecting the park. Tourism opens and closes with the security situation, sometimes within weeks. Kinshasa, the western river and Kikwit are a different country in practice from the east. Nothing here should be planned without current, local, specific advice.
Chapter 01
Highlights
Nyiragongo
An active stratovolcano above Goma with one of the world's few permanent lava lakes, climbed overnight to huts on the crater rim. Access depends entirely on both volcanic and security conditions and has been suspended for long periods.
Virunga National Park
Africa's oldest national park and its most biodiverse - mountain gorillas, the volcano, Lake Edward and hippos. Also the most dangerous park in the world to work in; over 200 rangers have been killed.
Kahuzi-Biega
Eastern lowland gorillas - the largest gorilla subspecies, found nowhere else - in montane forest above Bukavu on Lake Kivu.
The Congo river and bonobos
The river barge from Kinshasa to Kisangani is one of the great and most punishing journeys anywhere, and the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary outside Kinshasa is the accessible way to see the species.
Chapter 02
Entry requirements for Democratic Republic of the Congo
Advisory - travel not recommended · checked 26 Sept 2026
Foreign ministries advise against all travel to eastern DRC - North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri - where armed groups including M23 operate and Goma has changed hands. Virunga National Park has been closed to tourism since December 2024. Since May 2026 an Ebola outbreak declared a global health emergency has spread from Ituri into the Kivus, and the US and Australia advise against all travel to the whole country, Kinshasa included. Standard scores are suspended while this alert is active.
Official advisory →Every advisory in force →Checking your passport…
up to 90 days · €110 / $119 · e-visa
90 days on arrival
Official portal only
Paid look-alike sites charge for a process that is free or cheap on the government portal. Use the link below and nothing else.
evisa.gouv.cd →Before you fly
The detail
- Maximum stay
- up to 90 days
- Process
- e-visa
- Fee
- €110 / $119
- Processing time
- Processing takes 7–30 days - apply with room to spare.
- Passport validity
- Most destinations want validity beyond your stay, and some want six months. Check yours against the return date.
- Onward travel
- Airlines may ask for a return or onward ticket at check-in.
- Health
- Yellow fever certificate compulsory for entry. Malaria year-round nationwide. Cholera and Ebola outbreaks recur. Medical facilities are extremely limited outside Kinshasa; specialist evacuation insurance is essential.
- Money
- US dollars circulate widely alongside the Congolese franc and are preferred for larger payments - bring clean notes issued after 2009. ATMs in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma. Cards work at a handful of hotels.
A United States passport needs a visa for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, obtained before travel - through the government's e-visa system or at a Congolese mission - and nothing useful is issued on arrival at Kinshasa without a pre-approval in hand. The real gate is neither the fee nor the processing window: it is the letter of invitation or guarantee from somebody inside the country, and a mission will not open the file without it. Where a lodge, a reserve or a tour operator is hosting you they issue one as a matter of routine and the rest is ordinary paperwork; where nobody is hosting you there is nothing to send, and no amount of money or lead time repairs that. A lodge, a mining or NGO employer or a tour operator issues one as routine; an independent traveller with no host in the country is where these applications stop. The visa is written for the period you apply and pay for, commonly 30 days on a single entry and up to 90, so buy the length you actually need rather than the cheapest tier. Expect the yellow fever certificate, the invitation, a return ticket and proof of accommodation in the file, and allow four weeks. A yellow fever certificate is a condition of entry to Democratic Republic of the Congo for every arriving traveller, not only for those coming from an affected country, and it is checked at the airline gate as often as at the border. The vaccine does not count until ten days after it is given, so this is the item to deal with first and not last; a certificate that is missing at check-in cannot be fixed at check-in, and at the border the choice is being vaccinated there at your own cost or being turned round. There is one specific route worth knowing about because it bypasses everything above: Virunga National Park has operated its own tourist visa arrangement for visitors entering from Rwanda specifically to visit the park, and it exists only while the park is open to tourism - which it has not always been. Confirm directly with the park before building a trip on it rather than from any older account. Two conditions apply to the country and not to the paperwork. Foreign ministries advise against all travel to North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, where armed groups including M23 operate and Goma has changed hands; Kinshasa and the west carry a lower risk profile but significant urban crime. And photography without a permit has led to arrest - do not photograph officials, bridges, ports, airports or government buildings, which is a broader list than it sounds and includes a good deal of what a river city looks like.
Check another destination with this passport →
Entry details: Editorial synthesis - DRC official e-visa system and consular requirements, Virunga National Park entry arrangements, foreign ministry travel advisories (2025–2026) · compiled 18 Sept 2026
Who needs a visa for Democratic Republic of the Congo
12 common passports| Passport | Requirement | Stay | Process |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| United Kingdom | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| Germany | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| India | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| China | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| Brazil | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| Nigeria | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| Indonesia | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| Philippines | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| Vietnam | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| Egypt | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
| Nepal | e-Visa | - | e-Visa · €110 / $119 · 7–30 d |
Holding a passport that is not listed? The picker above answers for any of them. See where your passport takes you. Source: Passport Index, updated 14 Aug 2026.
Chapter 03
When to go
BestJun–Sep. AvoidMar–Apr, Oct–Nov.
Dry season in the east - the best trekking window.
The band above each month is our editorial verdict - it weighs crowds, prices and access as well as weather. The line is average daily temperature, the bars are monthly rainfall. Select a month for the figures. Climate figures: ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo, 2005–2024 normals.
Chapter 04
What it costs
A day in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Comfortable · sample day
≈ $151
Line items are real prices we track. The daily budget is an editorial estimate for this level, not their sum.
Where this sits among 244 countries we have costed
Kinshasa hotel rates are driven by NGO, mining and diplomatic demand and are high year-round. Eastern park pricing follows the park's operating status rather than the calendar: Virunga National Park has been closed to tourism since December 2024, and its permit price still appears on booking pages although there is nothing to book.
Updated Sept 2026 · Editorial synthesis - Virunga Foundation tariffs and market sampling (2025–2026) · confidence low
Excludes international flights - they depend on where you fly from.
Chapter 05
Regions to know
5Kinshasa and the west
The megacity, Lola ya Bonobo, the Livingstone falls and the road to Matadi and the Atlantic.
North Kivu
Goma, Virunga, Nyiragongo and the mountain gorillas - the most affected by conflict.
South Kivu
Bukavu on Lake Kivu, Kahuzi-Biega's eastern lowland gorillas and the lake shore south.
The Congo river
Mbandaka, Kisangani, Boyoma falls and the barges that still carry most of the traffic between them.
Katanga
Lubumbashi, the copper belt, Upemba and Kundelungu's highlands and the Lofoi falls.
Chapter 06
Practical guide
Getting there
Kinshasa N'djili is served by Air France, Brussels Airlines, Turkish, Ethiopian and Kenya Airways. Goma and Bukavu are usually reached via Kigali, which is much closer than Kinshasa. The ferry from Brazzaville crosses the Pool.
Getting around
Domestic flights, with the caveat that several Congolese carriers are on the EU banned list. Roads are largely unusable outside the cities. The Congo river barge to Kisangani takes weeks and is for the very committed.
Money & costs
US dollars circulate widely alongside the Congolese franc and are preferred for larger payments - bring clean notes issued after 2009. ATMs in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma. Cards work at a handful of hotels.
Safety
Armed conflict in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri; most governments advise against all travel to the east. Kinshasa has significant street crime and roadblock shakedowns. Photography without a permit has led to arrest anywhere in the country. Ebola outbreaks have recurred in the east.
Health
Yellow fever certificate compulsory for entry. Malaria year-round nationwide. Cholera and Ebola outbreaks recur. Medical facilities are extremely limited outside Kinshasa; specialist evacuation insurance is essential.
SIM & internet
Vodacom, Airtel, Orange and Africell; SIM registration requires a passport. 4G in the main cities; nothing across most of the country. Shutdowns have been imposed during political events.
Chapter 07
Driving
Self-driving is not realistic outside Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. Roadblocks operated by police, army and other actors are frequent and often extractive. Hire a driver who knows the route and the local arrangements.
Rules change - verify with an official source before you rent.
ExplWorld VerifiedNo verified partners here yet - all 6 country seats are open.
Become ExplWorld Verified →Chapter 08
Itineraries through this country
Chapter 09
From the Journal
Chapter 10
Before you go
Democratic Republic of the CongoChapter 11
Frequently asked questions
Is the east open to visitors?
It depends on the month and it has more often been closed than open in recent years. Virunga has suspended tourism repeatedly, and the M23 offensive has affected Goma directly. Check the park's own current status and your government's advisory, and treat any operator promising certainty with scepticism.
What can I do in the west?
Kinshasa has a serious music and art scene, the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary is 25 kilometres out, and the Congo river and the Livingstone falls downstream are accessible. It is a very different proposition from the eastern parks and carries a much lower risk profile, though ordinary urban crime is real.
How do people actually travel around?
By air, mostly - the road network barely functions across most of the country and the river barges take weeks. Domestic airlines have a poor safety record and several are on the EU banned list. Most visitors fly Kinshasa–Goma or Kinshasa–Lubumbashi and stay regional.