Victoria Falls in 3 Days — The Rainforest, the Bridge and the Zambezi

Three days entirely on the Zimbabwean bank of the Zambezi, where about two thirds of the falls face stands and where the rainforest path holds sixteen numbered viewpoints along roughly two kilometres of gorge rim. Day 1 walks that path and ends on a hotel terrace looking at the bridge. Day 2 goes onto and underneath the bridge itself, then out on the river at sunset. Day 3 is a dawn game drive in Zambezi National Park before the flight. The one decision that changes everything is which month you come. The Zambezi peaks in April at roughly 500 million litres a minute, which is thunderous and also means the spray blots out the view from Danger Point and soaks you and your camera; it drops through the second half of the year until October and November, when the far eastern end of the falls can dry to bare rock. This plan is written for April through August, when the water is still heavy but the eastern viewpoints are readable, the weather is dry, and the game viewing north of town is improving. If your dates fall on a full moon, the park opens for three nights around it for the lunar rainbow, which needs high water and a lot of spray to show at all, so it is a March to June thing and it is a separate USD 116 ticket for an international adult, not an extension of the USD 58 day rate. Money is simple and rigid: Zimbabwe runs a dual system with the local ZiG, but park gates, operators and restaurants in Victoria Falls quote and take US dollars, card acceptance outside the big hotels is unreliable, and change is scarce, so bring more small clean notes than you think you need. Everything priced below is in US dollars and everything below is in Zimbabwe. Crossing the bridge into Zambia is a separate trip with its own visa and its own currency, and nothing on that bank is costed here: if you want Livingstone, or Devil's Pool on the lip of the far side, add a Zambian visa or the KAZA UniVisa, Zambian park entry, roughly USD 165 to the concessionaire who runs the island, and Zambian kwacha for anything you buy while you are over there. Devil's Pool also only exists when the river is low, roughly mid-August to mid-January, so in the months this plan is written for it is shut anyway. And the local rule that catches first-timers: do not walk anywhere after dark. Elephant, buffalo and hippo move through this town at night and every lodge will call you a taxi.