Zambia requires a visa for most nationalities, obtainable on arrival at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka and Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone. Single-entry tourist visas cost fifty United States dollars and permit stays of ninety days. The KAZA UniVisa, introduced in 2014, costs fifty dollars and allows travel between Zambia and Zimbabwe for thirty days, with provisions for day trips to Botswana. Official requirements appear at evisa.zambiaimmigration.gov.zm, which also processes advance applications. Citizens of Barbados, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe enter without visas for periods ranging from thirty to ninety days.
Currency is the Zambian kwacha, abbreviated ZMW. As of recent exchange rates, one United States dollar equals approximately twenty to twenty-five kwacha, though this fluctuates. ATMs in Lusaka, Livingstone, and Copperbelt cities dispense kwacha and accept Visa and Mastercard. Daily withdrawal limits range from two thousand to six thousand kwacha depending on the bank. Stanbic, Zanaco, and Barclays maintain the most extensive networks. United States dollars in good condition—notes printed after 2013 without tears or excessive wear—are accepted at hotels, lodges, and tour operators, often at rates matching or exceeding bank exchanges. Credit cards work at upscale establishments in cities but fail throughout rural areas and smaller parks.
Kenneth Kaunda International Airport serves Lusaka. Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport serves Livingstone. Ethiopian Airlines connects through Addis Ababa. Kenya Airways connects through Nairobi. South African Airways and Airlink connect through Johannesburg. Emirates connects through Dubai. Proflight Zambia operates domestic routes linking Lusaka, Livingstone, Mfuwe for South Luangwa, and Solwezi. Scheduled charter companies including Royal Airstrip Services fly to remote parks and lodges using light aircraft on unpaved airstrips. No direct flights connect Zambia to Europe or North America.
Buses link major cities. Intercity services between Lusaka and Livingstone take five to six hours and cost fifty to one hundred kwacha depending on company and class. Mazhandu Family Bus Services, Shalom Bus, and CR Holdings operate this route daily. Buses from Lusaka to Kitwe or Ndola take six to seven hours. Overnight buses reach Kasama in Northern Province in twelve to fourteen hours. Express buses include air conditioning and assigned seating. Economy buses stop frequently and load standing passengers. Minibuses called matatus cover shorter distances and urban routes but operate without fixed schedules.
Driving requires an international driving permit alongside a home country license. Zambia drives on the left. The Great East Road connects Lusaka to Chipata and the Malawi border, mostly paved but deteriorating in sections. The Great North Road reaches Tanzania through Kasama, fully paved as of 2018. The Lusaka-Livingstone road is paved. Roads to major parks including South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi remain unpaved and require high clearance vehicles. Four-wheel drive becomes necessary in rainy season from November to April. Fuel stations cluster in cities but space out to intervals of one hundred kilometers or more on rural routes. Diesel is more widely available than petrol in remote areas.
Zambian Railways operates passenger service from Livingstone through Lusaka to Kitwe and the Copperbelt, though schedules are irregular and delays common. The TAZARA Railway connects Kapiri Mposhi, seventy kilometers north of Lusaka, to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. This line departs twice weekly in each direction. The journey covers one thousand eight hundred sixty kilometers in thirty-eight to forty-eight hours when on schedule. First class offers four-berth compartments. Second class offers six-berth compartments. Third class provides bench seating. The line passes through Kasama and Mpika, accessing Northern Province.
Accommodations in Lusaka range from fifteen dollars per night for basic guesthouses to two hundred dollars for international chain hotels. The Southern Sun Ridgeway and Taj Pamodzi operate in the capital. Livingstone offers backpacker lodges at ten to twenty dollars and lodges near Victoria Falls from one hundred fifty to five hundred dollars. Safari lodges in South Luangwa, Lower Zambezi, and Kafue charge three hundred to one thousand dollars per person per night during peak season from June to October, typically including meals, game drives, and park fees. National park entry for international visitors costs twenty-five to thirty dollars per person per day. Camping in national parks costs fifteen to twenty dollars per person.
Internet access functions reliably in Lusaka and Livingstone through fiber connections at hotels and cafes. Mobile networks MTN Zambia and Airtel Zambia provide coverage in cities and along major highways. Data bundles cost approximately fifty kwacha per gigabyte. Coverage drops in national parks except near lodges with satellite systems. South Luangwa maintains sporadic cell coverage near Mfuwe Gate.