Where you stay in Zambia splits along the same lines as the trip itself: city hotels and guesthouses in Lusaka and Livingstone for transit and the falls, safari lodges and bush camps for the wildlife circuit in South Luangwa, Lower Zambezi and Kafue, and budget guesthouses and backpacker lodges in between. Every legal option needs a licence and carries the same tax on the bill, so the real choice is about location and how close to the wildlife you want to sleep.
Hotels, lodges and guesthouses
Every hotel, guesthouse, bed and breakfast, lodge, safari or bush camp, camping site, caravan park, backpackers hostel and self-catering establishment in Zambia needs a tourism enterprise licence from the Zambia Tourism Agency, issued under the Tourism and Hospitality Act No. 13 of 2015, and accommodation is graded on a one-to-five star system under the same scheme. The ZTA has publicly pushed establishments to get licensed and graded, with licences renewed every three years and periodic re-grading in between, so an unusually cheap listing with no star grading or licence mentioned is worth a second look before you book.
On top of the room rate, Zambia charges the standard 16% VAT plus a separate 1.5% Tourism Levy on accommodation services at every licensed establishment, shown as separate lines on the bill on top of any service charge — so a quoted room rate does not necessarily include them, and it is worth asking whether a rate is all-in before you book.
Lusaka, the capital, has the country’s main concentration of business and mid-range hotels, used mostly as a stopover before or after a flight rather than as a destination in itself. Livingstone, on the Zambezi by Victoria Falls, is the other big hotel market, ranging from riverfront lodges with falls views to simple backpacker guesthouses a short walk from the gorge, aimed at the adventure-tourism crowd the falls draw in.
Safari lodges and bush camps
Inside and around the national parks, the choice is almost entirely private lodges and bush camps rather than any government-run campsite network. South Luangwa has the densest concentration, with camps ranged along the Luangwa River built around its classic walking safaris; Lower Zambezi pairs riverside lodges with canoe and boat safaris on the floodplain; and Kafue, despite being the second-largest national park in Africa, has far fewer camps relative to its size, which keeps it quieter than its scale would suggest. Rates at these lodges vary widely depending on exclusivity, season and what is included — some bundle game drives, guiding and all meals into the nightly rate, others charge for activities separately — so it is worth checking exactly what a quoted rate covers rather than comparing nightly prices alone.
Budget and backpacker stays
Below the lodge and hotel tier, Lusaka and Livingstone both have a layer of backpacker hostels and budget guesthouses, used mainly by overlanders and travellers passing through rather than as a destination stay in their own right. The same ZTA licensing requirement applies here as everywhere else, so it is worth checking that a cheap guesthouse is actually licensed and graded, particularly away from the established backpacker addresses in Livingstone that regular overland traffic already vets informally.
Practical tips
- Ask whether a quoted room rate already includes the 16% VAT and 1.5% Tourism Levy, or whether they are added on top at checkout.
- Book safari lodges in South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi well ahead for the dry season, roughly May to October, when game viewing is best and camps fill up first.
- Check what a safari lodge’s nightly rate actually includes — some cover game drives and meals, others charge activities separately — before comparing prices between camps.
- The currency, emergency number and plug type for the country are in the facts box above.
What to check before you go
- Confirm a hotel, lodge or guesthouse carries a current ZTA licence and star grading, especially for an unusually cheap booking outside Lusaka and Livingstone.
- Check which part of South Luangwa, Lower Zambezi or Kafue a lodge actually sits in, since each park covers a large area with camps at very different distances from the main wildlife concentrations.
- Confirm whether VAT and the Tourism Levy are included in a quoted rate before you book, so the price on arrival matches what you expected.