By far the best gift you can give your kid is the gift of travel. In this very “material” world we live in, nothing helps a child grow better than gaining worldly experience. Travel offers this, giving your child/children first had experience of new cultures, new environments and all the sights and sounds that the greater world has to offer!
As parents we fully appreciate that traveling with children adds a whole new dimension to your holiday. Most importantly, the constant worry about their safety and ensuring your kids get the most of their experience!
At Victoria Falls Activities, we embrace family travel and encourage kids to get involved with the planning of trips and activities. Victoria Falls is known as the Adventure Capital of Africa, with a wide range of family filled, kid friendly activities to choose from.
To help with this, we have listed our Top 10 Best Kid Friendly Activities to do in Victoria Falls!
1. Walk Around Victoria Falls Waterfall and Rainforest
- Activity Price: Adults US$ 30 per person
- Children under 12: US$ 15 per person
- Kids under 3: FREE
No travel to Victoria Falls is complete without going to visit the World Wonder that is the Mighty Victoria Falls Waterfall! A breathtaking exhibition of nature that awes adults and children alike!
Not many kids get to go back to school and say that they have walked through the iconic rain-forest and been soaked by the magnificent spray of the Falls!
This is a great activity to do with your kids. It is open all day and can be done at your leisure, no time constraints or waiting for other guests. This activity can be done on your own or with a private guide (comes at an extra charge)
Not only does this family filled, child friendly activity offer a once in a lifetime experience, but is hugely educational offering in-depth knowledge of the history of the Falls, its discovery by Cecil John Rhodes and a mini safari with the abundant wildlife calling this exquisite rain-forest their home. Above all it is safe for kids of all ages with protective barriers along the majority of viewing points. The only point for concern is the slippery pathways bought about by the ever present mist from the falls!
2. Boat Cruise Down the Mighty Zambezi River
- Activity Price: Adults US$ 50 per person
- Children under 12: US$ 25 per person
- Kids under 3: FREE
Children LOVE boats, and being out cruising on the open water. Scenic boat cruises on the magnificent Zambezi River are one of the best child friendly activities there is to do in the area, and a favorite amongst all our guests.
With large boats, all equipped with substantial railings, shelter from the elements and well experienced captain. This is one activity where we parents can truly relax with our kids. They can’t run away anywhere and many take on the challenge of drinking the open bar dry (with soft drinks of course).
Besides the endless supply of drinks and snacks, there is the every changing scenery of the wildlife filled river banks, or the constant surfacing of hippos and crocodiles. We often have mini family challenges of who can spot the biggest crocodile! The only activity we are comfortable with our kids encountering these prehistoric predators!
On very special occasions we even encounter elephants swinging across the vast river, with just their trunks above the water, their very own periscope.
Family boat cruise activities can be offered in various forms. Our sunset cruise is the most popular with the opportunity of seeing some of the wildlife come to the shores for a late afternoon drink. However, this is the most popular slot for most guests who visit the area, and with the open bar often leads to certain groups making the most of this opportunity.
We also offer more relaxed, family focused breakfast cruises in the morning, as well as lunch time cruises at mid-day.
3. Lion And Safari Park Tour
- Activity Price: Adults US$95 per person
- Children Under 12: US$45 per person
- Kids Under 3: FREE
Traveling with kids and dangerous wildlife always has parents on edge. But at the Victoria Falls Lion and Safari Park there is the perfect opportunity to get you and your children up close and personal with some of Africa’s most exotic wildlife in a completely unique, safe, family filled adventure.
Kids see wildlife is one thing, but kids experiencing wildlife in an educational, conservation focused, safe environment is something completely different. That’s exactly what the Victoria Falls Lion and Safari Park offers! An activity that offers guaranteed wildlife sightings for the whole family, from ferocious lions, to secretive owls, always a favorite amongst children.
This family filled, kid friendly activity is offered twice a day in the early morning and again in the later afternoon. Safety is the number one priority and all activities and experiences of wildlife are led by highly trained guides and offered in extremely safe conditions.
4. “Flight of Angels” Helicopter over the Falls
- Activity Price: Adults US$ 150 per person
- Children Under 12: US$ 150 per person
- Kids Under 3: FREE
Kids LOVE flying, just as much as they love boats. Our Flight of Angels helicopter tour of the magnificent Victoria Falls is one of the most popular activities in the area. Not only is this a child friendly experience, but offers a very intimate family bonding time. As the helicopters have limited seats, it is quite often, you and your children having a personal experience with your very own pilot.
There truly is no better way to appreciate the sheer wonder that is Victoria Falls than from the air. The largest waterfall in the world certainly lives up to its name! One of the biggest reasons for taking your kids traveling is to make memories. We have no doubt that this activity will be one that you and your children will remember for many years to come.
The Flight of Angels is offered in two ways. A 15 minute tour of the Victoria Falls or a 25 minute flight, which not only tours the waterfall, but includes a safari flight over the national park with regular sightings of elephants, buffalo, zebra, giraffe and more.
5. “The Boma- Place of Eating” Drum and Dance Show.
- Activity Price: Adults US$ 50 per person
- Children Under 12: US$ 25 per person
- Kids Under 3: FREE
The Boma Drum and Dance Show is a MUST for every family who visit Victoria Falls. So much more than just an eating experience and has been enthralling adult and child alike for many years. Full of exotic dishes, including the “tasty” delicacy that is the Mopane worm. Always the opportunity for kids to get one up on their parents by stomaching this dried out morsel!
Besides the huge variety of traditional dishes offer is an all you can eat buffet, there are great selections of vegetarian options, game meats and desserts. The fun doesn’t end there, you and your kids will each be handed a traditional drum, and have intricate face painting before embarking on an authentic African drumming tutorial. Keeping pace with the instructor is the name of the game starting simple before becoming an elaborate rhythm of beats. Children are always the first to venture onto the dance floor, dragging their parents with them to finish off the evening with some traditional dancing.
The Boma- Place of Eating is open daily from 7pm, with families either choosing a private table or making new friends at communal tables. This child friendly activity ensures a feast for your belly and for your soul as you leave bloated and smiling!
6 .Through the Eyes of an Elephant
- Activity Price: Adults US$ 100 per person
- Children Under 12: US$ 50 per person
- Kids Under 3: FREE
Any child around the world can give you some sort of description of what an elephant is from a very young age. They are just that sort of species. But one thing we can confidently say is that you do not really know elephants until you have met them. The “Through the eyes of an Elephant” activity offers you and your children the opportunity to not just see elephants, but actually get to meet them and get to know them. Super intelligent animals that have one of the strongest maternal instincts on the planet. Something human mothers can really relate to when it comes to our children!
This activity is a perfect safari activity to do with your kids that is not only incredibly enjoyable, but hugely educational in a fun and exciting way. Standing next to a 5 ton gentle giant is just as exhilarating and humbling for adults as much as it is for children.
This great family experience is offered daily with several time slots to choose from. It includes a very informative and interactive presentation about their great conservation work, followed by meeting the amazing elephants that call this place home.
7. Canopy Tour
- Activity Price: Adults US$ 60 per person
- Children Under 12: US$ 30 per person
This is the most adrenaline filled activity available that is suitable for children, particularly younger kids. This includes a series of 9 zip-lines which zigzag down the infamous Batoka gorge from platform to platform with the thundering Zambezi River below you. Strapped in safely to heavy duty harnesses, you and your children embark on your decent to the bottom in style.
This family focused activity is one of the closest experiences you can offer your kids to flying. As you glide from one side the gorge to the next under the ever watchful eye of your instructor. Each slide, ends on a platform on the side of the gorge with securely placed walkways that allow you to take in the multitude of flora and fauna that call these cliffs home. Be warned, whilst this is an incredibly safe activity, it is not for the faint hearted, and once you start, you have to complete all 9 slides in order to get back out again! No giving up half way!
This adrenaline filled, kid friendly activity is offer all day, every day. Simply pick a time that works for you and your family and hold on for the ride!
8. Cultural Tour
- Activity Price: Adults US$50 per person
- Children Under 12: US$25 per person
- Kids Under 3: FREE
One of the key elements of traveling with children is to expose them to different ways of life, and to gain an appreciation of their own lives back home. Our Cultural tour is a fantastic opportunity to give you and your family an insight into the daily lives of the people that call this place home.
Our world is full of incredibly diverse cultures, ways of life that are so normal for those that live it, but completely foreign to those from abroad.
There is no better life lesson we can offer our children that to experience and therefore respect other cultures. Our child friendly cultural tour activity takes you and your family into the heart of a rural village where life is so completely different to what our kids have ever experienced. People who have very little in terms of material wealth, yet are extremely happy and willing to share what little they have with complete strangers.
Our Cultural tour activity is offered daily at certain time slots that are prearranged with the families we visit. It is suitable for all ages of children and is always an incredibly humbling experience that always brings out a great appreciation of your life back home.
9. Bamba Tram
- Activity Price: Adults US$ 40 per person
- Children Under 12: US$ 20 per person
Our Bamba Tram experience is an amazing railway adventure, captivating adults and children alike. This 19th century, fun family activity offers two very unique adventures. The first being a mini safari, with a tour and stop on the world famous Victoria Falls Bridge. The second, is for those with kids that are into wildlife, is a full safari trip which takes you along the edge of the National Park, with a great opportunity of seeing wildlife such as elephants, buffalo, and if you’re lucky, Lions!
The bridge tour activity is offered in both the morning and the afternoon and gives the kids an opportunity to get off onto the bridge, stretch their legs and take in the incredible sights of the mighty waterfall and the raging Zambezi River below
The Safari tour activity is only offered in the afternoons and can be combined with a bush dinner at a siding bordering the National Park. There is nothing quite like enjoying a hearty meal with your children under the explosive African sky with the sounds of nature all around you!
10. Game Drive
- Activity Price: Adults US$ 85 per person
- Children Under 12: US$ 43 per person
- Kids Under 3: FREE
No Family trip to Africa is complete without doing at least one Safari Drive. Just the thrill the kids get of sitting in the back of an open safari vehicle surrounded by endless bush is enough to make memories for a lifetime. And that’s without seeing any Wildlife!
Our National Parks are blessed with abundant animals which call this place home. Living their daily lives along the banks of the Zambezi River. Children love a bit of competition and it’s always a game to see who can spot the first animal, who can spot the most animals, and who can spot the coolest animal!
Our guides just love having kids on this activity. Their excitement and enthusiasm remind them of just how lucky they are to call this place home and experience this nature every day!
Our child friendly safari drives are offered twice a day, every day. Early morning in the hopes of catching the nighttime animals such as leopard and hyena as they make their way home to sleep for the day. Late afternoon as we watch all the daytime animals taking their last drinks in the river and preparing for another night in the African bush.
Closing Thoughts
Whatever your interests traveling with your children is one of the greatest gifts you can give them, and yourself. They get worldly experience, and you fill with pride as you watch them grow and appreciate the greater world around them.