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Southwestern Africa · Capital: Luanda · Portuguese-speaking
An Atlantic coastline of more than 1,600 kilometres, waterfalls, a desert that runs into the sea, and five hundred years of history that tied this coast to Brazil, Portugal and the Gold Coast. Angola is one of Africa's least-visited countries — and for travellers from Germany and the rest of the EU, it is now open without a visa.
For most of the last fifty years Angola was closed to ordinary travellers — first by a long war after independence in 1975, then by a visa system that made a holiday almost impossible. Both have changed. The war ended in 2002, and since 2023 citizens of Germany and other EU countries can enter for tourism without a visa, for up to 30 days per trip. Since March 2026 every international flight lands at Luanda's new Dr António Agostinho Neto International Airport.
A capital on one of the great bays of the Atlantic, a sixteenth-century fortress above it, national parks recovering from war, the Black Rocks of Pungo Andongo, the Tundavala escarpment, and the Namib desert meeting the ocean in the far south.
Travellers who are happy without a tourist industry around them. There are very few crowds, very few souvenir stalls, and very few people who have been before you. That is the attraction, and also the challenge.
We have published on Africa since December 2000, when Ghana-Net.com went online. We write first-hand, we say when something is hard, and we do not reprint tourism-board copy.
Angola is big — more than three times the size of Germany — and the distances are real. Most first trips combine Luanda with one region. These are the places worth the journey.
The Marginal seafront, the Ilha sand spit with its beach restaurants, the Fortaleza de São Miguel above the bay, and a city that is expensive, loud and far more interesting than its reputation.
One of the largest waterfalls in Africa by volume, on the Lucala River — at its most powerful after the rains. Combine it with the Black Rocks of Pungo Andongo nearby.
The closest national park to the capital, restocked after the war. Not the Serengeti — but a day trip from Luanda, and a real part of Angola's recovery story.
A cool highland city, the Tundavala gap dropping steeply to the plain below, and the hairpin road of Serra da Leba — the image most Angolans would show you first.
Where the Namib desert reaches the Atlantic: dunes, the welwitschia plant, and some of the emptiest country in Africa. Remote — plan it with a local operator.
Two old Atlantic towns, the start of the Benguela Railway into the interior, and the beaches most Angolans head for at the weekend.
The Portuguese reached the mouth of the Congo River in the 1480s, in the same years they built São Jorge da Mina at Elmina on the Gold Coast. Luanda was founded in 1576. For three centuries this coast was one of the largest sources of the Atlantic slave trade, most of it to Brazil — a history that still shapes Angola, Brazil and West Africa today.
The same story, told from the Gold Coast. In 1637 the Dutch took Elmina, and in 1641 Luanda. Our Ghana sites tell that side: Elmina Castle, the Portuguese fort in Accra, and James Fort and the Tabom — the Afro-Brazilian returnees who came back to Accra from Brazil.
What the weather is doing in Luanda, how it compares with where you are, and what your money is worth in kwanza.
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Luanda is warm all year. The rainy season runs roughly from October or November to April; the cooler, grey and dry cacimbo season from about May to September.
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Market rate, indicative only. Banks and exchange offices in Angola may give a different rate — compare before you change money.
For a first visit, a local guide makes the difference — in Luanda for the history, and outside it for transport alone. With the new airport about 40 kilometres from the city centre, a booked pickup is also the calmest way to arrive. These are bookable tours across Angola, including airport pickup and historical city tours. Entrance fees are included in the tour price. Tips for guides and drivers are not included, but they are welcome.
Tour links are affiliate links: if you book, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
An independent network of more than 50 travel and heritage websites, online since December 2000. Where this page ends, these continue.
Independence histories, country portals and live radio from across the continent.
African Independence Uganda Egypt Congo All African Radio Stations
The other end of Angola's Atlantic story — forts, explorers and the Brazilian returnees.
Elmina Castle Fort Visão, Accra James Fort & the Tabom The Portuguese Gold Coast Diogo Cão
Where the network began in 2000 — travel, castles, museums and flights.
Our German-language Ghana portal and heritage sites — written in German, not translated.
Ghana-Net.net Cape Coast Castle Fort Amsterdam Nationalmuseum Museum Bolgatanga
Honest country guides from East to West Africa.
Our partner site for Britain — the real country, beyond the postcard.
Page updated . Entry rules, prices and security conditions change — check your own government's current travel advice before you go. All text © Remo Kurka.