The town
Twelve minutes in the air is the shortest expensive thing you will do here, and the rest of the day is yours. The useful trick is to spend it on the ground under what you have just flown over — the viewpoints make far more sense once you have seen the shape of the thing from above.
Quick answer
Fly first thing, then walk the viewpoints in the afternoon. You will have seen the geometry from above, and the paths along the gorge wall stop being a confusing series of gaps in the trees and become a walk along one side of a crack you understand. Then the sunset cruise, which is the other thing everybody does here and does not regret.
Seven things to put around the flight
The recognition is the point. Everything here is something the circuit passes over.
The main reason to fly first. After twelve minutes in the air the paths along the gorge wall stop being confusing, because you know what shape you are walking along.
You fly over it on every circuit. Walking across it afterwards — between two countries, above the second gorge — is a different feeling entirely.
On the flat water above the falls, which you saw from the air minutes before it disappears. The contrast is the whole appeal.
The only forest in the world watered entirely by the spray of a waterfall. In high water it is a downpour; bring the raincoat.
Elephant and buffalo come down to the Zambezi. The longer flights and the safari combinations cross exactly this ground.
Above the falls on the Zambian side, and the way to Devil’s Pool when the water is low enough.
Small, walkable and much less of an errand than either capital. Most of the helipads are minutes away.
One route through a single day
Fly at eight, walk at ten, and end on the river you flew over.
7:00. Transfer to the helipad on whichever side you are staying. Check in, weigh in, briefing.
8:00. Twelve to twenty-five minutes over the whole curtain and the gorges. Calm air, sun behind you, spray at its lowest height of the day.
10:00. The viewpoints on foot, with the shape of the place already in your head. Raincoat if it is anywhere near full flood.
13:00. Lunch in town, which is ten minutes from almost everything.
16:00. The bridge, on foot, over the second gorge.
17:30. A sunset cruise on the flat water above the falls — the same water you watched disappear over the edge that morning.
Book direct
A morning Victoria Falls helicopter ride with transfers, a guided day, the cruise combination and the safari.
★ 4.8 · 603 reviews
★ 4.7 · 217 reviews
★ 5 · 1 reviews
Fly first. The viewpoints make sense afterwards in a way they never do before.
What you see from the air→Common questions
Walk the viewpoints. A Victoria Falls helicopter ride shows you the shape; After twelve minutes in the air you know the shape of the gorge, and the paths along it stop being a confusing series of gaps in the trees.
About an hour door to door: the transfer, check-in, the weigh-in, the briefing and the flight itself.
Before. The flight explains the geometry; the walk fills in the detail. Doing it the other way round works, but you spend the walk confused and the flight catching up.
It is the other thing almost everybody does here. On the flat water above the falls, which you will have just seen from the air, it lands better than it would on its own.
Between February and May, yes, and they are rented at the park gate. In those months the walking viewpoints are a permanent downpour of spray.
Across the bridge, yes, with the right paperwork. You fly over it on every circuit.
Where to stay, and why it decides the morning
Nine flights on one side, three on the other. Sleep where you fly.
Victoria Falls town, Zimbabwe. Nine of the twelve listings lift off here and the helipad is minutes away. If you have not booked a hotel yet and a Victoria Falls helicopter ride is on your list, this is the simpler side.
Livingstone, Zambia. Three listings lift off here, Devil’s Pool is on this side, and the town is further from the falls than its Zimbabwean counterpart. Perfectly good — just book a Victoria Falls helicopter ride that departs from this side rather than crossing for one.
Five things worth doing that are not the obvious ones
The famous list is famous for a reason. This is what goes next to it.
The only forest in the world watered entirely by waterfall spray. In April it is a downpour, and that is the point.
You fly over it on every Victoria Falls helicopter ride. Walking it between two countries is a different thing entirely.
A steep walk down to where the river turns in the first gorge — the water you watched go over the edge that morning.
Above the falls on the Zambian side, and the only way to Devil’s Pool.
Flat, silent water minutes upstream of a 108-metre drop. The contrast is the whole trip in one view.
Go deeper
From $173 for twelve minutes, and what the long flight adds.
Flight of AngelsWhere the name came from, and which listings actually fly it.
The verdictTwelve listings, and the four worth your money.
Which sideThe falls are the same. Everything around them is not.
How longWhat the extra ten minutes buys, and when it is worth it.
BookingWeight limits, park levies, transfers and what sells out.
Victoria Falls: Helicopter Tour with Hotel Pickup
★ 4.9 · 646 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h