Getting Around Malawi

The quick answer

Malawi is small by regional standards and the distances look modest on a map. They are not modest in hours. Plan on shorter driving days than the kilometers suggest, and on fuel being the constraint rather than the road.

⚠ Fuel, which is a live condition

The FCDO records frequent fuel shortages in Malawi with long queues, and its advice is explicit: do not assume fuel will be available on your route. Plan ahead to make sure you can reach your destination.

In practice that means filling up whenever you can rather than whenever you need to, carrying cash to do it, and asking your lodge or operator about the current situation on the road ahead rather than relying on what was true last week. See Malawi Currency and Money Guide.

Driving yourself

You can drive on a foreign photocard license for a limited period, after which you need either an international driving permit or a Malawian license. The FCDO gives that as up to 90 days on a UK photocard license and up to a year with an international driving permit; check your own license's position rather than assuming it matches.

Always carry your license. You may be asked to show it at police checkpoints, which are routine rather than unusual.

Police, breathalysers and cameras

The FCDO notes that police use breathalyser tests and regularly stop vehicles for speeding, and that there are speed cameras on main roads, often where there are no speed limit signs, with on-the-spot fines. The absence of a sign is not evidence of the absence of a limit. Drive to the conditions and expect to be stopped occasionally.

What the rains do

From November to April cyclones and floods are common, and the FCDO records that they often cause landslides resulting in road closures and disruption to travel and public transport, and that floods can make areas of Malawi inaccessible. Check your route before traveling and follow local authority advice. See Malawi Weather Guide.

Hiring a driver

For most visitors this is the right answer, and not only for comfort. A driver knows which filling stations have fuel, which road is closed today, how checkpoints work, and where not to stop. Given the fuel situation and the seasonal road closures, local knowledge is worth more in Malawi than in most places you could compare it to.

Minibuses and buses

Shared minibuses are how most people travel, and they are cheap and frequent. Two cautions from the official advice rather than from taste. The FCDO records that most thefts from tourists take place around main bus stations in urban areas, so that is where to have your bag in front of you and your phone away. And it advises against accepting food or drink from strangers, after robberies involving drugged food.

Larger coach operators run the main intercity routes on a schedule and are a more comfortable option for a long leg.

The lake

Lake Malawi runs almost the length of the country, and the passenger ferry that works its way up and down it, calling at lakeshore towns and at Likoma Island, is one of the classic journeys in this part of Africa. It is slow, it is not always punctual, and that is the point rather than the drawback.

Check what safety equipment is carried before boarding any small boat, and be willing to decline. On the water, as on the road, the sensible question is what happens if something goes wrong rather than how likely it is to.

Flying

Domestic flights connect the main centers and save a great deal of road time, particularly between the north and the south. They are also the option least exposed to fuel queues and washed-out roads. Build in buffer around any onward international connection, especially in the rains.

Identification and checkpoints

Carry a copy of your passport, visa or residence permit. The FCDO notes that police sometimes ask to see identification and that carrying a copy is sufficient. Around elections and political events there may be more checks, and the State Department notes that demonstrations can block roads.

Read this alongside

Everything on this page assumes the ordinary conditions the advisories describe. Start with Malawi Travel Safety Guide, which sets out the crime picture, the methanol warning and what to do about healthcare before you set off anywhere.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Malawi safety and security: crime, kidnap, road travel, fuel, local laws and the rainy season. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• US Department of State: the Malawi travel advisory, currently Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution. Accessed 14 September 2026.