A country · 46 places · 8 regions

Mozambique, all of it.

46 curated places across 8 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Bazaruto Archipelago · via Wikimedia Commons

The 4 biggest regions — Inhambane Province, Nampula Province, Cabo Delgado Province and Sofala — read below as chapters, with 4 more waiting past them.

Chapter I · Inhambane Province · 8 places

Inhambane Province

The Bazaruto Archipelago consists of a chain of barrier islands off the coast of Vilankulo in southern Mozambique, comprising Bazaruto, Benguerra, Magaruque, and Santa Carolina islands. The surrounding marine national park shelters one of the last viable populations of dugong in the Indian Ocean, alongside whale sharks, manta rays, and nesting sea turtles. The islands' tall sand dunes, freshwater lakes, and powder-sand beaches backed by turquoise water represent the archetypal image of Mozambican coastal beauty.

Bazaruto Archipelago

Inhambane Province, Mozambique

✦ April to December · $$$

Tofo Beach

Inhambane Province, Mozambique

✦ July to October · $

Vilankulo

Inhambane Province, Mozambique

✦ April to December · $$

All 8 places in Inhambane Province →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Nampula Province · 7 places

Nampula Province

The Island of Mozambique — Ilha de Moçambique — is a small coral island connected to the mainland by a bridge and recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its outstanding Swahili-Portuguese architecture spanning four centuries. The northern stone town preserves the 16th-century Fort of São Sebastião, the oldest complete fort in sub-Saharan Africa, alongside churches, mosques, and mansions in varying states of picturesque decay. The palm-fringed reed town on the southern end of the island maintains a living traditional community.

✦ May to November · $

Meet Mozambique Island All 7 places in Nampula Province →

Chapter III · Cabo Delgado Province · 6 places

Cabo Delgado Province

The Quirimbas Archipelago stretches across 250 kilometres of the northern Mozambican coastline, comprising more than 30 coral islands fringed by mangroves and surrounded by reefs of exceptional biodiversity. Ibo Island is the most historically significant, its 18th-century Portuguese colonial fort and crumbling town forming one of the finest examples of Swahili-Portuguese architecture in East Africa. The marine park protects breeding humpback whales and extensive coral gardens.

Quirimbas Archipelago

Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

✦ April to November · $$$

Ibo Island

Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

✦ May to November during the dry season · $$

Pemba, Mozambique

Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

✦ May to November for dry, settled conditions · $$

All 6 places in Cabo Delgado Province →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter IV · Sofala · 6 places

Sofala

Gorongosa National Park in central Mozambique sits at the southern end of the African Rift Valley and was one of Africa's finest game parks before the devastation of the civil war. An ongoing restoration programme has seen wildlife populations recover dramatically, with lion, elephant, hippo, and buffalo numbers growing strongly since the 1990s. The park's mosaic of floodplains, miombo woodland, and the Gorongosa Mountain rising from the valley floor provides varied habitat of exceptional biodiversity.

✦ May to October · $$

Meet Gorongosa National Park All 6 places in Sofala →