Chill out in Bulawayo

The city of Bulawayo is to Zimbabwe what Melbourne is to Australia: a second city with a more laid-back and elegant pace of life, with culture and history pervading it.

Numerous early Victorian structures that the city council preserves as heritage assets flank its broad avenues of trees. The interior of Zimbabwe's oldest licensed pub, the Exchange Bar, and the city's faded colonial facades combine to give Bulawayo the appearance of a frontier town. Inside its paneled walls, which are still covered in taxidermied animal heads and sepia photos, Rhodes conducted his business transactions. It is the ideal setting for an atmospheric beer break.

The Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, the best museum in the country, is also located here and provides a captivating visual summary of the natural and political history of the nation. In fact, Bulawayo is one of the greatest places to stay as a base or central itinerary stop because it is the closest major city to Hwange National Park, the Matobo Hills, and Victoria Falls.