Experience the best of Kinshasa

Kinshasa stands on the south bank of the Congo River at Malebo Pool, a broad lakelike widening of the river, directly across from Brazzaville, the capital of the neighbouring Republic of Congo. It began as a Belgian trading post, Léopoldville, in 1881, and was renamed Kinshasa in 1966. Today it is one of the largest cities in Africa, stretching for many kilometres along the river and over the hills behind.

Gombe, the central district, keeps colonial-era buildings along the riverfront, and the Académie des Beaux-Arts trains many of the country's painters and sculptors. The Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary, in hills south-west of the city, cares for orphaned bonobos. Congolese rumba, born in Kinshasa and Brazzaville, was inscribed by UNESCO in 2021, and live music fills the bars.

Poulet à la moambe, chicken in a sauce of palm nuts, is a favourite dish, served with fufu or chikwangue, bread made of cassava. Saka-saka, pounded cassava leaves, and grilled fish are everyday meals. The dry season from June to September is cooler and less humid.