Start › Mountain Gorillas & More › The Cities in Uganda › Mbale in Uganda
Mbale, with its roughly 290,000 inhabitants (2024 census), lies at the foot of Mount Elgon, whose summit Wagagai (4,321 m) rises imposingly into the sky.
Many tourists prefer the comfortable accommodation in Mbale in order to visit the numerous sights in the surrounding area from here. Foremost among them is Mount Elgon National Park, which invites you to walks and mountain tours in glorious mountain scenery. The Sipi Falls on the northern slope of the massif are also well worth seeing.
Further tourist attractions in the surrounding area include Lake Kyota, for example, or the rock paintings at Kumi and Kakoro. The latter are estimated to be 2,000 years old.
Mbale is the centre of Ugandan coffee growing, offers lush greenery within the town as well and is quite pleasant to look at. Trekking travellers can make use of the rich and inexpensive range of goods at the market in the centre to stock up on travel provisions. A rarity is the Islamic University in Uganda (founded 1988).