Getting Around Namibia: Transport Guide

By Air

Most of the important urban centres in Namibia have airports or registered landing strips. Domestic connections don’t cost a great deal and are definitely more popular than the train connections. Eros airport in Windhoek city serves as the hub for domestic connections and some flights from Cape Town and the many charter flights. Domestic destinations are available between Walvis Bay, Keetmanshoop, Lüderitz, Oranjemund, Tsumeb, Ondangwa, Katima Mulilo and Mokuti. Internal connections are not very frequent, so need to be booked well in advance. Eros has no public transport but fortunately, the airport is very close to the city (4km) and taxis can be summoned by phone.

 By Road

The low density of population in Namibia is one reason why an extensive internal bus service is not feasible, but certain well-populated areas do have regular bus and luxury coaches connecting them to other centres. Minibuses ply on the main routes, charge reasonable fares but wait till they have a full complement of passengers. Trans-Namib operates bus services from main towns on rail routes to centres without a passenger train service such as Lüderitz and Grootfontein. One company operates a fleet of luxury vehicles on long-distance routes and their buses are air conditioned, comfortable and fast with refreshments, music, videos and toilet facilities. Taxi services are available on call (not on the streets) in the major cities and the city bus services are pretty efficient.

The many car rental companies that offer visitors sedans, cars, motorbikes and 4WDs on rent make up the lacuna in the public transport system. But rental charges are steep and petrol is an expensive commodity. Traffic regulations are strictly enforced – traffic drives on the left hand side of the road; a speed limit of 120 km/h on open roads should be adhered to and safety belts are mandatory. Overseas visitors but not residents of neighbouring countries must have a valid international drivers license before they can drive in Namibia.

By Train

More than 2400 km of railway lines of the Trans-Namib Railways connect the major towns in the country – Windhoek is the main transport hub with passenger trains connecting it to Tsumeb, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Gobabis and Keetmanshoop with stops at the town enroute. One of the highlights of the tourist trade in Namibia is the ‘Desert Express’ a 5-star luxury overnight train service between Windhoek and Swakopmund.  The South African Rovos Rail also travels a tourist circuit of over 2600km round trip from Johannesburg to Swakopmund. The Starline rail service, run by Trans-Namib is exclusively for passengers with economy and business classes but no dining cars. The trains are fairly comfortable though slow because of the many stops along the way.