1 Day Rwanda Kigali Tour Ntarama Nyamata Genocide Memorials Hours 0830 -1630

This full-day tour from Kigali provides a somber, educational look into the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi by visiting the preserved Ntarama and Nyamata church memorial sites.

The experience typically includes transportation, a guide, and, in some cases, visits to reconciliation villages to explore the country’s healing process.

Total Duration: The tour takes 7 to 8 hours
Travel Time: The memorials are located about 25–30 km south of Kigali, typically a 45-minute to 1-hour drive each way
Time at Memorials:
Ntarama Genocide Memorial: Expect to spend about 1.5 to 2 hours.
Nyamata Genocide Memorial: Typically takes 1.5 to 2 hours for a comprehensive visit
Optional Stops: Our tour includes a lunch break at a local hotel or a visit to Lake Bugesera, which adds about 2 hours to the total time

1-Day tour Kigali Genocide Memorial, Ntarama, and Nyamata sites Itinerary

0830 Hours – 0900 Hours: Hotel Pickup – Pickup from your hotel or Kigali International Airport by a private guide.
0900 Hours – 1030 Hours: Kigali Genocide Memorial (Gisozi) – Visit the main memorial in Kigali to learn about the genocide. It is recommended to allow at least 1.5 to 2 hours here.
1030 Hours – 1130 Hours: Drive to Ntarama. Travel south of Kigali into the Bugesera district (approx. 1 hour)
1130 Hours – 1300 Hours: Ntarama Genocide Memorial Tour the former church, now a memorial site holding the remains and clothing of over 5,000 victims
1300 Hours – 1400 Hours: Drive to Nyamata & Lunch Short drive to Nyamata town for lunch at a local spot (e.g., La Palisse Hotel Nyamata)
1400 Hours – 1530 Hours: Nyamata Genocide Memorial – Visit this former church where over 45,000 people are buried in mass graves
1530 Hours – 1630 Hours: Return to Kigali – Drive back to Kigali City

Tour Highlights

Ntarama Genocide Memorial

Located about an hour south of Kigali, this former Catholic church is where 5,000 people were killed while seeking refuge. The site remains largely untouched, displaying victims’ personal belongings, bloodied clothing, and the weapons used during the massacre.

Nyamata Genocide Memorial

Situated 20 km further south, this memorial commemorates over 50,000 victims. Visitors can see mass graves and the altar where many were attacked, providing a stark look at the scale of the 1994 atrocities.

Kigali Genocide Memorial

Often included in these day tours, this central site in the capital is the final resting place for over 250,000 victims. It features educational exhibits on the causes of the genocide and a moving Children’s Memorial.

Educational Context

Local guides provide detailed narratives on ethnic divisions, the role of colonial powers, and the church’s involvement, helping visitors understand the complex events that led to the tragedy.

Cultural & Scenic Stops

Our tour offers the option of a visit to Lake Bugesera for a traditional Rwandan lunch or a glimpse into the daily lives of local farmers and artisans to balance the heavy historical content

1 Day Rwanda Kigali Tour Ntarama Nyamata Genocide Memorials visits two of the 8 Genocide Memorial sites in Rwanda. The tour offers you an insight into the Rwandan genocide history of 1994, which took place between the months of April and June, wherein 100 days, about 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda by ethnic Hutu extremists.

They were targeting members of the minority Tutsi community, as well as their political opponents, irrespective of their ethnic origin. On this educational tour, you will learn how the genocide started, how it was carried out, how it ended, who has faced justice, and what Rwanda is like today.

The highlights of the tour include:

* Included hotel pickup and drop-off
* Keep focused and energized with lunch included
* Gain insight into the atrocity and its legacy from your local guide
* Visit 2 of Rwanda’s poignant genocide memorials in 1 day. These churches are two of the most powerful and shocking memorials, having on display the bones, skulls, and bloodied clothes of those savagely murdered

Detailed Itinerary

0830 Hours: After breakfast, depart for your one-day Rwanda Kigali safari to visit the Ntarama church. Ntarama Church is located about 25 km south of Kigali (in Kigali District) and is about an hour’s drive away. On arrival, a local guide welcomes you and leads you on a guided tour. A guided tour of the compound takes no more than 30 minutes.

The Ntarama church was converted into a genocide memorial on the 14th of April 1995 and was dedicated to over 5000 people who lost their lives in this place. Ntarama, which is one of the six national Genocide memorial sites, contains human clothing, remains, and artifacts that belong to those who were killed at the church; these items have remained on display at all times.

During the Genocide, the Tutsis persecuted much of the population who sought sanctuary in the catholic churches, believing that they would be protected and safe there. It’s also thought that church leaders informed the Hutus of the secret mass of Tutsis who were in the churches, and the Hutus stormed the churches and killed all the people.

5 km further south of Ntarama is the larger church memorial site at Nyamata, the Nyamata Parish Catholic Church. Here, grenades, rockets, and automatic weapons were all used to massacre the people imprisoned inside the church.

It is believed that 10,000 were killed inside the church, with another 35,000 killed around the church compound between April 10th and April 12th of 1994. Inside this church today are all the bloodied clothing of the victims.

The walls of the church show where the grenades blew holes in the walls, and where the doors were blown open. Beside the church is a large underground crypt. It is totally filled with thousands of skulls, femurs, and other bones belonging to the 45,000 people who were so savagely murdered.

There are crude wooden coffins filled with bones of whole families (as best they could tell), all draped in purple covers. Return to Kigali, enjoy a sumptuous lunch, and later shop for a variety of Rwandan souvenirs and mementos.