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Windhoek: The Capital Of Namibia

You can’t avoid visiting Windhoek if you are traveling to Namibia. As the capital and hub for international travel, most visitors will spend at least one night here.

The city itself is quite small compared to worldwide capitals. But the population of Namibia is also quite small. Of the 2.5 million people who call Namibia their home, 431,000 live in Windhoek.

When traveling over holidays, you might find that Windhoek is a quiet, sleepy town. Normally, it can be quite active and bustling with activity. There are several shopping malls, many centers for the arts and culture, a museum, and lots of tasty restaurants.

Card Or Cash?

Payment can nearly always be done with card, although you will want cash for taxis and some restaurants or shops in smaller towns outside the capital. We also found that every gas station we visited would not take card and always claimed their machine was broken. It’s safe to say that you should always have enough cash for filling up your car!

The cash machines in the airport will give you South African rand. This is accepted throughout the country and is equivalent in value to the Namibian dollar. If you are traveling between countries hold onto your rands!

What To See

Windhoek is not a sightseeing town. They do have a museum, a nice church on a hill overlooking the city (the Christuskirche), and a strange building built by the North Koreans with a statue of the founder of Namibia placed in front of the building facing Fidel Castro Street (I’m not joking). Besides that, it isn’t a beautiful city, and it is quite spread out once you get into the residential areas. For us, this was just a stopover on the road trip we had planned through southern Namibia.

Where To Stay

We stayed at the Hilton Windhoek, a very nice hotel in the CBD. As we were traveling during Covid times, the hotel was fairly quiet with not many guests. The bar on the roof is a great place for a lap swim, or to have sundowners with great views of the city. We met some friends here for a drink and were treated to a nice sunset and Namibian gin.

There are many AirBnB options as well. If you’d prefer a more local experience it might be best to try these instead of the hotels. Plan the location carefully as many locals live outside of the city center and it can be a hassle to get around if you don’t have a car.

How To Get Around

There are many small taxis that drive around the city, hooting and beeping their horns to show their availability. They work almost like buses, and you can find yourself in a taxi with a few other people. Download the app LEFA in order to more easily call a taxi. It works just like Uber.

If you stay in the CBD it is also safe to walk around, but don’t flash your fancy phone or jewelry around, and use common sense. Walking after dark is not recommended, but Windhoek is still a safer town than many others we have visited. There are some street boys and town drunks, but we found everyone mostly harmless and no one bothered us while we walked around.

Renting a car is the easiest method of transportation, and if you are planning a Namibian road trip it may be your best option.

One of the most fascinating buildings in Windhoek was built by the North Koreans.

Where And What To Eat

There are many restaurants you can choose from in Windhoek. As steak lovers, we chose to have dinner at the Stellenbosch Bistro, which is a more upscale, trendy restaurant a 30 minute walk or a 5 minute drive from the CBD. As Americans, we often find that steak in other countries may not exactly be to our tastes, however, this restaurant got it right. We ordered a medium rare fillet and it was perfectly tender and tasty. As the resident New Yorker, Andreas also approved of their cheesecake – the closest we had gotten to New York cheesecake outside of New York City!

There are also a number of coffee shops and other small cafes to choose from. Mugg and Bean is a popular choice for breakfast or lunch.

One thing Namibia is well known for is their jerky (biltong). We would recommend buying a few bags as souvenirs and for snacking (just be careful it isn’t illegal to bring into your home country). Don’t be afraid of the chili jerky as it often is not that spicy!

If you need to do some shopping there are plenty of Spar markets to choose from. They would be your best choice for shopping before heading out on a road trip. You can find any basic needs in the Windhoek Spar markets.

Windhoek Airport

Everyone will fly through the airport to get into and out of the country. Our advice is to be prepared for a small, not well stocked airport. Don’t expect to be able to get a full meal before your flight, or very many souvenirs. You will need to be able to walk to and from the plane as well.

Windhoek: A Nice Day Trip Or A Short Weekend Visit

Overall, we had a very pleasant experience in Windhoek. The people are friendly, everyone speaks English, Afrikaans, and some German. They are used to tourists so it is a bit easier to not attract as much attention here as it in Kenya, for example. It is quite easy to get around, and most surprisingly, the water is safe to drink from the tap!