Can you leave the airport?
Your hours, planned
Survive & recharge
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Connections at EBB: the honest numbers
The indicative minimum international-to-international connection at Entebbe is 60 minutes on a single booking with bags checked through. On separate tickets, add roughly 90 minutes: you'll collect bags, recheck them, and re-clear security — and no airline is obliged to help if the first leg runs late.
Transfer specifics
- Entebbe is a single terminal handling both international and domestic flights, sitting on a peninsula in Lake Victoria about 40 km south of Kampala. It is small and manageable by regional standards, and connections here need no shuttle or terminal change.
- The transit rule is clean: if you stay in the airport's transit area you need no visa at all. A transit e-visa exists and is available to nationals of up to 198 countries, but it is only required if you intend to leave the airport before your onward flight. Uganda does not offer visa on arrival, so anything beyond airside transit must be arranged online in advance.
- If you are leaving, the option worth knowing about is the East Africa Tourist Visa — a joint product from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda costing US$100, valid 90 days, with unlimited multiple entries between all three countries. A single-country Uganda eVisa is around US$50, so the EATV only makes sense if your trip covers two or three of them.
- Two traps with the EATV. You must enter through the country that issued it — arrive at Entebbe on a Rwanda-issued EATV and you may be denied entry or made to buy a Uganda visa. And it does not cover Tanzania, which runs its own separate eVisa; leaving the three-country bloc invalidates the visa even if days remain. A yellow fever certificate is a requirement for all three.
Leaving EBB during a layover
Everyone else needs an eVisa arranged online before travel — Uganda has no visa on arrival. A single-country eVisa runs about US$50; the East Africa Tourist Visa is US$100 and covers Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda for 90 days. Immigration queues at Entebbe are typically 15 to 45 minutes. The bigger constraint is distance: Kampala is roughly 40 km north and the road is slow, so budget an hour each way and treat six hours as the floor for a city trip. The city is about 60 minutes away one-way; as a rule of thumb you want 6+ hours before exiting is worth the queues, and you should be back through security 90 minutes before boarding.
Worth your hours in Kampala
- Entebbe town itself is the sensible target on a shorter layover — the Botanical Gardens on the lake shore and the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre are both minutes from the airport rather than an hour up the road.
- Lake Victoria's shoreline is right there, and a walk along it is the most efficient way to have actually seen Uganda on a four-hour connection.
- Kampala is 40 km north and the drive is slow. It needs a genuinely long layover, and with an hour each way you want six hours minimum before attempting it.
Staying airside instead
- The terminal is small and undergoing major renovations intended to run to 2035, so expect construction and a modest range of facilities. There is an airside restaurant, a landside restaurant with an internet cafe, and an airline lounge.
- Duty-free provision is unusually generous for an airport this size, with several outlets selling broadly similar stock at varying prices — worth comparing before you buy.
- Customs has become notably stricter. Uganda is a known transit point for smuggled goods and the wildlife trade, and Uganda Revenue has increased enforcement, so declare properly if you clear immigration.
Sleeping, showers and lounges at EBB
Sleep: There is no airside transit hotel. Hotels sit in Entebbe town close to the airport and are a far better option than Kampala for an overnight connection given the drive. Reaching either means clearing immigration, so the eVisa must already be arranged. Airport hotels & sleep pods
Showers: Facilities are limited and shower access is not something to plan around. On a long connection a nearby Entebbe hotel is the realistic answer given how close they are.
Lounges: There is an airline lounge and a VIP lounge for diplomats and government officials. Provision is modest, in keeping with the terminal's size and the ongoing renovation works. Book an airport lounge for your layover
Dietary needs: Ugandan staples are matoke, cassava and rice based, which suits gluten-free eating better than the airside range suggests. Vegetarian is straightforward; there is no legal right to written allergen information.
Overnight reality: Entebbe handles a good deal of overnight regional connecting traffic but the terminal is small and under renovation, so it is not a comfortable place to wait out a night. With hotels minutes away in Entebbe town, going landside is the better plan provided the eVisa is sorted.
EBB layover FAQ
Do I need a visa to transit through Entebbe?
Not if you stay in the airport's transit area — a transit visa is only required if you intend to leave before your onward flight. Uganda does not offer visa on arrival, so if you are leaving the airport you must arrange an eVisa online in advance. A transit e-visa is available to nationals of up to 198 countries.
What is the East Africa Tourist Visa and is it worth it?
A joint visa from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda costing US$100, valid 90 days with unlimited entries between all three. A single-country Uganda eVisa is around US$50, so the EATV pays off only if you are visiting two or three of them. It does not cover Tanzania, Burundi or the DRC, and leaving the three-country bloc invalidates it even if days remain.
Can I enter Uganda on an East Africa Tourist Visa issued by Rwanda?
No — and this catches people out. You must enter through the country that issued the visa. Arriving at Entebbe on a Rwanda-issued EATV may result in denied entry or being made to pay for a separate Uganda visa. After that first entry you can move freely between all three.
How far is Kampala from Entebbe Airport?
About 40 km north, and the road is slow — budget an hour each way. Six hours is the realistic minimum connection before a Kampala trip is worth attempting. Entebbe town itself is minutes from the airport and has the Botanical Gardens and the Wildlife Education Centre, which makes far more sense on a shorter window.
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Minimum connection times are indicative and vary by airline, terminal pair and season; visa notes are simplified general guidance, not immigration advice. Facts on this page were last verified on 2026-08-16. If anything has changed, tell us and we'll fix it fast.