Gorilla Trekking in Congo: Virunga and Kahuzi-Biega Status, Permit Prices, Safety and Alternatives (2026)

Written by the Paramount Gorilla Expeditions guiding team · Last updated 14 November 2026

Gorilla trekking in Congo means meeting mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park or Grauer's gorillas in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, both in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has long been the cheapest way to see wild gorillas, but it is also the hardest to plan, because fighting in North and South Kivu has repeatedly closed the parks. This guide is written on 14 November 2026. The most recent dated statement we could find about Virunga tourism reads as of June 2025 and says it was suspended, and we could not confirm that either park is open to visitors today. The guide sets out what is known, what each park offers, what the permits cost, how Congo compares with Uganda and Rwanda, what the governments advise and what to do instead. People search for it as gorilla trekking in Congo, DRC gorilla trekking, Virunga gorilla trekking, Kahuzi-Biega gorilla tracking, Congo gorilla permit, is Congo safe for gorilla trekking, Congo versus Rwanda versus Uganda gorillas and Grauer's gorilla tracking.

Quick answer

Do not plan a Congo gorilla trek without first confirming, on the day you book and again before you travel, that the park is open and that your own government does not advise against it. The most recent dated Virunga statement we found, from June 2025, says gorilla trekking, Nyiragongo hikes and chimpanzee tracking were all paused after fighting reached Goma in January 2025, with hopes of resuming in late 2025 or early 2026. We found no reliable later statement, and the United Kingdom advises against all travel to the Congo provinces that border Uganda, including Virunga National Park.

If your aim is to see mountain gorillas, the same animals live in Uganda and Rwanda, in parks that are open, escorted and well run. We do not sell Congo trips. This guide exists so you understand the option and can choose with your eyes open. Start with our guides to gorilla trekking in Uganda and gorilla trekking in Rwanda, and our Uganda versus Rwanda comparison.

Gorilla trekking in Congo at a glance

Chapter 01: Is gorilla trekking in Congo open right now?

We cannot confirm it, and any website that tells you it is open without a date should be treated with caution.

The facts we could establish are these. In January 2025 the M23 armed group entered parts of Goma, the city beside Virunga's southern gate, which forced the park's tourism activity to close. Virunga's own history timeline says the group went on to take Goma and then Bukavu, the city nearest Kahuzi-Biega, during 2025. A visitor-information article dated June 2025 says tourism at Virunga "remains suspended", that gorilla trekking, Nyiragongo hikes and chimpanzee tracking were all paused, and that management hoped to resume in late 2025 or early 2026 depending on peace talks. Another article, from January 2025 and revised in May 2025, reports that some trekking routes were temporarily suspended after the fighting.

Not every page agrees. A tour operator's guide published in April 2025 and revised in January 2026 says key gorilla parks are "now open" and that Congo is safe, without dates or mention of the fighting, and it is a sales page. We would put more weight on the dated, specific statements. For Kahuzi-Biega, the park's visitor pages are undated and say the park is open all year but that access depends on security, so visitors should confirm arrangements before travel. Neither page mentions the 2025 fighting, so the status is simply unknown.

Parks in eastern Congo have closed before and then reopened. Virunga closed in 2012 during the earlier M23 war and relaunched tourism in 2014, and it closed again in June 2018 after attacks on rangers and the abduction of two British visitors, reopening in February 2019 with gorilla treks and the Nyiragongo rim hike. That history is why a closure announcement is not the end of the story, and also why a reopening announcement is not a guarantee that it will last.

Chapter 02: What is Virunga National Park and what can you do there?

Virunga is one of Africa's oldest protected areas and sits on the border with Rwanda and Uganda, in the same Virunga massif as Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park and Uganda's Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. It is the home of about a third of the world's mountain gorillas. A 2019 report put the Virunga population at about 300 animals, and the last full census of the whole Virunga massif, which includes the Rwandan and Ugandan sides, counted 604, as covered in our guide on how many mountain gorillas are left.

When open, the park offers gorilla trekking, the Nyiragongo volcano hike, chimpanzee tracking and birding. Gorilla groups are visited once a day, in groups of about eight to ten visitors for one hour. Rangers lead the treks, and the park's ranger force has paid a heavy price: reports in 2019 said about 180 rangers had been killed in 20 years, and a 2025 figure puts the force at between about 750 and more than 770 rangers. Visitor numbers rose from about 400 in 2014 to about 4,800 in 2017 before the 2018 closure.

Chapter 03: What is Kahuzi-Biega and why do people go?

Kahuzi-Biega National Park, near Bukavu, is the only place where tourists can see Grauer's gorillas, the largest gorilla subspecies. They are also called eastern lowland gorillas. The park says it holds more than half of the world's Grauer's gorillas, and a published 2016 assessment put the whole subspecies at about 3,800 animals, a fall of about 77 percent since 1994, though other sources give much higher or lower figures. The IUCN lists them as critically endangered.

The park's visitor pages describe habituated groups, including Bonane, habituated in 2013, and Mpungwe, a group of 13 habituated in 2021, with each group visited once a day for a maximum of one hour and a minimum age of 15. Operator pages name other groups, so the list may differ from year to year. Access is from the park headquarters at Tshivanga, about an hour and a half from Bukavu. Read our guide to lowland versus mountain gorillas if you want to understand how the two differ.

Chapter 04: How much does a Congo gorilla permit cost?

When the parks are open, the permit is the cheapest of the three gorilla countries. Operator pages report about 400 US dollars for Virunga in the high season and about 200 dollars in the low season, which they place in mid-March to mid-May and mid-October to mid-December. Kahuzi-Biega is reported at between 400 and 450 dollars for non-residents, with lower rates for East African residents and for Congolese. The sources do not agree, and the parks' own pages did not state a price, so treat these as ballpark figures and confirm the price with the park or an established operator.

For comparison, our Rwanda safari cost guide lists Rwanda's permit at 1,500 US dollars from June to October and 1,050 from November to May, and Uganda's permit is lower than Rwanda's, as our permit cost guide explains. Congo's price advantage is real, but a permit is only part of the cost, and it does not count the value of a trip that has to be cancelled. See also how to book gorilla permits.

Chapter 05: How does Congo compare with Uganda and Rwanda?

The deciding points are reliability and safety, not price. A cheaper permit does not help if the park closes before your date, and the trip is the most exposed of the three to politics. Read our park guides: the Bwindi sector guide, the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park guide and the Volcanoes National Park guide.

Chapter 06: Is it safe, and what do governments say?

The security situation in eastern Congo is the reason for the caution. The United Kingdom's current Uganda advice, last updated on 6 November 2026, says it advises against all travel to the Congo provinces that border Uganda, including Virunga National Park, and against travel to South Sudan. Canadian advice on Uganda says not to take tours that cross into the Congo. Both pages were written for Uganda travellers, so check the Congo-specific pages of your own government, because the wording and level are different there.

Park history shows why. In 2018 rangers were killed in an ambush and two visitors were abducted and released the next day. Today the armed groups, the ranger casualties and the 2025 fighting are all reasons for a visitor to ask hard questions. Read our guides on is Uganda safe to visit and is East Africa safe to visit for how we think about risk, and our guide to safari travel insurance and evacuation because many policies exclude countries that your government advises against.

Chapter 07: How would a visit work when the parks are open?

For Virunga, travellers have usually flown to Kigali, driven to Gisenyi, crossed the border into Goma and driven about two hours to the park's base. For Kahuzi-Biega, Bukavu can be reached by road, by boat from Goma or through Kamembe Airport in Rwanda. We could not find the current visa fee or border procedure on the pages we read, so ask the park or your operator, and check your government's rules. The border at Goma was disrupted by the 2025 fighting, and crossing arrangements change quickly.

On the day, the format is similar to Uganda and Rwanda: a briefing, a hike led by rangers and trackers, up to one hour with the gorillas and a keep-your-distance rule. Our guide what happens on a gorilla trekking day describes the pattern, and the gorilla trekking fitness guide explains what to expect from the walk.

Chapter 08: Why do people still want to go?

The price, the smaller crowds and the story. Congo's permit is cheaper, the parks see far fewer visitors than their neighbours and the rangers' work is remarkable. Tourism income helps fund the ranger force, which is a good reason to follow the park's recovery. The Nyiragongo volcano hike, with its lava lake, is one of the most dramatic walks in Africa when it is open.

But the benefits only exist if the park is open and safe. The decision is a security decision first and a budget decision second.

Chapter 09: What should you do instead?

Choose a destination where the gorillas, the rangers and the logistics are on your side. Uganda gives you the most gorilla families, a choice of Bwindi sectors and a strong supporting cast of chimpanzees, savanna parks and the Nile. Rwanda gives you the shortest road from the airport and a polished experience. You can also combine them, as our combining Uganda and Rwanda gorilla trekking guide explains. For the same Virunga mountain gorillas that live in Congo, you can visit the Rwandan and Ugandan sides of the same massif, in Volcanoes and Mgahinga.

Start with our gorilla trekking safaris, the classic gorilla trekking safari, the Uganda gorilla trek and Nile adventure or the 3-day Rwanda gorilla express. Our first-time gorilla trekking guide and gorilla permits page cover the next steps.

Chapter 10: What should you ask an operator who offers Congo?

If you still want to consider it, ask these questions in writing. Is the park open today, and how do you know? What does your government advise for the exact province? What happens to my money if the park closes before my date? Which border crossing do you use and what are the current visa and health rules? What security arrangements do rangers and the operator provide? Is the operator a registered company, and can I speak to recent clients? Does my insurance cover this trip, and does it cover evacuation? Our questions to ask a safari operator guide has a fuller checklist.

Chapter 11: How can you check the position yourself?

Read the live pages of your government's travel advice, the park authorities' own announcements and the major news agencies' recent reports on North and South Kivu. A date on the page matters more than the headline. If a page does not give a date, treat it as unreliable. And check again before you pay and again before you fly, because the situation has changed more than once in a year.