Outside of Africa, the UK and Ireland have the best air access to Malawi. British Airways, Ethiopian Airways, KLM, South African Airways and Air Zimbabwe all fly between London and Lilongwe. There are also flights from many other European capitals. Travellers from other parts of the world will probably have to fly via Europe or South Africa. The airport departure tax is US$20.

The Malawian ferry

The only land crossing between Malawi and Tanzania is at the Songwe River bridge north of Kaporo, in the far north-western tip of Malawi. Buses make the run twice a day. The main crossing point between Malawi and Zambia is about 30km (20mi) east of Chipata, on the main road between Lilongwe and Lusaka. All crossing points on the Malawi border are open roughly from 6 am to 6 pm.

You can travel around Malawi by air, road, rail or boat. Distances between major centres are short and the roads are good. Air Malawi has a couple of flights a day between Lilongwe and Blantyre, and three flights a week between the capital and Mzuzu. The main airport is 25km (15mi) north of Lilongwe. Taxis are the easiest way into town, but there's a local bus that runs between Lilongwe's Old Town and a point about 200m (655ft) from the passenger terminal.

Most buses in Malawi are operated by a private company called Stagecoach, which runs several different kinds of bus at varying levels of comfort and price. The most comfortable (and most expensive) is Coachline, a luxury line that runs non-stop between Lilongwe and Blantyre (about 5 hours), and between Lilongwe and Mzuzu (about 7 hours). The Express service is also pretty good: fast, comfortable buses between the main towns with limited stops and no standing passengers. InterCity is similar to the Express but has more stops.

The train in Malawi is slow, crowded and limited (there are no passenger trains to the capital, for instance). The main line runs north from Blantyre to Balaka (north-west of Zomba) and south from Limbe (just south of Blantyre) to Nsanje, in the far south of the country.

The main road through Malawi runs from the north down to Mzuzu, then through the centre of the country to Lilongwe, and onto Blantyre and the south. It's mostly good-quality tar, but in recent years several stretches of road have become very badly potholed, making driving difficult and sometimes dangerous. Most car hire companies are based in Lilongwe and Blantyre. You'll need an international driving permit; driving is on the left.