Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum
The Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum is the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the Rwanda 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the site honors the memory of the more than one million Rwandans killed in 1994 through education and peace-building.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum was constructed in 204 through a partnership with the City of Kigali and the Aegis Trust. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have come to remember and learn about the Genocide against the Tutsi.
What is Done Here?
The Kigali Genocide Memorial offers guided tours of the exhibition and gardens. Many of the guides here are survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Together with the Kigali Genocide Center, we can arrange for you a guided tour to the genocide memorial center around Rwanda. This tour is called the “Kigali Genocide Memorial Remembrance & Learning Tours”.
The tour takes you across Rwanda to visit important historical sites and memorials and meet with communities and policy leaders to learn about the 1994 Genocide against the Titsi. The tours also visit post-genocide recovery initiatives and show how these are contributing to the development of the country, they provide visitors, students and teachers with a sense of hope, peace and unity that exists in Rwanda today.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial Remembrance and Learning Tour Package ranges from a three-hour guided tour of the Kigali Genocide Memorial to multi-day countrywide tours to genocide memorials and discussions with community members and leaders. The tours include a combination of the following.
- Guided Tour of the Kigali Genocide Memorial, other memories in Kigali and across Rwanda and important historical monuments and sites such as the Parliament of Rwanda.
- Visits to communities building peace through unity and reconciliation associations
- Discussions with survivors, perpetrators and rescues, as well as national leaders.
- Interactions with Rwandan university faculty members and students
- Meeting with young Rwandans building peace in their communities
- Tour of the Genocide Archive of Rwanda and meeting with the archiving team
The Kigali Genocide Memorial welcomes all group sizes, the tours are especially designed for students, teachers, researchers, academics and tours. Tours are charged on a per person basis and proceeds support the remembrance and education activities of the memorial as well as survivors support programs. Transport, accommodation and meals are also included in the tour as required.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial’s Guides are highly experienced and dedicated to the cause of peace, they are fluent in English, French and Kinyarwanda and take great pride in ensuring visitors have valuable and informative experience.
Guided Experience
The Kigali Genocide Memorial is a guided experience. Visitors can choose a guided tour by one of the staff witnesses or purchase the Ubumntu Package
The Ubuntu Package
Entrance to the Kigali Memorial is free but to enhance your experience while visiting, the following is provided.
- An Audio guide device to give you a deeper, more detailed explanation on each stop within the memorial
- A Rose to lay at the burial site to pay respect to the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi.
- A Champion Humanity pin
- Wi-Fri coupon to use at the Museum Café
Adults/ Students/Internationals:
- $30 / Rwf 40,000
- $20/ Rwf 30,000 | without a pin
- East African Community:
- $20 / Rwf 30,000
- $15/ Rwf 20,000 | without a pin
Guided Tours
The Kigali Genocide Memorial offers guided tours of the exhibitions and gardens. Many of the guides are survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Staff Guides:
- 1-5 people – $200 or Rwf 300,000
- 6-10 people – $300 or Rwf 400,000
- 11-15 people – $400 or Rwf 500,000
- 16-20 people – $500 0r Rwf 600.000
- East African Community – 15% off indicated prices
- Students – 15% off indicated prices
- Or join a guided tour once daily starting at 09:30AM in mixed groups.
Note: It is recommended you book guided tours at least a well in advance. Please be sure to do so for groups larger than 15 people. Due to space constraint at the memorial, and groups larger than 30 people will be divided into smaller groups. In the case of unexpected closures, all bookings are reviewed and visitors or tour companies are contacted a head of time to make alternative arrangements.
Getting there:
The Kigali Genocide Memorial is located in Gisozi, ten minutes’ drive from the Centre of Town. The easiest way to get here is by car or taxi.
Parking at the Memorial car park is free of charge.
If using public transport, the nearest bus stop is half a mile away at Kinamba on KN 8 Avenue. From the bus stop, take the fork on to KG 14 Avenue and proceed up the hill. You will see the Memorial on your left.
Opening Hours
The Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum is open 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (last entrance 4:00 pm), 7 Days a week with the following exceptions:
On the last Saturday of each month, the Memorial is open from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm due to Umuganda Community work.
The Memorial is closed annually on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Also, it is normally closed to the public on the morning on April 7th each year (the start of Kwibuka).
Occasionally the Memorial is closed to the public for a few hours at short notice when VIP visits are taking place. Any such closures are usually advised on the Kigali Genocide Memorial Twitter account.
Visitor Guidelines
The Kigali Genocide Memorial is the final resting place for 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi. So you are kindly asked to dress and behave respectfully.
- Children under the age of 12 are not permitted to visit.
- Do not step or walk on the mass graves
- Eating or drinking is not allowed in the gardens or in the memorial exhibition. You are invited to visit the memorial café, where you can enjoy a range of food and drink
- Pets are not allowed at the memorial. Service animals are permitted
Accessibility
Much of the Memorial site is wheelchair accessible. However, the permanent exhibitions can presently only be accessed via stairs. By prior arrangement, a visitor needing a wheelchair and arriving without one can be provided with a wheelchair.
Wheelchair users can also be provided with manual assistance to tour the site and access the exhibitions.