Somalia is the final frontier of travel — and Mogadishu will surprise you: the whitewashed Hamarweyne old quarter, the busiest fish market on the Indian Ocean, Lido Beach at sunset, and a city rebuilding itself block by block. Every RJ Travel departure runs with a mandatory armed escort, full security coordination, and drivers who know the city street by street. Further north, Somaliland offers a different Somalia entirely — the 5,000-year-old rock art of Laas Geel and the Ottoman port of Berbera, on some of the least-travelled roads on Earth.
This 7-day private Somalia tour covers Lido Beach sunset, Mogadishu, Internal flight, Kismayo, Port area and city orientation, Kismayo — Port, Bantu-Somali villages, Jubba River estuary with your own guide, vehicle and security arrangements — no fixed group dates: departures run every day of the year, on your dates and at your pace. You stay in secure vetted hotels on full board in Mogadishu, with the armed escort, permits and invitation letter all included in the price.
From $4,980 USD per person — final price confirmed at booking. The tour is fully customizable: extra days, different hotels, or route changes are always possible.
7-day Somalia itinerary
Met at Aden Adde airport with your security team and driven into a city almost nobody sees. Mogadishu was one of the great ports of the Indian Ocean — Ibn Battuta stopped here in 1331 and described a rich, crowded trading city — and then it became the byword for state collapse. It is coming back, and Lido Beach at sunset, full of families and footballers with the Indian Ocean behind them, is the fastest way to understand that the story you know is out of date.
Overnight: secure hotel.
Hamarweyne's coral-stone alleys, which are older than anything the Italians built. Bakara, the great market. The Italian quarter, with its arcaded colonial streets in various states of collapse and repair. And the fish market on the shore, which is the most alive place in the city.
Overnight: secure hotel.
South by air to Kismayo, on the Jubba delta — a port city that changed hands repeatedly, that was held by al-Shabaab until 2012, and that almost no outsider has set foot in since. It is calm now, and it is the second-most important harbour in the country.
Overnight: secure hotel.
The port, and then out to the Bantu-Somali villages of the Jubba valley. The Somali Bantu are the descendants of people brought here as slaves from Tanzania and Mozambique in the 19th century, and they remain a distinct and marginalised community with their own languages and farming traditions. The Jubba estuary is thick with birds.
Overnight: secure hotel.
North to Garowe, capital of Puntland — a self-governing region that has been functionally independent since 1998 and is, by Somali standards, stable and dull, which is a compliment. Puntland claims the name of the ancient Land of Punt, the trading partner the Egyptians sailed to for frankincense and myrrh three thousand years ago.
Overnight: secure hotel.
Eyl was the capital of Somali piracy — the hijacked ships were anchored offshore here and the ransom money built the houses you will drive past. That is over. What is left is a spectacular stretch of coast: limestone cliffs, caves, an old Italian fort, and an empty Indian Ocean beach where turtles come ashore.
Overnight: secure hotel.
The connection back to Mogadishu and your international flight. End of our services.
