Ethnographic Museum of Rwanda, Huye

If you want to learn about our history and travel to one of the beautiful parts of Rwanda, then this should be on your list. Great service, the tour guides were welcoming. There's plenty of space for kids to run around outside BTW. You can kill 2 to 3 birds with one stone 🤣Before you reach here, you can pass by the king's palace and heritage museum... there's a lot to do in those areas. All you need is time. It's affordable.

An immersing, educational experience for those who want to know about the country, it's history and culture. Very helpful staff.

Low rating as it should be free and guide/tip based - Museum has potential but lacks an interactive learning component. Would have loved to see replicas of the traditional rain hoods and headdresses rather than just photos. Very basic museum containing beautiful handmade artifacts and replicas of traditional items - many of which I’ve seen still being used in rural Rwanda. No photos allowed inside. 6,000 Franks Each. Guide available for an additional cost. Have exact change. We were 50franks off and almost had to pay 4,000 franks over because they “didn’t have change this early”. (It was 12:00 on a Sunday.) Luckily a friend had another coin. 6 rooms, each a gallery alongside old photographs and informational text in English, French, and Kinyarwanda. Room 1: Basic Geography of Rwanda Rooms 2: Traditional Tools Room 3: weaving, pottery and woodwork Room 4: Traditional Homes including a Life size model of traditional house. Room 5: Clothing, weapons, jewelry, games, money + chronological history. Room 6: Artifacts, tools/info on cultural tradition for weddings, Divination, and musical instruments.

The visit to this museum will definitely enrich you with Rwandan culture.

I enjoyed the visit as I was with a Rwandan who could connect the information in the museum with her own family history. Is it worthwhile to make a detour to visit the museum? For me personally not but i can imagine that for a Rwandan or someone who is into ethnography it would be. I do think you should visit it if you are in Huye / Butare, or passing on the way to Nyungwe.