Malawi · Southern Region
Where to Stay in Blantyre, Southern Region
Blantyre is the commercial city of Malawi in the Shire Highlands, the country's oldest town, a hill city founded by Scottish missionaries near Mount Mulanje.
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Where to stay in Blantyre
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Blantyre's choice is between the centre and the tea hills above it. The centre keeps the old church, the museum, and the markets within a walk, and staying downtown suits anyone here for the town. The green hills ring the edge.
Tea slopes climb around. Out toward the highlands and the peaks, the town gives way to the tea estates, the hill villages, and the road to Mount Mulanje. A room out of the centre trades the streets for the green hills, the tea fields, and the great massif rising to the east.
The highlands run on for miles. Stay downtown for the town, or out for the hills. The old church and the green hills hold the highland city.
About Blantyre
Blantyre is the commercial city of Malawi.
What is Blantyre known for?
In the green Shire Highlands of the south, the oldest town of the country, it grew from a Scottish mission into the trading heart of Malawi, and it keeps the old brick church of the missionaries, the historic Mandala house, the tea and tobacco trade of the highlands, and the great bulk of Mount Mulanje to the east. The green hills ring the town. Tea fields cloak the slopes.
What are the main landmarks in Blantyre?
The old church is the pride of Blantyre. The great brick church of Saint Michael, raised by the missionaries with domes and arches, is the emblem of the city, downtown. An old trading house still stands.
The historic Mandala house and the Chichiri museum keep the story of the town nearby, while the tea estates, the Shire Highlands, and Mount Mulanje mark the country around Blantyre.
What is the history of Blantyre?
Missionaries founded the town. In the last century Scottish missionaries came to the Shire Highlands and built a mission, and they named it Blantyre for the birthplace of the explorer Livingstone. A great church was built.
The missionaries raised a fine brick church of domes and arches by their own hands, one of the wonders of the highlands. Trade came to the hills. Traders followed the mission, and Blantyre grew as a town of shops and warehouses, the first true town of the country.
Tea covered the slopes. In our own age the tea and tobacco of the highlands filled the trade, and Blantyre grew as the commercial city of Malawi, keeping its church, its trade, and its hills. The old church still stands.
Blantyre keeps its city in the highlands.
Where is Blantyre?
Blantyre lies in the south of Malawi, in the Shire Highlands. The city sits on the high green plateau of the Shire Highlands, among rolling hills and volcanic peaks, above the valley of the Shire River, in a mild land of tea and woodland, with the highlands rising around and the great massif of Mount Mulanje standing to the east. Green hills roll around.
Peaks rise to the east.
What is the climate of Blantyre?
Blantyre has a mild, temperate highland climate. Warm wet summers and cool dry winters cross the highlands, with a green rainy season and cool clear nights through the dry winter. The rains green the hills.
Winter nights turn crisp.
How do you get to Blantyre?
Blantyre lies in southern Malawi, in the Shire Highlands. The highway and the roads run to it from Lilongwe and the lake, and an airport serves the city. Roads climb the hills.
Lilongwe lies north up the road.
Updated August 2026