Accommodation in Palapye

Palapye is a road town, and that is the honest reason it carries so many rooms. It sits on the A1 roughly midway between Gaborone and Francistown, which makes it the natural place to break the corridor drive rather than finish it in one long day. The Serowe spur leaves from here for Khama Rhino Sanctuary, and the roads east run toward the Tuli Block.

Two other things add demand that a village of this size would not otherwise see: the Morupule power station and the university campus. Between highway traffic, contract work and study, Palapye supports everything from four-room bed and breakfasts in the extensions to the largest hotel block on this stretch of the A1.

Beds here are usually bought late in the day by people who have been driving, so arriving early helps in the winter driving season. If you are heading for Serowe or the sanctuary, note that the spur is a proper detour rather than a roadside stop, and plan the day around it.

The numbers that decide the stop: about 240 km north of Gaborone and about 163 km south of Francistown, at the junction where the A14 leaves west for Serowe. The 2022 census recorded 52,398 residents here, up from 37,256 in 2011, which is why the bed stock keeps growing faster than the map suggests.

Read our full Palapye travel guide for what there is to do, when to go and how the town fits a wider route.