Fort Portal Hub

Fort Portal town is one of the most attractive towns in Uganda and has several landmarks: hotels, banks, restaurants, a golf course and many more.

Fort Portal lies in the northern foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains, 300km west of Kampala and 50km north of Kasese town in western Uganda.

The estimated population of Fort Portal in 2011 was approximately 47,100, according to UBOS.

It is the only town in Uganda with an English name “Fort Portal”, and the town was named after the British Consul General of Zanzibar, Sir Gerald Portal, who came to Uganda in 1890s to formalize British protectorate ship over Uganda. Fort Portal town is the seat of both Kabarole district and Toro Palace, built in the 1960s.

The town has got several shopping points scattered along the main road. The most popular is Andrew’s supermarket which stocks a wide range of local & imported food & drinks. Local handicrafts and souvenir shops are also located along the Fort-Portal - Kampala Road.

Take the Kampala Mbarara road, which was tarmacked in 2007 and is in excellent condition. Fort Portal is 311 kilometres (193 mi) by road from Kampala and takes about 4 hours to arrive. Mubende is found about half way between Kampala and Fort Portal, here you can fill up with petrol and buy food and drink. There are two options to consider when getting to Fort Portal: 1. Private Hire / 2. Via one of the big bus companies (see OTB page), as Uganda Post Bus no longer travels to Fort Portal from Kampala.

As there isn't much traffic in Fort Portal it's fairly safe to take the Boda boda's, which you will find at just about every corner in Fort Portal. For 1000 ugx (30 euro cents) you can travel about 2-3 kilometres. Otherwise you can also take a private hire (taxi), which you can find on the corner of the roundabout found at the centre of Fort Portal leading on to the Bundibugyo Road.

Fort Portal is Famous for its tea. This area is gifted by nature with a cool climate, which ensures a relatively slow plant growth rate. This naturally makes the tea a high grown, high quality tea. The consumption of this tea is associated with many health benefits. These include anti-allergy, anti-oxidation, anti-hypertension, anti-viral, anti-obese, anti-cancer, anti-bacterial enzyme inhibition and many other human health problems. You can buy the tea in any local shop, or even better, visit one of Fort Portal's tea Plantations.