Mzuzu

The town is well-connected to the north and south by bus. The AXA bus line provides quite civilized transport at a reasonable price. There are also cheaper, rickety buses available, as well as the usual minibuses which hold up to 20 people - scary but cheap.
If coming from Mbeya, Tanzania be careful of well established scam artists selling fake bus tickets. One of the scam artists even has an office in the main transit area in Mbeya. He also has professional looking lists of prices, services, etc. He may even use a cell phone to check availability of seats for you. As of September 2008 there were no buses running from Mbeya to Mzuzu or any other town on the Malawi border.
Instead, to get to Mzuzu from Mbeya, take a minibus to the border town of Kyela, Tanzania. Then walk 5 to 10 minutes across the border to the Malawi side. After the border, it's necessary to get to the transit center of a small town called Karonga. There may be minibuses at the border, but they are infrequent. A taxi can be hired for about $15USD. Once in Karonga there will be buses and minibuses headed to Mzuzu which take 3 hours. AXA city buses go to Lilongwe. Travel time 5 hours. The journey by car from Lilongwe is 5 hours.
Swiftair which operated scheduled flights from Lilongwe to Mzuzu and Karonga ceased trading in 2012.

Mzuzu is small and navigable on foot.

• Museum

  address: M Mbelwa road

Other than typical African market goods, Mzuzu does however have many ATM's, good if you've just come from Tanzania or find yourself staying longer in Nkhata Bay than planned.

• Shoprite Supermarket

  address: M 1 Road to Chikangawa.
  Big South African-owned supermarket, the best one in Mzuzu.

• Standard BankHas an master card / visa card ATM.

• National Bank of MalawiHas an master card / visa card ATM.

• Peoples Supermarket.

  address: Orton Chewa Avenue

• Spar Supermarket

A-1 Restaurant - located on the street behind the main banks and groceries in a commercial strip. Certainly the best food in town with a menu focusing on Indian fare with some Chinese selections. Extensive choice of dishes that are generally quite good. Prices are fairly steep for Mzuzu, but very reasonable by western standards.
Obrigado Leisure Park - centrally placed with hideous red and yellow advertising for Celtel. Inside the fence you will find a beautiful garden with tables interspersed throughout. The food is typical Malawian restaurant fare, including nsima or rice with your choice of meats or relishes. A bit of a beer den at night, it seems.
There is also a pizzeria near the bus station on a side street serving decent thin crust pizzas cooked in a wood fired oven. It is run by an extremely entertaining couple named Paolo and Emanuelle. Next door is Paolo's trading post stocked with some western luxuries such as M&Ms and decent toilet paper.

• Macondo Camp

  address: Chimaliro
  Italian food.

• Casablanca

  address: Ekwendeni
  Lively bar, good atmosphere, popular among locals and expats, cheap drinks, at Ekwendeni, 18 km outside Mzuzu, on road to Rumphi/Karonga

• Mzoozoozoo

  phone: +265 8-88864493
  Camping/dorm/rooms. Nice garden. A taxi will take you there from down town for $2. Has a bar.

• Joys place food Restaurant Lodge

  phone: +265 998391358
  address: 5442/2 mapale
  Has a dorm/rooms. A good clean place for backpackers to stay. single/double room $20/25

• Flame Tree Guest House

  phone: +265 1-310056
  fan double rooms.

• Thandeka Rest House.

• Chochocho Rest House

  address: Mzimba District
  single room/double room with own bathroom and breakfast.

• Sunbird Mzuzu Hotel

  phone: +265 1 310 622
  A 1970's concrete hotel. It is in good order with clean rooms, air conditioning and decent internet.

• Internet is available at many locations. Many people staying in Nkhata Bay head here for a few hours to connect with home.

• Postdotnet

  address: boardman Road

Nkhata Bay is about an hour away by bus or pickup truck.