Travel Guide Troutbeck

The village of Troutbeck consists of nothing more than a hotel, a gas station, a church, a school, and a few houses, but visitors come mostly for the hotel - the Troutbeck resort is a crazy realization of a nostalgic Irishman's fantasy. Suffering from a terrible homesickness, Robert McIlwaine had the idea of recreating the atmosphere of his native Ireland on this African plot. He became the owner of a small piece of mountain located at an altitude of 2,000 meters, north of the current Nyanga Park, and covered the hills with thousands of conifers, artificial lakes and built a large inn. Since then, the landscape is more similar to Ireland in summer than to southern Africa! Today, the whole complex has passed into the hands of large hotel chains while retaining its old-fashioned charm. At Troutbeck, it is said that the fire in the central fireplace has been kept burning continuously since the inn was established in 1951. The trees, planted by the first guests, have grown to a reasonable size, while the lakes of Connemara have become inaccessible to the general public. The small village church, St. Catherine in the Downs, is also worth a visit, as is the panorama from World's View, a site overlooking all of northern Zimbabwe.Troutbeck is 17 km from Nyanga. From Nyanga, drive 3 km towards Juliasdale and turn left at the junction. The road passes through a small portion of Nyanga Park.