Spending the night in the reserve is a refreshing and highly recommended alternative to staying in Gaborone. The campsites are secluded and well groomed, and feature braai (barbeque) pits, thatched bush showers (with steaming-hot water) and toilets. If you want to safari in style, there are three- to eight-person chalets in the middle of the reserve; prices increase significantly on weekends.

Advance bookings are necessary. If you don’t have a vehicle, staff can drive you to the campsite and accommodation areas for P10.

Run by the local community, Motse Lodge has bungalows and tented rooms that look a whole better than they are. Maintenance is pretty shabby (the chances of the air-con and hot water both working for the duration of your visit seem fairly low), but there's not a whole lot of choice in Kanye.

The modern business-style rooms here may lack character, but they're much better value than most others in town. The Wimpy's fast-food restaurant next door doubles as the hotel restaurant (there's even an access door direct from reception!), but aside from this Desert Sands is a good choice if you're just passing through for a night.

It's just south of the Caltex petrol station along the main road.

A few kilometres south of town on the road to Gaborone, and opened in 2011, Palapye’s newest hotel has well-appointed rooms and is overall the most professionally run place in town. We still think you're paying over the odds, but standards are generally high. The evening buffet (P195 per person) is also Palapye’s best place to eat.

This once-excellent place is living on past glories. Although marketing itself as a business hotel, not everything works, maintenance and service are patchy and if the bar’s full, noise can be a problem. Thankfully the rooms remain good, with air-con, cable TV, comfy beds and bathrooms that were renovated in 2015. Even so, it's way overpriced for a three-star hotel.

The hotel is next to the Caltex petrol station, about 50m north of the junction along the highway.

This small but quaint hotel with chalet-style accommodation is built on the slopes of Thathaganyana Hill and boasts great views of the town. The attached bar-restaurant is usually the most hopping place in town – it’s all relative. The hotel is above the shopping area on the road to Orapa.

The Serowe Hotel is a terrific hotel of the kind you don’t expect to find in Serowe. It’s 2km southeast of town on the road to Palapye. Comfortable and well-furnished rooms ensure a quiet night’s sleep, and the laid-back outdoor bar is a good bet for a nightcap. The popular restaurant serves international fare as well as vegetarian meals.

Shady campsites with braai pits are adjacent to clean toilets and (steaming-hot) showers, while there are also some pricey six-person dorms. For a little more comfort, there are rustic four-person chalets and six-person A-frames; both have basic kitchen facilities and private bathrooms. There’s also a restaurant, bar and a swimming pool.

If you don’t have a vehicle, staff can drive you to the campsite and accommodation areas for a nominal fee.

Just inside the site entrance, a track leads past nice cleared campsites with ablutions blocks and solar-heated showers. Also next to the site entrance are some lovely ensuite chalets that opened in 2012; they have fine views towards the hills from their large balconies, with state-of-the-art Alva barbecues on hand.

Out in the quiet southeastern suburbs of Francistown, this lovely little guesthouse has a family-run feel and rooms decorated in earth tones or with exposed stone walls and down-home furnishings. Patricia, your host, is a delight and reason alone to stay here. It can be a little tricky to find, so ring ahead for directions.

This is an excellent choice for budget travellers who want to stay in the city centre. Standard rooms are basic, but they’re elevated above the norm by the presence of air-con, cable TV, a fridge and a hotplate.

A wonderfully tranquil place, 15km north of town off the road to Maun, Woodlands is easily the pick of places to stay around Francistown if you have your own wheels. The budget chalets are tidy, the bungalows are nicely appointed and come with loads of space, while the immaculate campsites are Botswana's cleanest and a wonderful respite from dusty trails.

Anne and Mike are welcoming hosts and the grounds are filled with birdsong. There's no restaurant, but there are prepackaged meals available as well as braai packs for use on the barbecue areas.

At the northern end of the city centre, Diggers Inn is at once quiet, central and part of the most happening expat enclave (Village Mall) in the city. The rooms are large, if a little careworn, and the decor evokes Francistown’s mining heyday. Overall, it’s good value and a worthwhile alternative to the chain hotels.

This outpost of the Metcourt chain offers extremely comfortable, well-priced and recently renovated three-star rooms. Which is just as well, as the location (central but next to the busy road and overlooking rubbish-strewn fields at the back) is not Botswana’s finest.

On the riverbank, this is an OK midrange option that feels like an old-school country motel. It’s popular with locals and strikes a decent balance between rustic and roadside, although the pub can get a little rowdy if you’re after a tranquil stay. It's on the south bank of the Tati River, southeast of the city centre.

One of the better hotels in the Cresta chain in Botswana, this decent hotel has expansive grounds, standard rooms and some attractive thatched cottages on stilts.

Run by the owners of Tuli Safari Lodge, this campground in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve is one of few real options for self-drive visitors hoping to camp. The sites are shaded and have private ablution blocks, while the simple chalets are comfy and reasonably priced.

Sitting somewhere between Tuli Safari Lodge and Molema Bush Camp (which are all owned by the same company), Serolo Safari Camp offers attractive, if simple, safari-style, ensuite tents around a water hole in the north of the Tuli Block. It's a good midrange choice.

Consisting of a number of riverside rondavels (round, traditional-style huts) and chalets, this comfortable lodge in the southern reaches of the Tuli Block is a good choice. The brick rondavels have thatch roofs and barbecue areas, and the wildlife ticks all the right boxes. Camping is also possible, rounding out a good all-round package.

This fabulous camp on an island in a branch of the Limpopo River is run by respected conservationists Judi Gounaris and Dr Helena Fitchat, and they bring a winning combination of warmth and conservation knowledge to the experience. Meals are home-cooked and eaten around the communal table and the tents are extremely comfortable.

Game drives on the 50-sq-km property (home to a full but often-elusive complement of predators) are included in the price. You'll need to bring your own drinks and ice.

They’ll even let you sleep in one of the hides overlooking a water hole.

One of the largest private wildlife reserves in Southern Africa is renowned for its big cats and large elephant population. Accommodation is in enormous luxury suites decorated with impeccable taste in the main camp, while the tents are also beautifully turned out. The game reserve is close to the Pont Drift border crossing.

In the Northern Tuli Game Reserve, this fine lodge is set in a riverine oasis, surrounded by red-rock country that teems with wildlife. Although at the upper end of the scale for the Tuli Block, the rates are well priced compared to other exclusive private reserves in the country and the standards are high.

Be sure to have a drink at the outdoor bar built around the base of a 500-year-old nyala tree. The game reserve is just beyond the Pont Drift border crossing.

Some 52km north of Nata, Elephant Sands, run by Mike and Saskia, is a fabulous place to stay. Excellent and spacious safari tents, some chalets and a few campsites encircle a natural water hole that is always filled with elephants – in the bar, restaurant and pool area, you'll be as close to wild elephants as it's possible to be.

Prices are extremely reasonable and when we were last here, a pride of nine lions called the surrounding area home and a pack of wild dogs passed through regularly when we were last here. Game drives and bushwalks are possible, breakfast/dinner costs P75/140, and there's a lunchtime snack menu.

It's 1.6km down a sand road off the Nata–Kasane road.

Inhabiting a small roadside compound, this fine little inn at the southern entrance to Nata (it's just over the bridge on your right if you're coming from Francistown) has tidy rooms with the best being the cute thatched bungalows. It's easily the best value in Nata town itself, although there's no restaurant and service often goes missing.

Nata Bird Sanctuary offers several serene and isolated campsites with clean pit toilets, braai pits and cold showers. All five campsites are 2WD accessible if it hasn’t been raining heavily. From the campsites, it’s possible to access the pan on foot (7km), though you should bring a compass, even if you’re only walking a few hundred metres into the pan.

This promising place, just off the main highway and close to Nata Bird Sanctuary, inhabits a rather bare block where the vegetation needs a little time to mature. The lovely rock-cut swimming pool is a highlight, while the rooms are comfortable, if a little dark and unexciting.

Nata Lodge offers luxury wood-and-thatch chalets, stylish wood-floored safari tents and a good campsite all set amid a verdant oasis of monkey thorn, marula and mokolane palms. When you consider the cost of comparable places elsewhere in Botswana, this place is a steal, although remember that meals (breakfast/dinner start from P75/185) and activities cost extra to the prices quoted here.

The attempts at incorporating San and desert artwork into the general vibe of the place are subtle yet effectively accomplished. Activities include game drives onto the pans and into the bird sanctuary, as well as cultural tours of Nata village.

In the town's heart, next to the petrol stations, Northgate Lodge is more about breaking up the journey than finding a remote base for a few days. The rooms are pleasant enough and excellent value for an overnight stay before continuing on your way elsewhere. It sits opposite the junction of roads that lead to all corners of the country.