This is the Kasane office for the company that runs the Savuti, Khwai, Linyanti and Khumaga campsites. Don't come here expecting to find room at any of their campsites – most are booked out months in advance.

Off the main highway south of Kazungula (the turn-off is well signposted 6.8km south of Kazungula, from where it’s a further 1.6km off-road), this wonderful spot has comfy chalets and some of northern Botswana’s best campsites, each with their own ablutions block. The bar and some of the chalets overlook a water hole where elephants congregate in large numbers nightly.

There's a relatively new, concealed, ground-level vantage point right next to the water hole. You’ll need your own wheels to reach the lodge.

Close to the centre, with a lovely intimate feel, the Old House has attractive rooms adjacent to a quiet garden by the riverbank; rooms on the street side can be noisy with a popular bar across the road. The bar-restaurant is one of Kasane’s best, and the rooms are stylish and comfortable without being overdone.

Self-catering cottages here probably wouldn't win a style award, but they're well maintained and offer a fine alternative to hotel ambience. It can also organise a full range of activities.

Perched alongside the Chobe River, this leafy backpackers lodge is one of Kasane's more budget-friendly options. Well-groomed campsites are located near braai pits and a modern ablutions block with steamy showers and flush toilets. There’s also a thatched bar-restaurant that serves cheap food and cold beers – come night, if there is anything going on in Kasane, it’s going on here.

Down a side road off the main Kasane–Kazungula road, this excellent place has campsites beneath maturing trees, comfortable chalets (some with river view) and attractive grounds that run along the riverbank.

With consistently good reviews from travellers, Bakwena is an excellent place offering the benefits of Chobe River frontage with convenient proximity to Kasane. Chalets, some right on the river, sit high on stilts and there's a prevailing sense of light and space thanks to the ample space and light colour scheme. Service is attentive, adding up to a fine package.

One of the more affordable upmarket lodges in Kasane (or Botswana, for that matter), Chobe Safari is excellent value, especially if you’re travelling with kids (family rooms and tents are available). Understated but comfortable rooms are priced according to size and location, though all feature attractive mosquito-netted beds and modern furnishings. Rates are room only, but it's still outstanding value.

Occupying an attractive spot along the river, Chobe Marina Lodge is conveniently located in the centre of Kasane. The rooms blend African aesthetics and mod cons, and as a result are really rather lovely. Rates include park fees, all meals, activities, and airport transfers. It's probably the pick of the in-town options.

This simple but charming lodge is built around a tropical garden and features a number of well-furnished rooms that exude a homey atmosphere. It’s a little more quirky than the average lodge in these parts, with hints of eccentricity that put it above the pack.

Located 9km east of Kasane, this riverside option lacks the stuffiness and formality found in most other top-end lodges, but is their match for quality. Rustic wooden chalets are lovingly adorned with thick rugs and wicker furniture, and scattered around an impeccably manicured lawn dotted with fig trees.

Ihaha is the only campsite for self-drivers inside the park along the Chobe Riverfront and it's a wonderful base for watching wildlife. The trees need time to mature and shade can be in short supply at some sites, but the location is excellent – it’s by the water’s edge 27km from the Northern Gate. There’s an ablutions block and braai areas.

Staying here gives you the run of the park without having to negotiate the decongestion strategy that restricts access for those sleeping outside the park.

Chilwero means ‘place of high view’ in Setswana, and indeed this exclusive lodge boasts panoramic views. Accommodation is in one of 15 elegant bungalows featuring romantic indoor and outdoor showers, private terraced gardens and colonial fixtures adorned with plush linens. The lodge is on expansive grounds that contain a pool, a spa, an outdoor bar and a well-reviewed gourmet restaurant.

The property is set back a little from the riverfront and is surrounded by a fence, meaning you can walk around safely – one big reason why families like this place.

This highly praised safari lodge is one of the best in the Chobe area. The lodge is constructed in the Moorish style and flaunts high arches, barrel-vaulted ceilings and tiled floors. The individually decorated rooms are elegant yet soothing, and some have views of the Chobe River and Namibian floodplains – the views from the public areas are sublime.

Service is attentive and professional, and there’s a good chance you’ll spot herds of elephants along the riverfront as you walk around the hotel grounds. There's also an on-site spa and gym. The lodge is about 9km west of the Northern Gate.

At the western end of the Chobe Riverfront, close to the Ngoma Bridge border crossing between Botswana and Namibia, this lovely lodge is removed from the clamour close to Kasane. It offers eight stylishly appointed, river-facing suites with thatched roofs on a rise set back from (and high above) the riverbank.

Earth tones dominate the decor in the rooms and the service is everything you’d expect for the price.

Some 7km from the park entrance, this good campsite has river frontage and is surrounded by an electric fence. Each campsite can sleep up to six and has braai stands, and there's an ablution block with hot showers. It's close to both Kasane and Chobe, but without the noise and bustle of the former. The cottages are spacious and comfortable.

High on a hill overlooking the Chobe River at the western end of the Chobe Riverfront, Muchenje has 11 spacious rooms decorated in an attractive colonial style. There are vantage points over the river littoral from numerous points around the property, including each room’s private veranda.

One of the best campgrounds in Chobe, with five of the seven sites (all with braai pits) overlooking the (usually dry) river – sites one to four could do with a little more shade, while Paradise camp is our pick. The ablutions block has sit-down flush toilets and showers (usually hot).

Be careful of wandering baboons and elephants; the old Savuti Camp Site nearby was destroyed by thirsty elephants!

The premier camp in Savuti is made up of 12 lavishly appointed East African–style linen tents on raised wooden platforms, complete with antique-replica furniture that will appeal to colonial safari nostalgics. The main tent houses a dining room, lounge and bar, and is next to a swimming pool that overlooks a pumped water hole.

This cross between a tented camp and luxury mobile safari enables you to experience the freedom of camping (sites are moved every few days) with the exclusivity that comes with having a beautifully appointed tent, butler and excellent meals served in between your game drives. Tents have bathroom facilities, including hot bucket showers. No children under 12.

As with all &Beyond operations, personal service is a hallmark to go with the high levels of comfort and carefully chosen location.

Next to the former site of the legendary Lloyd’s Camp, this upmarket retreat consists of 12 large and contemporary thatched chalets with neutral tones, wooden floors and fairly standard layouts. The main safari lodge has a sitting lounge, elegant dining room, small library and cocktail bar. There's also a breathtaking deck where you can watch the sunset over the bush.

Given a licence to run the public campsites, cheeky SKL has also taken on the big boys with some beautifully appointed canvas tents overlooking the Savuti Channel. Prices are a touch below the longer-established camps, but the quality is pretty much on a par.

Most of the sites here sit on a shady and gentle rise just up from the water’s edge, with good views of the marshes costing nothing extra. There are the usual braai pits, hot showers, sit-down flush toilets and, in the dry season, lots of elephants and baboons. Expect hippos to make an awful lot of noise during the night.

Make no mistake: this is one of the premier properties anywhere in Africa. As ecofriendly as it's possible to be out here, Zarafa's tented villas are utterly gorgeous – and as we've come to expect from Great Plains, the attention to detail is exemplary.

Zarafa has as its focal point a splendid ebony tree that once provided shelter for the respected wildlife-documentary film-makers Dereck and Beverley Joubert. The wildlife watching out here is like immersing yourself in a National Geographic wildlife film (indeed, this is where many were filmed), and the massive rooms feel like the ultimate safari experience brought to life.

This 10-room camp was rebuilt completely in 2012 with a commitment to sustainability; all of the camp’s power comes from solar energy, and waste disposal is state of the art. The raised tents overlook the hippo-filled Zibadianja Lagoon from a mangosteen grove.

The lagoon can be explored by boat when the water levels are high, or you can kick back in a luxury tent under thatch.

The tents are, as you'd expect, large and luxurious and, like the public areas that extend out over the water, make maximum use of the location – you can lie in bed and look out over the waters of the delta without moving. The look is understated safari chic, with plenty of replica safari nostalgia to go with the soothing earth tones and linens.

When it comes to wildlife, there's a decent chance you'll see the big cats here (Duma Tau means 'Roar of the Lion'). You'll certainly see elephants, and red lechwe and African wild dogs are also possible here.

This quietly elegant and relatively affordable camp, an hour's drive from the Khwai airstrip, is an excellent choice. Appealing if simple tents sit close to a water hole that's popular with elephants. All the region's wildlife is possible on the wildlife drives, but a real highlight is the 'Elephant Song' walking trail that takes you up close to the local elephants.

Occupying a magical setting on a Linyanti River oxbow overlooking a lagoon, this nine-room camp, part of Wilderness Safaris' Premier collection, is one of the most luxurious properties in Linyanti, with private plunge pools in the very large rooms. Accommodation is in private thatched chalets with modern four-poster beds and there's fabulous wildlife in the area.

This place almost prides itself on being noisy – you will almost certainly be woken up by the nearby hippos, elephants, baboons and lions. Night drives are a highlight, as is the in-camp birding, while a sundowner on the two-tiered, colonial-style Queen Sylvia barge is the height of sophistication. There are no bad choices here…

The name means ‘Open Plains’, which is what you get in terms of a view, along with dense game concentrations, a commitment to multiple game drives and excellent bushwalks. The grasslands eventually give way to the marshlands of Linyanti, which conceal abundant birdlife. The eight rooms, with open-air bathrooms, are large and arguably the best in the Kwando portfolio.

Wildlife watching here is truly exceptional, with wild dogs and sitatungas the possible highlights among many.

Part of Wilderness Safaris' classic portfolio, Savuti has all the hallmarks of the Wilderness camps: friendly staff, luxurious tents (with soaring thatched roofs) and a prime wildlife-viewing location on the Linyanti Concession. Rooms nicely combine wood floors and antique furnishings with artfully chosen Afro-chic decor. Elephants, big cats and even wild dogs and roan or sable antelope are all possibilities.

In wooded country and overlooking the water between Savuti and Linyanti, this wonderfully remote small camp has large and luxurious tents. The perennial water hole it overlooks attracts large concentrations of wildlife during the dry season.

This East African vintage-style nine-person camp is the one of the flagship properties for Great Plains Conservation, which took it over from Wilderness Safaris. The tented rooms are luxurious by any stretch of the imagination and the wildlife is outstanding. It inhabits the 1300-sq-km Selinda Reserve, a hunting preserve turned wildlife refuge in the heart of Linyanti.

As such it stands at the heart of this excellent organisation's conservation efforts.

Just as it has in Savuti, SKL has set up a luxury tented camp within earshot of the cheaper public sites. The camps are supremely comfortable without being overdone, and with prices less than their near neighbours, they’re well worth considering.

This series of luxury tents looks out over floodplains and river tracks (that's Namibia's Mudumu National Park across the water) thick with wild dogs, lions and buffaloes. Fishing trips and evening boat cruises are available. There are fine views from many vantage points, not least some of the free-standing bath-tubs.

The vast rooms are extremely comfortable, although they perhaps lack the polish of others in the area. The wildlife area here is, however, one of the best in the delta, with wild dogs frequently sighted, as well as a full suite of predators and prey.

With just four luxury tents and being one of just two camps in the entire 1300-sq-km private Selinda Reserve, there is a palpable sense of blissful isolation and very personal service out here. This is some of the best wildlife-watching country in Africa, with big cats, big elephants, wild dogs, sable and roan antelope all possible highlights among many.

The tents have that whole bush-experience-in-utter-comfort vibe down pat, and there's a recurring feeling that this is your own private corner of Africa.