Things to Do in Rubaga Cathedral

Climb the twin towers for city panoramas

A narrow spiral staircase - 200 steps if you count - takes you up inside the west tower where the stone walls sweat cool air and each footstep echoes like a dropped coin. At the top you're eye-level with black kites that circle the thermals, while the city fans out in rusty browns and emerald banana patches all the way to Lake Victoria's hazy blue lip.

Sit in on the 10:30 choir rehearsal

Wednesday mornings the cathedral's student choir runs through upcoming hymns, their layered voices ricocheting off the vaulted ceiling so powerfully you can feel the bass in your ribs. Wooden pews creak as they shift between gospel and traditional Buganda call-and-response, and someone is always burning a stick of incense that drifts blue across the altar.

Walk the Stations of the Cross garden path

Concrete plaques depicting each station are embedded along the outer wall, shaded by purple-blossering jacarandas that drop sticky petals underfoot. Kids from the neighboring school sometimes tag along practicing English greetings while butterflies - yellow, white, powder-blue - loop around the shrubs that smell faintly of sage after rain.

Browse the small museum in the old bishop's house

Two cramped rooms hold moth-curled photographs of the first White Fathers, hand-written catechisms in Luganda, and a glass case containing the lace-trimmed vestments of Archbishop Kiwanuka. Dust motes drift through shafts of light and the floorboards give that satisfying creak whenever you shift weight.

Photograph the hilltop at golden hour

As the sun drops, the cathedral's cream walls turn a soft peach and long shadows stripe the adjacent football pitch where locals chase a scuffed ball. From the western lawn you can frame both spires against a sky bleeding orange to violet while marabou storks glide past on their way to roost in the city centre's giant fig trees.

Rubaga Road guesthouses - simple tile-floor rooms run by nuns, church bells for alarm clocks

Mengo Hill lodges - leafy courtyards, five minutes walk to the royal palace

Nateete backpacker hostels - cheap, lively, shared balconies overlooking the valley

Kololo boutique hotels - mid-range splurge, hill-cool breeze and decent espresso

Nakulabye homestays - family houses where you wake to the smell of roasting coffee

Old Kampala heritage B&Bs - balcony views of the mosque minarets lit at night