Maun: gateway to the Delta
Maun is the larger of the two towns and serves as the gateway to Moremi Game Reserve and the Okavango Delta. It has more vehicle rental options, better shopping (Spar, Choppies, hardware stores), and a wider range of accommodation. Most international flights connect through Johannesburg or Gaborone.
Start from Maun if: Your priority is Moremi and the Okavango Delta. You want the widest choice of 4x4 rental operators. You prefer to do your big shopping and preparation in a larger town.
Kasane: gateway to Chobe
Kasane is a smaller, quieter town on the Chobe River, close to the Zimbabwe and Zambia borders. It is the gateway to Chobe National Park and has easy access to Victoria Falls (70 km). Fewer vehicle rental options but several specialist operators.
Start from Kasane if: You are combining your trip with Victoria Falls. Chobe is your priority. You want to start with an easier self-drive area before heading into Moremi.
Circular itineraries
Most self-drive itineraries are one-way: start in one town, finish in the other. This avoids doubling back and covers the most ground. Most vehicle operators offer one-way drop-off for $150 to $300.
Maun to Kasane (south to north): Moremi, Khwai, Savuti, Chobe. This is the classic route. You start with the hardest driving (Moremi) when you are fresh and end with the easiest (Chobe).
Kasane to Maun (north to south): Chobe, Savuti, Moremi. This starts easy and gets progressively harder. Good for building confidence.
Getting there: flights and access
Both towns have airports with scheduled connections, most commonly through Johannesburg, and Maun also links to Gaborone and Cape Town on some schedules. Maun's airport is the busier of the two and the main hub for light-aircraft transfers into the Delta, so it has more inbound options overall. Kasane is served well because of its proximity to Victoria Falls and the Chobe tourism circuit. If you are flying in specifically to collect a vehicle, check which town your rental operator is based in first, because that often decides the question before anything else does.
Vehicle rental compared
Maun has the larger concentration of specialist self-drive operators, which means more vehicles, more configurations, and more competition on price and availability. Kasane has fewer operators but several good specialists, and it suits travellers combining Chobe with Victoria Falls. If you want the widest choice or are booking late, Maun gives you better odds of securing the exact vehicle you want. One-way rentals between the two towns are standard, so you are not locked into collecting and returning in the same place.
Provisioning and shopping compared
Maun is the better town to stock up. It has larger supermarkets, hardware stores, pharmacies, and fuel, so it is the easier place to do a full two-week shop, buy anything you forgot, and fill jerry cans before heading into the bush. Kasane has adequate shops for provisioning but a smaller selection. Whichever town you start in is where you do your big shop, because once you leave for the parks there are no stores at all until you reach the next town.
Accommodation compared
Both towns have a good range of lodges and guesthouses suitable for a night before or after the bush legs. Maun offers more choice across price points, from simple guesthouses to riverside lodges. Kasane's accommodation clusters along the Chobe River with strong sunset and game-viewing settings right from the properties. A night in either town at the start lets you collect the vehicle, shop, and sleep well before the first long driving day, which is always worth building in.
One-way logistics and drop-off costs
The classic approach is to collect in one town and drop in the other, so you never drive the same route twice. Operators charge a one-way drop-off fee, typically 150 to 300 US dollars, which is almost always worth it for the extra ground you cover. Confirm the fee and the drop-off location when you book, and make sure your campsite bookings line up with the direction of travel you have chosen, because reversing the route later means rebooking everything.
Adding Victoria Falls
If Victoria Falls is on your list, Kasane is the natural end or start point, sitting around 70 km from the Falls via the Kazungula border. From Maun the Falls are more than 600 km away, so trying to tack them onto a Maun-based trip means a long detour. The tidy plan for many travellers is to fly into Maun, drive the circuit south to north through Moremi, Savuti, and Chobe, finish in Kasane, and cross to Victoria Falls at the end before flying home from there.
Which to start with, which to end with
Starting in Maun means tackling the hardest driving (Moremi's sand) while you and the vehicle are fresh, then easing toward the gentler Chobe riverfront and Kasane at the end. Starting in Kasane reverses that, beginning with the easy riverfront to build confidence before the sand parks. First-timers who want a gentle learning curve often prefer to start in Kasane; travellers who would rather get the demanding driving done early tend to start in Maun. Both work, so choose the rhythm that suits your confidence.
The verdict
There is no single right answer, only the right fit for your trip. Start in Maun if the Okavango Delta and Moremi are your priority, you want the widest vehicle choice, and you prefer to provision in a larger town. Start in Kasane if Chobe and Victoria Falls are central to your plans and you want an easier first few days of driving. For most classic northern-circuit trips, the Maun-to-Kasane direction finishing near the Falls is the cleanest and most popular plan.