Not only is Victoria Falls the undisputed queen of waterfalls, but it is also without doubt on of the greatest and most unforgettable scenic spectacles. The physical nature of the waterfall is in itself astonishing, for it occurs in a country is perfectly level.

For a considerable distance above the falls, the Zambezi flows over a level sheet of basalt, in a shallow valley bounded by low and distant sandstone hills. The river's course is dotted with numerous tree-covered islands, which increase in number as the river approaches the falls. There are no mountains, escarpments, or deep valleys which might be expected to create a waterfall, only flat plateau extending hundreds of kilometres in all directions.

The falls are formed as the full width of the river plummets in a single vertical drop into a transverse chasm 1708 meters wide, carved by its waters along a fracture zone in the basalt plateau. The depth of the chasm, called the First Gorge, varies from 80 metres at its western end to 108 metres in the centre. The only outlet to the First Gorge is a 110-metre-wide gap about two-thirds of the way across the width of the falls from the western end, through which the whole volume of the river pours into the Victoria Falls gorges.

The first European to see the falls was David Livingstone on 17 November 1855, during his journey from the upper Zambezi to the mouth of the river. Europeans were sceptical of their reports, perhaps thinking that the lack of mountains and valleys on the plateau made a large falls unlikely. Livingstone had been told about the falls before he reached them from upriver and was paddled across to a small island that now bears the name Livingstone Island. Livingstone had previously been impressed by the Ngonye Falls further upstream, but found the new falls much more impressive, and gave them their English name in honour of Queen Victoria. He wrote of the falls, "No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.

The two national parks at the falls are relatively small — Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park and Victoria Falls National Park. Next to the Victoria Falls National Park on the southern bank is the Zambezi National Park, extending 40 kilometres west along the river. Animals can move between the two Zimbabwean parks and can also reach the Matetsi Safari Area, Kazuma Pan National Park and Hwange National Park to the south. On the Zambian side, fences and the outskirts of Livingstone tend to confine most animals to the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. In addition fences put up by lodges restrict animal movement.