TANZANIA · EAST AFRICA
Endless plains, the roof of Africa, the spice coast.
The northern safari parks, the climb up Kilimanjaro, and the reefs and beaches of Zanzibar. Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire and the Spice Islands, with the routes that join them.
Only in Tanzania
The three you cross the world for.
Game drives and beach days happen all over Africa. These three do not. Two million animals on one migration, a whole volcano you drive down into, the highest mountain on the continent. Build the trip around them.
The migration
Two Million on the Move
Close to two million wildebeest and zebra loop between the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara every year, chasing the rain. Calving on the southern plains, then the river crossings up north. It is the largest overland animal migration on earth, and the Serengeti is the one place you can watch it run.
- 1 3 Days Serengeti & Ngorongoro Group Camping Safari
- 2 5-Day Highlights mid-Range Crater, Serengeti, Tarangire
- 3 Safari Serengeti And Ngorongoro
The crater
Down Into Ngorongoro
A collapsed volcano, six hundred metres deep and twenty kilometres across, with its own year-round cast of lions, elephants and some of the last black rhino in the country. You drop down the wall at first light onto the floor of the largest intact caldera in the world.
- 1 5 Days Camping Tarangire, Serengeti & Ngorongoro crater & Visiting Maasai
- 2 4 Days Join Group tour Tarangire Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater
- 3 4-Day Safari from Arusha: Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro
The mountain
The Roof of Africa
Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa and the tallest free-standing mountain on earth. No ropes and no climbing, just a long walk up through rainforest, moorland and bare scree to the glaciers at 5,895 metres. Almost nowhere else can you walk a summit this high.
- 1 Kilimanjaro climb by Lemosho Route (7-day)
- 2 Kilimanjaro climb, Machame Route (7-day)
- 3 Kilimanjaro Climbing Lemosho Route 8 Days.
When to go
Following the herds, month by month.
The migration never stops moving, so the best month depends on what you want to see. Roughly where the wildebeest are across the year.
- Jan-Mar Calving on the plains Around half a million calves drop on the short-grass plains of the southern Serengeti and Ndutu. Easy prey, so the big cats are never far.
- Apr-May The green season The long rains turn the parks lush and quiet. Fewer vehicles, lower lodge rates, and the herds spread across the central and western plains.
- Jun-Oct The river crossings The herds push north and pile up on the Grumeti and Mara rivers. The crossings are the scene everyone pictures, and the dry weather is prime for game drives.
- Nov-Dec Heading back south Short rains green up the southern plains and the columns turn for home. A quieter window with the herds on the move again.
The northern circuit
Where the plains run out to the edge of the sky.
North and west of Arusha the land opens into the great parks: Tarangire and its baobabs, the Ngorongoro highlands, and the Serengeti rolling on past the horizon. The herds move through all year, the big cats are never far, and the light at dawn and dusk is the reason people come back.
Browse the safaris →The one everyone books
If you only lock in one thing, make it this.
More travellers book this than anything else in Tanzania. A good first thing to pin to the calendar before you fly.
The big ones
Tanzania's Most Popular Tours
Balloon flights over the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro crater floor, Stone Town and the Mnemba reef. The trips travellers book first.
By region
Pick where the trip happens.
Serengeti for the migration. Ngorongoro for the crater floor. Tarangire for the elephants. Kilimanjaro for the climb. Zanzibar for the beaches. Stone Town for the history.
By experience
Or pick the kind of trip.
Safari if you came for the animals. A trek if you came for the mountain. Snorkel the reef, watch dolphins off the south coast, walk a coffee farm, or spend a day with the Maasai.
Planning the trip
How many days do you have?
The northern parks reward time. Three days gets you the crater and the elephants; a week gets you the Serengeti and the migration; a few more puts you on a Zanzibar beach to finish.
Zanzibar
Where the safari trip comes to rest.
An hour off the mainland by plane: Stone Town and its spice-trade alleys, dhows on the turquoise shallows, the reef and dolphins out at Mnemba, and white sand from Nungwi in the north to Paje in the east. The part of the trip most people save for last.
- 1 Quad Adventures in Zanzibar: Nungwi / Kendwa
- 2 Zanzibar: Prison Island, Stone Town, & Spice Farm Tour
- 3 Zanzibar: Prison Island & Nakupenda Boat Tour with BBQ Lunch
Under the surface
The reef at Mnemba.
The atoll off the north-east tip of Zanzibar holds the clearest water in the archipelago: reef fish, turtles, and dolphins on the way out. If we had to pick three boats, these would be them.
Around Moshi
Waterfalls and coffee under the mountain.
You do not have to climb Kilimanjaro to enjoy its foothills. The Materuni falls, a soak in the Kikuletwa hot springs, and a coffee farm that roasts it in front of you. Three easy days out of Moshi we keep coming back to.
Meet the place
The days that are about people.
An afternoon in a Maasai boma, the spice-and-slavery history of Stone Town, a Swahili cooking class with a market shop first. The trips that stay with you longer than the photos do.
Plan it
The northern circuit, in order.
First safari? The route most trips follow out of Arusha, and the one that wastes the fewest hours on the road.
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