How to choose a Tanzania safari itinerary

At a glance: a Tanzania safari itinerary for the time you have

How many days you need for a Tanzania safari

The honest answer depends on how far you are willing to drive. On the northern circuit the parks sit in a line west of Arusha, and every extra park adds road time. Our shortest plan, the three-day express, covers Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater with about eight and a half hours of driving across the three days and fourteen hours of game drives. It does not reach the Serengeti, and that is its trade-off.

The Serengeti changes the arithmetic. By road it is the far end of the circuit, so a trip that includes it needs at least five days, and seven is more comfortable. Our seven-day Great Midrange Journey spends about eighteen hours on the road in total, never more than five hours on a single day, and around twenty-five hours on game drives. The five-day version covers the same four parks with almost as much driving and fewer hours of watching, which is why we usually suggest the longer one when the dates allow.

Beyond a week, extra days buy depth rather than more parks: a second night in one area, a walk, a balloon flight, or time in a less visited corner. Our longest plan, Grand Tanzania, runs to twelve days because it joins the north to Ruaha and Nyerere in the south by light aircraft.

The best time for a Tanzania safari, month by month

Tanzania has two rainy seasons: the long rains, roughly April and May, and the short rains, usually November. In the north our plans rate January to February and June to October as the strongest months, with March, November and December still good. The long rains are the one stretch we suggest avoiding for a first safari: roads are harder, some camps close and the grass is tall.

The wildebeest migration moves through the year, so the month decides where in the Serengeti you should stay. From December to March the herds gather on the short-grass plains of the south for the calving season; our Ndutu Calving Season plan rates January to March at their best. From July to October they are in the far north, and our Mara River Crossings plan is timed for those months. A crossing cannot be booked: the herds decide, and our migration guide explains why.

The south and west run to a different clock. Ruaha and Nyerere are at their best from June to October, when animals gather at the remaining water, and many southern camps shut in April. The chimpanzee forests of Mahale and Gombe are easiest to walk from July to October. Zanzibar is dry and breezy from June to October and hot from December to February.

North, south or west: choosing your parks

The northern circuit (Tarangire, Lake Manyara, the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti) is where most first safaris go, and with reason: the parks are close enough to join by road, the Crater is a single morning away from the lodges on its rim, and the Serengeti holds the migration. The trade-off is company. July and August are the busiest months, and the Crater floor is shared.

The south is quieter and wilder. Ruaha is known for large predator numbers and Nyerere for boat safaris on the Rufiji river, and both are usually reached by light aircraft from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar. Our six-day Ruaha & Nyerere plan spends about thirty-one hours on game drives and none on long roads.

The west is for one reason: chimpanzees. Mahale and Gombe sit on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, far from the other parks, and the flights take a large share of the trip. Treat them as a journey of their own, or as the end of a longer one, rather than a detour from the north.

Fly-in or drive: what changes on the ground

Driving is the default in the north. You keep one guide and one vehicle for the whole trip, you see the country between the parks, and the cost stays lower. The price is time in the vehicle: the road to the Serengeti crosses the Ngorongoro highlands, and our road plans put the longest single day at four to six hours, with game viewing on the way in.

Flying suits short trips and far parks. Our four-day Serengeti Fly-in spends about three hours in light aircraft across the whole trip, and about twenty-three hours on game drives, with no long road day at all. In the south and west, flying is not a choice but the only sensible way in.

Many trips mix the two: drive in through Tarangire and the Crater, fly out of the Serengeti. Light aircraft have strict luggage limits, usually a soft bag, so ask before you pack.

Adding Zanzibar or Kilimanjaro to a safari

Zanzibar is the most common addition, and it works best at the end. Scheduled domestic flights connect the northern circuit with Zanzibar every day, so there is no need to return to Arusha. Our ten-day Serengeti & Zanzibar and nine-day honeymoon plans both finish on the coast. If you only have a week, keep it to the bush; two nights on the island is barely one full day.

Kilimanjaro is a separate trip in its own right. Our routes run from six to nine days, and the longer routes give your body more time to adjust to the altitude. If you are climbing and going on safari, climb first: a safari after the mountain is a rest, and a safari before it leaves you tired for summit night. Allow a night in Moshi or Arusha between the two.

For a single free day, a day trip from Arusha to Tarangire, Lake Manyara or the Ngorongoro Crater gives a real taste of a park without a night away.