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Active Kilitop and Safaris

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A game drive vehicle on the plains at sunset
Tanzania

Every place we go

Three safari circuits, a mountain, and a thousand kilometres of coast. Filter by circuit, or read them in order — each page tells you how to get there, when to come and what it combines with.

Northern circuit4 parks
Southern circuit3 parks
Western circuit3 parks
MountainKilimanjaro & Meru
Coast4 stretches
All destinations

Where would you like to be?

Most first trips take two or three of these. The north is the classic combination, the south and west are for second and third visits, and almost everyone finishes on the coast.

Northern circuit

Serengeti National Park

Fourteen thousand square kilometres of plain, and the stage for the migration. The one almost everybody comes for.

1 hr flight from Arusha3–5 nightsJun–Oct · Jan–Feb Northern circuit

Ngorongoro Crater

A collapsed caldera holding the densest concentration of wildlife in Africa, and the last black rhino of the north.

3.5 hrs from Arusha1–2 nightsYear-round Northern circuit

Tarangire National Park

Baobab country and the largest elephant herds in the north, drawn to a river that never quite dries.

2 hrs from Arusha1–2 nightsJul–Oct Northern circuit

Lake Manyara

A narrow rift-valley park of fever-tree forest, tree-climbing lions and 400 bird species. Small, and easy to add.

1.5 hrs from Arusha1 night or a dayNov–Feb Southern

Ruaha National Park

Tanzania's largest park and its richest ground for lion. Vast, remote, and almost nobody in it.

2 hr flight from Dar3–4 nightsJun–Oct Southern

Nyerere National Park

Formerly Selous. Boat safaris on the Rufiji and walking country, on a scale that is hard to picture until you are in it.

1 hr flight from Dar3 nightsJun–Oct Southern

Mikumi National Park

Open plains a few hours from Dar es Salaam, and the most accessible southern park — the south's easy introduction.

4 hrs from Dar1–2 nightsYear-round Western

Mahale Mountains

Chimpanzees in forest that runs straight down to Lake Tanganyika. Hard to reach, and the better for it.

Charter flight3–4 nightsJun–Oct Western

Gombe Stream

Jane Goodall's park and the smallest in Tanzania, on the lakeshore north of Kigoma.

Via Kigoma2–3 nightsJul–Oct Western

Rubondo Island

A forested island in Lake Victoria with wild chimpanzees descended from zoo rescues, and almost nobody on it.

Flight or boat3 nightsJun–Aug · Dec–Feb Mountain

Mount Kilimanjaro

5,895 m, no technical climbing, and route choice that matters more than fitness. Lemosho, Machame and Marangu.

Moshi or Arusha6–9 daysJan–Mar · Jun–Oct Mountain

Mount Meru

4,562 m on Arusha's doorstep. The best acclimatisation climb in Tanzania, and a fine mountain in its own right.

45 min from Arusha3–4 daysJun–Feb Coast & islands

Zanzibar · Unguja

Stone Town's coral-rag alleys, then an hour's drive to sand that squeaks. The usual finish to a safari.

1 hr flight4–6 nightsJun–Oct · Dec–Feb Coast & islands

Pemba Island

Greener, hillier and far quieter than Unguja. The finest wall diving in Tanzania, with almost nobody on it.

Via Zanzibar4–5 nightsJun–Mar Coast & islands

Mafia Island

Whale sharks in the channel from October to March, and turtles in Chole Bay the rest of the year.

Flight from Dar4–5 nightsOct–Mar Coast & islands

Tanga & Pangani

Amboni Caves, sulphur springs, and Saadani — the only national park in Tanzania where the bush meets the ocean.

5 hrs from Arusha3–4 nightsJun–Oct
How to choose

If this is your first trip.

Start in the north

Serengeti, Ngorongoro and one of Tarangire or Manyara. It is the classic combination because it works: short drives between parks, the widest range of animals, and the migration.

Give it seven nights

Three in the Serengeti, one or two at the crater, one or two elsewhere. Fewer than five and you spend most of the trip on the road between places.

Then add the coast

Four nights on Zanzibar or Pemba after the bush. It is an hour's flight and it changes the shape of the whole holiday.

Save the south and west

Ruaha, Nyerere and Mahale are extraordinary and they are not first trips. Come back for them, when the north has stopped being new.

Begin here

Not sure which ones to pick?

Tell us the month you can travel and roughly how long you have. We will suggest a combination and tell you honestly which places are not worth it that month.

Start planning → Ask on WhatsApp or call +255 762 914 714