Tanzania is two trips. The plains, then the ocean.
A caldera with its own resident lions, a mountain you walk up rather than climb, and a reef an hour off Stone Town. What each costs, and which side of the country it lives on.
Tarangire, the Serengeti and the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater, on one road out of Arusha.
Most booked:Serengeti Balloon Safari and authentic bush breakfast★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $550Every safari →
Stone Town, the spice farms, and a reef you can be snorkelling on before lunch.
Most booked:Stone Town, Spice Tour, Prison Island with Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · from $68Every island day →The crater, the summit, the reef and Stone Town.
One booking from each corner of the country, and what it costs.
01The safari itself3 Days Serengeti & Ngorongoro Group Camping SafariThree days from Arusha through the Serengeti and down into the crater, sleeping under canvas. The cheapest honest way to see both.
02The mountainKilimanjaro climb by Lemosho Route (7-day)Seven days up the western side by the Lemosho route, which walks in slowly enough that most people make the top.
03The island boat dayMnemba Boat Trip and Dolphin Snorkel AdventureOut of Kendwa to the reef off Mnemba, where the dolphins run early and the water is clear by nine.
04The old townStone Town Private Walking TourStone Town on foot with somebody who knows which alley goes where. Two hours, and the rest of Zanzibar makes more sense.
Arusha for the parks, Moshi for the mountain, Zanzibar for the rest.
Five towns do almost all the work here. The safari gateway under Mount Meru, the trekking base in the foothills, an island capital of carved doors, the port city on the mainland coast, and the road south towards Mikumi.
Tarangire, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro. One road, three parks.
The circuit runs north west out of Arusha and loops back. Tarangire for elephants and baobabs, the Serengeti for the herds, and a descent road into the crater where the animals never leave. Most people do it in three to seven days, camping or in lodges.
Zanzibar sells four kinds of day. Pick one, then pick a price.
The island is small enough that everything is a day trip from wherever you sleep. Four ways to spend one, and what it costs to get on each.
The balloon at dawn, the crater floor, the boat out to Mnemba.
Every Tanzanian tour we have reviewed →The days out that more travellers take than anything else in the country, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Serengeti Balloon Safari and authentic bush breakfast
Float over the Serengeti at sunrise, watch wildlife from the air, then enjoy champagne and a full English bush breakfast under an acacia tree.
From · $550
Read our review →
2
Balloon Safari & Bush Breakfast in Serengeti – Miracle Experience
from $599
3
Mikumi Safari Day Trip with Flights and Meal
from $451
4
Quad Bike Adventure departing from Kendwa or Nungwi
5
Stone Town, Spice Tour, Prison Island with Lunch
from $68
6
Tanzania Classic – 7 Days
from $3,913
7
4 Days Group Camping Safari
from $900
8
Mnemba Boat Trip and Dolphin Snorkel Adventure
from $50
Five ways up Kilimanjaro, and what each one costs.
The mountain is a walk, not a climb, and the whole argument is which side you start on and how many days you give it. Longer routes cost more and put more people on the summit, because the extra nights are what let you acclimatise. Every climb goes with a registered guide and a crew.
What a day in Tanzania costs, from a Stone Town walk to a week in the Serengeti.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it costs. The gap between the two ends of this country is wider than almost anywhere: the same trip holds a morning you can pay for in cash and a safari that costs more than the flights.
Stone Town on foot, the spice farms, the snorkel boats out of Nungwi and Kendwa, a coffee morning above Moshi.
The full island days, Materuni and the hot springs, Jozani forest, and a day out to Mikumi from the coast.
The northern circuit, the routes up Kilimanjaro, the flying day trips, and the balloon over the Serengeti at first light.
A caldera with lions in it, a walk to 5,895 metres, and a town of carved doors.
Grassland and good beaches exist all over the continent. An intact volcanic crater full of animals, the highest free standing mountain on earth, and the old Swahili capital do not.
The Ngorongoro Crater
A volcano collapsed in on itself here and left a bowl six hundred metres deep with grassland, swamp and a soda lake on the floor. Most of the animals inside never leave, because they have no reason to. Vehicles come down a one way descent road on the eastern rim and go back up another, and the whole floor can be crossed in an afternoon.
- 1Serengeti Balloon Safari and authentic bush breakfast★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $550
- 2Balloon Safari & Bush Breakfast in Serengeti – Miracle Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $599
- 33 Days Serengeti & Ngorongoro Group Camping Safari★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $815
Kilimanjaro
The highest point in Africa and the highest free standing mountain anywhere, sitting on its own out of flat country so it looks even bigger than it is. No ropes and no technical ground: you walk up, through farmland, then rainforest, then moorland, then a high desert of scree, and the last push starts around midnight so you reach the crater rim at sunrise.
- 1Kilimanjaro climb by Lemosho Route (7-day)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $3,476
- 2Kilimanjaro climb, Machame Route (7-day)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $3,377
- 38-Day Small-group Lemosho Kilimanjaro Summit Trekking★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $2,895
Stone Town
A whole town built of coral rag and mangrove poles, laid out as a maze because the streets were made for feet and handcarts. The carved doors are the thing people remember, brass studded and heavy, each one announcing something about whoever put it up. The old quarter also holds the site of the East African slave market, which the walking tours cover directly.
- 1Stone Town, Spice Tour, Prison Island with Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · from $68
- 2Prison Island, Stone Town, & Spice Farm Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · from $70
- 3Prison Island, Nakupenda, StoneTown Tour with BBQ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · from $71
The balloon, the mountain, the plane to Mikumi and the herds.
Most of this country can be arranged from a hotel desk the night before. These four cannot, because each one runs on a seat count, a permit or a calendar that takes no notice of when you land.
- 01Serengeti Balloon Safari and authentic bush breakfastBaskets carry a fixed number of passengers and lift once a day, at first light. When a flight is full it is full, and there is no second one.
- 02Kilimanjaro climb by Lemosho Route (7-day)The park will not let you walk up on your own. Every ascent goes with a registered guide and a crew, booked as one party for the whole route.
- 03Mikumi Safari Day Trip with Flights and MealThe day trip from the island flies out and back on a small aircraft with a fixed seat count and a dawn departure.
- 048 Days Great Wildebeest Calving Migration Safari from ArushaThe herds are in a different part of the Serengeti every month, so the dates you choose decide which part of the year you are actually booking.
Tanzania has two dry windows, and they are not the same trip.
June to October is the long dry season: short grass, animals gathered at whatever water is left, and the river crossings in the north of the Serengeti. January and February are the second window, drier and quieter, when the herds are calving on the southern plains. Between them, from March to May, the long rains come and a good deal of the north closes down.
- 1Serengeti Balloon Safari and authentic bush breakfastfrom $550
- 24 Days Group Camping Safarifrom $900
- 37 Days Tanganyika Wilderness Safarifrom $2,929
Stone Town, the spice farms, and the coast road out of it.
Cloves and nutmeg were planted here two hundred years ago and the farms still work. In town the fish market runs at the north end of the seafront, the walking tours cover the old quarter including the site of the slave market, and the cooking classes send you home able to make pilau.
By place, mainland and island
By kind of day, park, summit, reef or kitchen
Arusha, the parks, the mountain, then the island: the run most first trips make.
The newest reviews, mainland and island.
Everything else just added →
6 Days Kilimanjaro hiking tour | climb Kilimanjaro Machame Route
Read our review →
3 Days Safari Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park
Read our review →
4-Days Adventure Camping Safari to Tarangire, Serengeti & Ngorongoro
Read our review →
