Luxury Tanzania Safari: Itineraries, Lodges and Top Destinations

Sample luxury Tanzania itineraries

Guide prices are per person sharing, excluding international flights, and vary by season and availability. Every itinerary can be changed to suit you.

Where to stay: our favourite Tanzania lodges

Area	Lodges we recommend	Why
Serengeti (Grumeti)	Singita Sasakwa, Faru Faru, Sabora	A private reserve on the western migration route
Central Serengeti	Four Seasons Safari Lodge, Asilia Namiri Plains	Year-round big cats; family-friendly options
Northern Serengeti	Nomad Lamai, Singita Mara River Tented Camp	Mara River crossings from July to October
Ngorongoro Crater	&Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, The Highlands	Crater-rim views and early access to the crater floor
Tarangire	Chem Chem, Little Chem Chem	Elephants, baobabs and a private corridor
Zanzibar	&Beyond Mnemba Island, Zuri Zanzibar	The perfect beach finish

Best time for a luxury Tanzania safari

Months	Where the action is	Our view
Jan to Mar	Southern Serengeti and Ndutu calving	Excellent: thousands of calves and big-cat action
Apr to May	Long rains	Quiet and best value; some camps close
Jun to Jul	Western corridor and Grumeti	Very good: river crossings in the Grumeti
Aug to Oct	Northern Serengeti and the Mara River crossings	Peak season: book 12 months ahead
Nov to Dec	Herds move south	Good value with green landscapes

Want to add a beach? See our safari and beach holidays. Comparing destinations? Start with our guide to luxury safaris.

Your guide to Tanzania’s top safari destinations

Hello, Traveller! Are you prepared to take a safari in Tanzania, perhaps? First of all, you’re going to have a thrilling experience. A Tanzania safari is a perfect destination.

The impressive diversity of wildlife in Tanzania, with its many magnificent national parks with wildlife reserves, make it the perfect getaway safari in Africa when it comes to the safari experience.

There are many options to consider whether you want to do your safari from the back of a truck or want to do something more exciting, like organized camping or perhaps even canoeing.

Tanzania Safari: A Comprehensive Overview of The

Tanzania is a massive country. It is convenient to break the significant safari tourist attractions into the north or the South.

Often these visitors flock to the north because it is primarily composed of Tanzania’s iconic highlights, and understandably so as the biodiversity is phenomenal.

Though, the fame of the north can always overwhelm the South, which, in my opinion, is one of the finest kept secrets of East Africa.

West Tanzania is also an alternative, but it is absurdly costly to get there, and as a result, hardly any visitors do. As 70 percent of visitors go north, 25 percent go south, and just 5 percent or less go west, as a rough guide.

Northern Tanzania Circuit safari

The Serengeti National Park

Serengeti Africa is one of the unique destinations that have an unprecedented prestige, but in a sense, it can also transcend expectations.

The significantly larger region is also fascinating from a linguistic perspective, with exceptional tribes such as the Massai and the Hadzabe.

An entire park is a place of world heritage, and the numerous habitats and the abundance of wildlife means that you can spend time in various locations and never feel like having seen anything.

It is not just animals that make a safari so exceptional in the Serengeti, from the spectacular Kjopes in the north to the acacia scattered with the infinite plains in the South.

Ngorongoro Crater Safari

The Ngorongoro Crater is a stunningly spectacular environment and the perfect place to see the Big Five in East Africa.

It is a perfect way to launch your safari expedition in Africa. But being one of the most spectacular and famous natural wonders globally, the Ngorongoro Crater is getting busy and often quite crowded.

Because of the crowds, it’s advisable that you only lodge here for two nights, then heading over to the Serengeti for a smoother, more relaxed safari.

Presumably, every Northern Tanzania Safari should include a visit to the Ngorongoro Crater: it is one of the world’s most magnificent natural wildlife safari sites and an excellent location to connect with the Maasai tribe people.

Tarangire National Park

Tarangire National Park is a beautiful, pleasant park in northern Tanzania situated slightly off the main safari road.

It is most notable for its environment of elephant migration, birding, and exotic safari experience.

Many visitors to the area either skip Tarangire entirely or venture into the park for a matter of hours-leaving almost entire swathes of Tarangire.

On the Northern circuit, Tarangire is the surprise kit.

Tarangire, mostly overlooked by the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater, has large numbers of wildlife in the peak months and a fraction of visitors to most of the other Northern parks.

Lake Manyara

Lake Manyara serves as a gentle introduction to an East Africa safari.

While this park’s scenic beauty makes a vacation pleasurable, when contrasted with that offered in Tarangire, the Ngorongoro, and the Serengeti, the game watching here dwindles into oblivion.

Manyara needs a day trip, but not much longer.

Its popularly known for its flamingos, tree-climbing lions, astonishing scenery, and the soda-ash lake.

Lake Manyara is a stunning scenic park on the path from Arusha to the Ngorongoro Crater, famous for its lions climbing a rock, fantastic birdlife, healthy elephants, and baboons.

Southern Tanzania

Selous Game Reserve

In southern Tanzania and far from the crowds, the Selous Game Reserve is Africa’s biggest game reserve and a favorite wildlife spot. It’s truly a unique treasure.

Selous’s rivers and lakes are the lifelines of a park that attracts several incredible games, including elephants, wild dogs, buffaloes, hippos, crocodiles, and magnificent lion prides.

The Selous also provides an unforgettable gateway to untamed Africa, not just an excellent spot for the avid safari aficionado.

Host to some of the best walking, boat safaris, and travel camping trips in Africa, the Selous has the most extraordinary safaris diversity among all Tanzanian safaris.

Ruaha National Park

The relative inaccessibility of Ruaha means that it receives far fewer visitors than the Selous and less than the Northern circuit’s comparable parks.

A rugged landscape of baobab studded hills and rocky escarpments of extraordinary biodiversity is the benefit of driving this far.

Ruaha safaris have consistently thrilling animal concentrations.

It is a habitat to 10 percent of the world’s lion population, includes one of four cheetah colonies in East Africa, and has the world’s third-largest wild dog population.

It’s followed by large herds of elephants and buffalos and a cross-over of southern and East African

Katavi National Park | Katavi Safari

Katavi, which is situated in the far west of Tanzania, is a park for safari connoisseurs.

Often coupled with nearby Mahale, owing to its limited inaccessibility and relatively high flight costs, Katavi receives relatively few travelers.

However, travelers who devote the time and cash to get here are lushly compensated-Katavi is nothing short of magical.

With a few camps and very few visitors, this park is wild. Katavi is among the few places left today in Africa that you still feel like you may have been drifting back millennia.

It’s the quintessential safari park of Tanzania, many safari enthusiasts would argue.

Mahale Mountains | Chimpanzees

Situated on Lake Tanganyika’s shores in the far west of the world and home to the best viewing of chimpanzees in Africa, Mahale will stake its ground as one of the continent’s most outstanding and exclusive safari destinations.

This distant national park also offers one of Africa’s most spectacular sites and a stunning Tanzania safari. Mahale is not only a chimpanzee destination; it has an astonishingly turquoise clear water. 

The park itself proclaims to be one of the most primal locations in Africa

The Great Migration

The Great Wildebeest Migration is a phenomenon where 2 million herbivores migrate across the Serengeti in search of fresh pastures during the year.

Some months are relatively easy to see the herds than the others. In some places, the best moments are when they are more concentrated:

Herds cross the Mara River in northern Serengeti from July to October.

It’s when you have the epic Attenborough-Esque scenes of wildebeest hurting themselves into crocodile-infested waters.

February is when the calving season has begun, and this is the perfect time to see the herds in their full glory converging on the limitless plains of the South in their thousands.

February is when you see herds, as they seldom fail to converge at this time of year in the Ndutu planes.

If Migration is on your bucket list, then I suggest visiting the Serengeti at these times. The Migration, however, is a dynamic and unpredictable phenomenon.

It is essential to know the advantages and drawbacks of each season of the year.

Pemba Island

Pemba Island is marginally smaller and far rural than the more popular Zanzibar vacation on the main island. It is still part of the Zanzíbar Archipelago, 40 km north of mainland Sanzíbar (Unga).

The rich greens of the varieties of mangoes and many others of clove trees that have historically affected this spice island’s biodiversity rendering Pemba’s lush, picturesque mountains, and cliffs hidden from view while Zanzibar is moderately flat.

Although the island has fantastic coral reefs and clear seas surround Pemba, it is also flanked by thick mangrove trees, with the beaches requiring little scouting.

The beaches here, however, are not as particularly lovely as Zanzibar.

With the whole island covered by coral reefs, which serve as world-class diving sites, Pemba Island has also been one of the best diving and snorkeling destinations off the coast of Tanzania.

The marine life you will find is phenomenal.

Pemba Channel shelves are more than 2000 m deep between the island and mainland Tanzania, and Pemba is known for its substantial marine fish, including barracuda, Tuna, Shark, and even whales.

Final Thoughts on Tanzania Safari

A Tanzania safari is like nothing else. Witness the Great Migration through the Serengeti, conquer Kilimanjaro, plunge further into Ngorongoro Crater, catch hippos in Lake Manyara, the Big Five of Africa, then lounge at island luxury resorts after the safari experience.

Tanzania is a nation where you can see the Great Wildebeest Migration almost every time of year, and there you can pair your safari with a great beach excursion.

 What’s even more, you can top it off with a Kilimanjaro climb if you feel ambitious! Ascending to Africa’s roof .

Luxury Tanzania safari FAQs

How much does a luxury Tanzania safari cost?

Most luxury Tanzania safaris cost US$900 to US$2,500 per person per night, including accommodation, meals, activities and park fees. A 9 to 11-night trip typically totals US$12,000 to US$25,000 per person, excluding international flights.

What is the best time for a Tanzania safari?

June to October is the dry season and the time of the Mara River crossings. January to March is calving season in the southern Serengeti. Both are excellent; April and May are the quietest months.

How many days do I need for a Tanzania safari?

Seven to nine nights covers the Northern Circuit (Tarangire, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti) at a relaxed pace. Add four to five nights for a Zanzibar beach extension.

Should I fly or drive between parks?

For a luxury safari we recommend flying between the Serengeti and other areas. Light-aircraft flights save a full day of driving and give you more time in the best game areas.

Is Tanzania good for a honeymoon?

Yes. The Serengeti and Zanzibar together make one of the world’s great honeymoons, with romantic suites, private dinners and a beach finish.