Duration
5 days
Tour type
Private tour
Physical level
Easy
Customizable
Yes, request changes
Minimum age
3 years
Languages
English
This mid-range safari has been designed for travelers who want to see the very best of Tanzania's northern circuit in a compact five days. You will visit Tarangire National Park, famous for its giant baobab trees and elephant herds, spend two full days tracking wildlife across the endless plains of the Serengeti, and finish with a descent into the Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO World Heritage Site often called the eighth wonder of the world. Accommodation is a mix of comfortable tented camps and lodges. Game drives are conducted in a pop-up roof 4x4 Land Cruiser with a professional English-speaking driver guide. Expect to see elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, and, with luck, leopards, cheetahs, and black rhinos.
$1,850Per person
Trip type
Vehicle-based game drives, no walking or hiking required
Fitness level
Suitable for all fitness levels, most of the day is spent seated in the vehicle
Age
Family-friendly from age 3, though very long driving days suit older children best
Health notes
No altitude or physical exertion concerns. Standard travel health precautions for East Africa apply.
Your guide picks you up from your Arusha hotel at 8:00 AM. After a two hour drive you enter Tarangire, home to some of the largest elephant herds in Africa. The park's landscape is dotted with ancient baobab trees and the Tarangire River draws thousands of animals in the dry season. Expect elephants, giraffes, buffalo, and if you are lucky, tree-climbing pythons. Picnic lunch inside the park, afternoon game drive, then drive to your tented camp near the park gate for dinner and overnight.
After breakfast you head northwest, passing through the highlands and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area rim before descending into the Serengeti in the afternoon. The name Serengeti comes from the Maasai word siringet, meaning endless plains, and you will understand why the moment you arrive. Afternoon game drive en route to camp. Between December and March the southern plains host vast wildebeest herds during calving season.
A full day dedicated to the Serengeti with morning and afternoon game drives, or one long drive with a picnic lunch at a hippo pool. Your guide will track the big cats: lions resting on kopjes (granite outcrops), cheetahs scanning the plains from termite mounds, and leopards draped over sausage-tree branches. Depending on the season your guide follows the Great Migration, over 1.5 million wildebeest and 250,000 zebras moving in a constant cycle across the ecosystem. Optional hot air balloon safari at dawn (about USD 599, book in advance).
Early morning game drive in the Serengeti when predators are most active, then drive toward the Ngorongoro highlands with a stop at Olduvai Gorge, one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world, where the earliest evidence of human ancestors was discovered. Arrive at the crater rim by late afternoon. From your lodge you can watch the sun set over the 260 square kilometer caldera below.
Descend 600 meters to the crater floor at dawn for a half-day game drive. The crater hosts around 25,000 large animals in a natural amphitheater, including the highest density of lions in Africa and some of the last black rhinos in Tanzania. Flamingos gather on Lake Magadi and elephants with huge tusks roam the Lerai Forest. Picnic breakfast by the hippo pool, then ascend and drive back to Arusha, arriving around 5:00 PM.
Starts in Arusha, ends in Arusha.
Tanzania
Other stops
What's arranged for you to sleep and eat each night of the trip.
Serengeti tented camp
Crater rim lodge
None (tour ends)
What this operator recommends bringing on the trip.
The tour starts and ends in Arusha. Most travelers fly into Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), about 50 minutes from Arusha; airport transfers are included. Arusha Airport (ARK) also has domestic connections from Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.
Per person, based on group size. Request a quote for an exact price for your dates.
| Season | High Season (Migration) | Green Season |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | 2026-06-01 to 2026-10-31 | 2026-11-01 to 2027-03-31 |
| Group size | 1 to 12 | 1 to 12 |
| Per person (adult) | $2,150 | $1,850 |
Sarah M.
London, UK
Exceeded every expectation
We saw all of the Big Five in five days. Our guide Josephat knew exactly where to position the car before anything happened. The crater on the last morning was the highlight of my life, we had a black rhino cross the road right in front of us. The tented camps were far nicer than I expected, hot showers every night.
Daniel K.
Berlin, Germany
Perfectly organized from start to finish
Pick-up was on time, the vehicle was spotless, and every lodge upgrade request was handled without fuss. February is calving season and we watched a cheetah hunt within an hour of entering the Serengeti. Book the balloon, it is worth every dollar.
Amina H.
Dubai, UAE
Wonderful trip, long driving days
The wildlife and guiding were outstanding. Just know the drive from Tarangire to the Serengeti is a genuinely long day on rough roads. Bring a cushion and it is completely worth it.
