The Serengeti, the Ngorongoro crater, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar: Tanzania has the most iconic safaris and beaches in Africa.
🧭 Essential facts
Currency
Tanzanian shilling (TZS)
Language
Swahili and English
🌍 About Tanzania
Tanzania has, in one country, three things most destinations would be lucky to have one of: the Serengeti with the Great Migration, Kilimanjaro — the roof of Africa and the highest freestanding mountain in the world — and Zanzibar, an archipelago of turquoise water with a thousand years of Swahili history. For many people it is the trip of a lifetime, and that is not an exaggeration.
The northern circuit holds the essentials and is covered well in a week: the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro crater — a twenty-kilometre caldera with a density of wildlife that exists nowhere else — Tarangire with its baobabs and elephants, and Lake Manyara. It is all arranged from Arusha. Then you fly to Zanzibar to slow down, which is the classic combination and the one that works best: intense safari and dawn starts first, beach and rest afterwards.
What needs planning with time to spare is not the itinerary but your health: almost the entire country is a malaria zone, Zanzibar included, and arrivals from a number of countries may be asked for a yellow fever certificate. None of that is unusual or alarming — a medical consultation weeks in advance sorts it out — but it is what you should set in motion as soon as you book the flights, not the week before.
💱 Currency and exchange rate
The local currency is the Tanzanian shilling (TZS). Carry some cash, tell your bank before travelling and check the day's rate.
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✈️ Getting there and around
Kilimanjaro (JRO) is the airport for the northern safaris and the Kilimanjaro ascent, Dar es Salaam (DAR) is the largest, and Zanzibar (ZNZ) takes direct flights from several cities. Between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar the fast ferries cross in about two hours and run several times a day; buy at the official ticket office and not from touts. The standard-gauge railway now links Dar es Salaam with Morogoro and Dodoma. For the Serengeti and Ngorongoro, light aircraft from Arusha are the norm, because overland it is many hours of gravel road, and inside the parks you travel in a 4x4 with a guide. In the cities, dala-dalas are the local transport.
🎒 What to do and see
The Serengeti→
One of the most famous ecosystems on the planet and a World Heritage site: plains that stretch beyond sight, kopjes — rock outcrops where the lions lie — and the largest concentration of big mammals left in the world. The Great Migration crosses it all year on a circuit: between January and March it concentrates in the south for calving, when hundreds of thousands of young are born within a few weeks, and between July and October it is in the north crossing the Mara river.
The Ngorongoro crater→
The largest intact volcanic caldera in the world, twenty kilometres across with six-hundred-metre walls, holding a closed ecosystem where some twenty-five thousand large animals live all year without migrating. That makes it the place with the best chance of seeing the Big Five in a single day, including black rhino, which are difficult anywhere else. You descend into the crater early in the morning and come out at midday.
Climbing Kilimanjaro→
5,895 metres, the highest peak in Africa and the highest freestanding mountain on the planet. It is the eight-thousander for people who do not climb: no technique or ropes are needed, you walk up. But the altitude is real and most of those who do not summit fail because of altitude sickness, not fitness. The rule that matters most is the number of days: seven or eight-day routes have far higher success rates than five-day ones. A registered guide is compulsory by law.
Zanzibar and Stone Town→
Stone Town is a World Heritage site: a labyrinth of alleys between coral houses with carved wood and brass doors, mosques, a market and the mark of a past as the capital of the spice trade and also the slave trade, told at the memorial on the site of the old market. At dusk, the food stalls of the Forodhani gardens. Freddie Mercury was born here. Then there are the beaches: Nungwi and Kendwa in the north, where the tide lets you swim at any hour.
Tarangire and the baobabs
The park of baobabs and elephants: in the dry season thousands of animals concentrate around the Tarangire river and the elephant herds are among the largest in the north of the country. It has a different landscape from the Serengeti, more wooded and with those enormous trees that look planted upside down. It is usually the first stop on the northern circuit out of Arusha.
Lake Manyara→
A small, narrow park between the alkaline lake and the wall of the Rift Valley, with a very high density of birds — flamingos, pelicans — and riverine forest. It is famous for its tree-climbing lions, which lie along acacia branches, an uncommon behaviour. It is done in half a day and works well as a first taste before the big parks.
Nyerere National Park and the south→
Formerly known as Selous, it is one of the largest protected areas in Africa and a World Heritage site, with vastly less tourism than the northern circuit. Its particularity is that you can take boat safaris on the Rufiji river and guided walks, neither of which is permitted in the Serengeti. Together with Ruaha and Mikumi it makes a southern circuit for anyone who already knows the north or wants to avoid the crowds.
Mikumi, the accessible safari
The closest park to Dar es Salaam, some four or five hours by road, which makes it the realistic option for anyone short of days or budget who does not want to fly north. It shares an ecosystem with Nyerere and has open plains with lions, elephants, giraffes and hippos. It is not the Serengeti, but it is a genuine safari at a fraction of the cost.
Pemba and Mafia→
The other two islands, far less visited than Zanzibar. Pemba is green, hilly and among the best in the world for diving, with coral walls and enormous visibility, almost without mass infrastructure. Mafia has a protected marine park and is one of the most reliable places on the planet for swimming with whale sharks, roughly between October and March. Both are for anyone looking for what Zanzibar was thirty years ago.
Arusha, the northern base→
Almost the whole northern circuit starts here, so nearly everyone spends a night before or after the safari. Use that day: the city market, the Cultural Heritage Museum and, if there is time, Mount Meru national park next door, a 4,566-metre mountain many use to acclimatise before Kilimanjaro.
Dar es Salaam and the coast→
The country's largest city and main port, with a fish market, the national museum and a strongly marked Indian, Arab and African mix. The fast ferries to Zanzibar leave from here, crossing in about two hours. To the south is Kilwa Kisiwani, the ruins of a Swahili city-state that was among the richest in Africa, a World Heritage site and virtually without tourism.
Maasai and Hadzabe communities
Tanzania has more than a hundred ethnic groups. Visits to Maasai villages are part of almost every northern circuit and their quality varies enormously: there are staged performances with pressure to buy, and there are genuine community projects. Near Lake Eyasi live the Hadzabe, one of the last hunter-gatherer peoples in the world, with a click language. It is worth asking how what you pay is shared and choosing operators who work respectfully.
📅 When to go: climate and best time
The long dry season, June to October, is generally the best for safari: little vegetation, animals concentrated at the water, roads in good condition and, between July and October, the Great Migration in the northern Serengeti with the Mara river crossings. It is also the most expensive season and you must book many months ahead. The other great window is January to March, when the migration is in the southern Serengeti calving: hundreds of thousands of young are born within a few weeks and that draws every predator, so the action is enormous and there are fewer people than in August.
The long rains run from March to May: several camps close, some roads become difficult and the landscape is green and tall, which makes animals harder to see, but prices drop considerably. The short rains of November and early December are heavy brief downpours that do not ruin a trip. For Kilimanjaro, the best windows are January to March and June to October, avoiding the long rains. Zanzibar works almost all year, with March to May the worst stretch.
🍽️ What to eat
The base is ugali, the thick maize polenta eaten with the hand alongside stews, and spiced pilau rice. Nyama choma — grilled meat — is the social meal. But the most interesting food is on the coast and in Zanzibar, where Swahili cooking adds Arab and Indian heritage: fish curries with coconut milk, biryani, urojo or Zanzibari soup, and chapati bread. The spices are not a tourist postcard: Zanzibar lived on cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, and the plantations can be visited.
At the Forodhani stalls in Stone Town you eat grilled seafood at dusk and the so-called Zanzibari pizza, which is more of a stuffed, griddled dough. To drink, spiced chai, fresh fruit juices and coconut water. The local beers are Kilimanjaro and Serengeti. Two warnings: bottled water always, even at good lodges, and caution with raw food and ice outside established accommodation. In Zanzibar, which is mainly Muslim, alcohol is found in hotels and tourist areas rather than on the street.
🛟 Safety and health
Health is the first thing to set in motion, as soon as you book the flights. Tanzania is a malaria zone across almost the whole territory, Zanzibar included, which many people assume is free of it because it is a beach island. The choice of prophylaxis, when to start it and how long to continue after returning is decided by a travel medicine doctor according to your route and your medical history. Alongside that: high-concentration repellent, long sleeves at dusk and a mosquito net. On yellow fever, anyone arriving from a country with a risk of transmission may be asked for the international certificate, which has to be given days in advance. Ask about hepatitis A and typhoid too.
On security, the safari circuit is very calm and done with professional guides. In the cities — Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Stone Town — there is theft and snatching, so do not display phones or cameras, do not walk at night through empty areas and use known taxis or apps. In Zanzibar, snatching on empty beaches is the most common complaint. For Kilimanjaro, the real risk is altitude sickness: it is prevented by ascending slowly, choosing a route with more days, hydrating heavily and telling your guide as soon as symptoms appear; descent is the only treatment that genuinely works. Check that your insurance covers activities at altitude, which many policies exclude above a certain height.
💰 How much it costs
Tanzania is more expensive than Kenya for safari, and considerably so: the entry fees for the northern parks and the concession system are among the highest in Africa, and that carries through to the final price whatever the standard of accommodation. The costs divide into three blocks worth looking at separately: the park fees, charged per person per day; the vehicle with guide; and the accommodation, which runs from camping to luxury lodges with differences of several times over.
What most reduces the spend, in order of impact: travelling outside the July to October window; taking a shared group safari rather than a private one; sleeping at public campsites or outside the park boundaries rather than inside; and choosing the southern circuit or Mikumi instead of the north if the budget is tight. For Kilimanjaro, be sceptical of very low prices: they usually cut where you cannot see, with fewer days — which sharply reduces your chances of summiting — poor food or, most seriously, underpaying the porters. Choose registered operators and ask explicitly what they pay them.
🤝 Culture and practical tips
Swahili is the national language and works as a bridge between more than a hundred ethnic groups; English is used for everything formal and across the whole tourist circuit, so you can handle the entire trip with it. Learning a few words goes down very well: jambo, asante, karibu and pole pole, which means slowly and is practically a local philosophy — and also what your guide will repeat all the way up Kilimanjaro. People are cordial, you greet before asking for anything, and hurrying someone is frowned upon.
Zanzibar and the coast are mainly Muslim and there the dress matters: away from the beaches and resorts it is best to cover shoulders and knees, in Stone Town especially, and women tend to be more comfortable in loose clothing. During Ramadan many places close during the day. Do not photograph people without permission, and in Maasai communities there is usually an agreed fee for photographs, best settled beforehand. Homosexuality is criminalised by law, something same-sex couples should consider when planning.
📜 History of Tanzania
Few places on the planet can claim that humanity began there. Tanzania can. In Olduvai Gorge, right in the Serengeti, the Leakeys unearthed skulls and stone tools almost two million years old, and a few kilometres away, at Laetoli, footprints fossilised in volcanic ash show three hominins walking upright 3.6 million years ago. Before any kingdom, any border or any name, this corner of East Africa was already the cradle of our species.
What came next is one of the richest and least told stories on the continent: the Bantu peoples who settled the interior, the dazzling Swahili civilisation of the coast, the gold of Kilwa and the Indian Ocean trade, the Sultanate of Oman that made Zanzibar the world capital of cloves and one of the great slave markets of the 19th century, the German conquest and the brutal crushing of the Maji Maji uprising, the British mandate, independence in 1961 under Julius Nyerere, the 1964 union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar that gave the country its name, and the socialist experiment of ujamaa. This is the history of Tanzania, from the first human footprint to the present day.
Read the full history of Tanzania →❓ FAQs about Tanzania
Do I need a visa for Tanzania?
Yes. Almost every nationality needs a visa, and most pay the same: USD 50 for the ordinary single-entry visa, up to 90 days. It is applied for as an e-Visa at visa.immigration.go.tz, which is the ONLY official portal: you upload your passport data page, a 45 x 35 mm colour photograph, your return ticket and the declaration form, and it can take up to ten days, so do it weeks in advance. Watch two things. First, what arrives by email is a Visa Grant Notice, which is NOT the visa — it is the authorisation to present yourself at the border. Second, and this is the exception that changes the cost most: Immigration requires US tourists to take the Multiple Visa, multiple entry and valid for a year, which costs USD 100, not the USD 50 of the ordinary one. It is not optional, and the Guidelines say so explicitly. There is also a visa on arrival for eligible nationalities at the same price, but it means queueing and depending on the officer's judgement. Verified with the Tanzanian authorities in September 2026.
Do I need vaccinations and prophylaxis?
It is the first thing to sort out. Tanzania is a malaria zone across almost the whole country, Zanzibar included — many people assume the island is free of it and it is not — so prophylaxis is a serious matter decided by a travel medicine doctor, not a forum. On yellow fever, anyone arriving from a country with a risk of transmission may be asked for the international certificate, which has to be given days in advance. Ask about hepatitis A and typhoid as well.
When can I see the Great Migration?
All year, because it is a continuous circular movement, but where it is changes. Between January and March it is in the southern Serengeti in the calving season: hundreds of thousands of young are born within a few weeks and that concentrates the predators, with fewer tourists than in August. Between July and October it is in the north, with the Mara river crossings, which is the most famous image. No serious operator can guarantee you a crossing on a specific date: it depends on the rains and the grass.
How much does a safari in Tanzania cost?
More than in Kenya, and the reason is the northern circuit park fees, which are among the highest in Africa and are charged per person per day regardless of where you sleep. The final price is built from three blocks: fees, vehicle with guide, and accommodation. To bring it down: go outside July to October, take a shared rather than private safari, sleep outside the park boundaries, or choose the southern circuit or Mikumi, which are far more economical.
Can anyone climb Kilimanjaro?
You need no mountaineering experience or technical gear: you walk up. But the altitude is the real problem and most of those who do not summit fail because of altitude sickness, not fitness. What most changes your chances is the number of days: seven or eight-day routes have far higher success rates than five-day ones, because they allow time to acclimatise. A registered guide is compulsory by law. And be sceptical of very low prices: they usually cut days, food or the porters' pay.
Should I combine safari with Zanzibar?
Yes, it is the classic combination and works very well: the safari means dawn starts and many hours in a vehicle, so finishing at the beach makes sense. There are short flights from Arusha and Dar es Salaam, and fast ferries from Dar that cross in about two hours. Allow at least four nights in Zanzibar to make it worthwhile, and note that the tides on the east coast are very pronounced: on some beaches you cannot swim at any hour. And NOTE one requirement that catches almost everyone out: since 1 October 2024, every foreigner entering Zanzibar by airport or port must hold inbound travel insurance issued ONLY by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation. It costs USD 44 per person, covers up to 92 days, is not renewable and is bought only through the official channel visitzanzibar.go.tz. Your usual travel insurance does NOT replace it: it is a compulsory local policy paid separately, and the official notice warns that not having it can end in refusal of entry at immigration.
How many days do I need?
Seven or eight days makes a good northern circuit — Tarangire, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro — without rushing. Adding Zanzibar, twelve to fourteen days is reasonable. If you also want to climb Kilimanjaro, count seven to nine days for that alone, plus a couple of buffer days. The most common mistake is cramming in too many parks: the overland transfers are long and it is better to stay more nights in fewer places.
Is Tanzania or Kenya better for safari?
They are the same ecosystem split by a border, so the wildlife is practically identical. Tanzania has Ngorongoro, which has no equivalent, a much larger Serengeti and Kilimanjaro, but it is more expensive. Kenya costs less, combines better with a nearby beach and has the arid northern species in Samburu that Tanzania does not offer. If budget rules, Kenya; if you want the crater and the scale of the Serengeti, Tanzania.
Explore Tanzania by region
Pick a region and open each destination to see what to do, prices and how to get there.
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The northern safari circuit (Serengeti and Ngorongoro)
4 destinations📍
Arusha and Kilimanjaro
2 destinations📍
Zanzibar and the islands
5 destinations📍
The south and the coast
3 destinationsWhere the data on Tanzania comes from
These are the sources we cite most across this country's guides, with how many times each appears. Hard data —tickets, opening hours, requirements, transport— comes from the official source and carries the date we checked it. Restaurant and hotel picks come from guides and reviews, and we say so on each page.
