7-Day Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Safari
The classic northern route in seven days: a night in Arusha, a night in Tarangire, three nights in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater on the way home.
- Length
- 7 days, 6 nights
- Comfort
- Premium
- Price
- Price on request
This route covers the three best-known parks of northern Tanzania without rushing. Tarangire comes first, for its baobabs and elephants. Then three nights in the Serengeti, enough for two full days of game drives. The Ngorongoro Crater is the last stop.
It works in any month. Between about June and October the parks are dry and animals stay close to water. In the green season the landscape is greener, with fewer vehicles.
The lodges named on each day are options, not fixed choices. Similar camps can be used to suit your dates and budget.
Day by day
- Day 1: Arrive in Arusha. You are met at Kilimanjaro International Airport and driven to Arusha, about an hour. Lunch on arrival and the afternoon to rest. Arusha sits below Mount Meru, Tanzania's second highest mountain, and it is the usual starting point for safaris in the north. Rest while you can, and use the time to go through the route with your guide. Overnight at Mount Meru Hotel or similar.
- Day 2: Tarangire National Park. Drive to Tarangire, about two hours, and spend the day in the park. Elephant herds, old baobabs and the Tarangire River valley set the scene. It is often the first park on a northern safari, and it is easy to underrate. The baobabs are huge, and many are centuries old. In the dry months, roughly June to October, wildlife gathers along the river, so herds of elephant can be very large. More than 500 bird species have been recorded here too. Overnight at Tarangire Sopa Lodge or similar.
- Day 3: Tarangire to the Serengeti. A long day west, about five hours of driving, over the Ngorongoro highlands and into the Serengeti. You climb the Rift Valley wall near Mto wa Mbu, pass the farms of Karatu and skirt the rim of the crater through cool forest. Then the land falls away to grass, and you enter the park at Naabi Hill. You game-drive to the lodge in the afternoon, and the name Serengeti, usually traced to a Maasai word for endless plains, starts to make sense. Overnight at Melia Serengeti Lodge or similar.
- Day 4: Serengeti. A full day in the central Serengeti. Your guide plans the route around recent sightings and where the herds are this month. The migration moves through the park in a yearly circle, so what you find depends on when you travel. The resident animals are here whatever the month. Lion use the granite kopjes as lookouts, leopard rest in trees along the Seronera River, and hippos crowd the pools. Overnight at Melia Serengeti Lodge or similar.
- Day 5: Serengeti. A second full day. Go out early, rest at midday, or stay out with a picnic lunch: the day is shaped around what you want to see. With two days here you can go further, and you can go back to a good sighting from yesterday. Cats that sleep through the heat are often more active in the late afternoon. If there is an animal you have been hoping to see, tell your guide, and they will plan around it. Overnight at Melia Serengeti Lodge or similar.
- Day 6: Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Crater. Leave early for the Ngorongoro Crater, about three and a half hours, and spend the afternoon on the crater floor. The road crosses the short-grass plains and climbs to the highlands before the steep descent, about 600 metres, to the floor. The crater is a collapsed volcano about 19 km across. Black rhino, lion, elephant and buffalo live here, and flamingos can gather on the soda lake. Rhino are few and often keep their distance, so binoculars help. Up on the highlands the evenings are cold. Overnight at Ngorongoro Marera Mountain View Lodge or similar.
- Day 7: Departure. Drive to Kilimanjaro International Airport, about four hours, with a packed lunch. The road comes down from the highlands with views over Lake Manyara, passes through Mto wa Mbu and crosses Maasai country to Arusha. Traffic through Arusha can slow the last stretch, so check your flight time with your guide before you set off.
Who checked this route
- Checked by Bariki, Senior safari guide, 10 November 2026.
- This is the classic northern circuit: Tarangire, three nights in the Serengeti and a day in the Crater. It works in any month.