7 Days Tanzania Safari
Arusha · Tarangire National Park · Serengeti National Park · Ngorongoro Crater · Lake Manyara National Park
Duration
7 days / 6 nights
Starts
Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO)
Ends
Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO)
Safari style
Mid-range
Group
Private — your own vehicle and guide
Best time
June to October, and late January to March
Safari overview
Seven days is the length we quietly recommend most often. It covers the same four parks as the six-day route, but the extra night removes the compression: you are not leaving the Serengeti at dawn to make a crater descent, and Lake Manyara gets a real afternoon rather than a token hour on the way to the airport.
The shape is simple — Tarangire, two nights in the central Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, then Manyara on the way back east. Every long transfer doubles as a game drive, and the only genuinely early start is the crater descent, which is early on purpose.
- Arusha — 50 km, 50 minutes
- Tarangire — 120 km, 2 hours
- Central Serengeti — 185 km, 4 hours with stops
- Ngorongoro rim — 145 km, 3 hours plus game viewing
- Karatu — 60 km, Six hours below, then 1 hour
- Kilimanjaro International Airport — 200 km, 4 hours in total
Safari highlights
Day by day
Every day below can be moved, lengthened or dropped. This is how we would run it.
Met inside the terminal and driven up to Arusha. At 1,400 metres the evening is cooler than the flight leaves you expecting. Your guide runs the briefing over dinner — the route, the parks, how each day will run, and anything you want changed before it starts.
- Airport meet-and-greet
- Safari briefing
- Walk in the lodge gardens
- Drive
- 50 km
- Travel time
- 50 minutes
- Overnight
- Arusha
- Meals
- Dinner
Tonight · Lodge · Classic
Or a similar camp of the same standard, such as Rivertrees Country Inn, depending on availability.
South-west out of Arusha through Maasai grazing country and into Tarangire by mid-morning. From July the river here draws elephant in from a far wider area than the park boundary suggests, and herds of two hundred are not unusual.
A full day along the river, with a picnic lunch under a baobab, then out to the plains lodge in the late afternoon.
- Full-day game drive along the Tarangire River
- Picnic lunch in the park
- Night game drive from the lodge
- Drive
- 120 km
- Travel time
- 2 hours
- Overnight
- Tarangire
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tonight · Tented camp · Classic
Or a similar camp of the same standard, such as Marera Valley Lodge, depending on availability.
Up over the Ngorongoro highlands, past the crater rim viewpoint, and down onto the plains. Olduvai Gorge is on the route — worth the stop for the museum alone.
Two nights around Seronera gives you four game drives in the part of the park that holds resident lion prides all year and the most reliable leopard sightings in Tanzania. Where exactly we place you shifts with your month: south towards Ndutu in February, north towards Kogatende from July.
- Ngorongoro rim viewpoint
- Olduvai Gorge and museum
- Morning and afternoon drives in the Seronera valley
- Balloon safari at first light
- Drive
- 185 km
- Travel time
- 4 hours with stops
- Overnight
- Central Serengeti
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tonight · Tented camp · Classic
Or a similar camp of the same standard, such as Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge, depending on availability.
A morning drive as you leave the Serengeti, then east and up onto the rim. Staying on the rim rather than down in Karatu means a twenty-minute run to the descent road tomorrow instead of an hour — the difference between arriving first and arriving eleventh.
- Morning game drive leaving the Serengeti
- Crater rim viewpoint at sunset
- Maasai community visit
- Drive
- 145 km
- Travel time
- 3 hours plus game viewing
- Overnight
- Ngorongoro rim
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge
Tonight · Lodge · Luxury
Or a similar camp of the same standard, such as Ang’ata Ngorongoro Camp, depending on availability.
On the descent road at opening. Six hours on the floor generally produces lion, hyena, hippo, buffalo, elephant and thousands of plains game — and, if the day goes your way, black rhino somewhere out on the grass with binoculars.
Up and out in the afternoon, down to the highland farming country around Karatu for the night.
- Full morning game drive on the crater floor
- Picnic lunch beside the hippo pool
- Coffee estate walk in Karatu
- Drive
- 60 km
- Travel time
- Six hours below, then 1 hour
- Overnight
- Karatu
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tonight · Lodge · Classic
Or a similar camp of the same standard, such as Marera Valley Lodge, depending on availability.
A proper morning in Lake Manyara rather than a token hour. The park opens in genuine groundwater forest — figs, mahogany, blue monkeys and very large baboon troops — before flattening out to the lake edge where elephant and buffalo graze with flamingo behind them.
Lunch, then east to the airport in good time for an evening flight.
- Morning game drive through the groundwater forest
- Lake edge and flamingo
- Canopy walkway
- Mto wa Mbu village walk
- Drive
- 200 km
- Travel time
- 4 hours in total
- Overnight
- Kilimanjaro International Airport
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch
Where you stay
These are the camps we would book. If any are full on your dates we substitute something of the same standard — and we tell you what changed and why.
Ilboru Safari Lodge
A quiet garden lodge on the edge of Arusha, ten minutes from town and a sensible first or last night before the…
Maramboi Tented Lodge
Tents on the open plain between Tarangire and Lake Manyara, with zebra and wildebeest often grazing between them.
Serengeti Kamwene Tented Camp
A tented camp in the central Serengeti, within easy reach of the Seronera valley and its resident predators.
Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge
Built into the crater rim itself, with rooms looking straight down onto the floor. The location is the whole point.
Farm of Dreams Lodge
A small lodge in the coffee and maize country outside Karatu, with long views across the highlands.
Prices
| Season | Solo | 2–3 guests | 4–5 guests | 6+ guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low season 01 April – 31 May The long rains. Lowest prices, greenest landscape, some camps closed. | US$2,965 | US$2,385 | US$2,045 | US$1,876 |
| Shoulder season 01 March – 31 March Also 01 November – 19 December. | US$3,230 | US$2,595 | US$2,230 | US$2,045 |
| High season 01 June – 30 June Also 01 January – 28 February and the month of October. | US$3,525 | US$2,835 | US$2,435 | US$2,230 |
| Peak season 01 July – 30 September Also 20 December – 02 January. Book nine to twelve months ahead. | US$3,795 | US$3,050 | US$2,615 | US$2,400 |
All prices are per person sharing, in USD.
Supplements & child rates
| Single supplement For guests travelling alone or wanting a room to themselves. | US$640 per stay |
|---|---|
| Child sharing with two adults Children under 3 travel free of our costs; park fees may still apply. Ages 3–11 | US$1,350 per person |
| Room upgrade — luxury tier Upgrade the safari camps to the next comfort level throughout. | US$790 per person |
What is and is not included
Included
- Private 4×4 Land Cruiser with a pop-up roof and a guaranteed window seat
- Professional English-speaking Tanzanian driver-guide throughout
- All national park and conservation area entry fees
- All accommodation as listed, or a camp of the same standard
- All meals on safari, on a full-board basis
- Drinking water in the vehicle throughout
- Airport meet-and-greet and all ground transfers
- Unlimited game drives within park operating hours
- All government taxes and levies
- Emergency evacuation cover (Flying Doctors) for the safari days
- 24-hour contact with our Arusha office for the whole trip
Not included
- International flights to and from Tanzania
- Tanzanian visa — currently obtained on arrival or online in advance
- Travel and medical insurance, which we require you to hold
- Tips for your guide and camp staff
- Alcoholic and soft drinks unless stated
- Laundry, telephone and other personal expenses
- Optional activities such as balloon flights and cultural visits
- Anything not specifically listed under what is included
Worth adding
Hot-air balloon safari
One hour over the Serengeti at sunrise, followed by a bush breakfast.
Maasai community visit
A morning with a Maasai family, arranged directly and paid directly.
Night game drive
Two hours after dark with a spotlight, in the areas where it is allowed.
Questions we get asked
Yes. You have your own vehicle, your own guide and your own schedule. We do not put unrelated guests together unless you specifically ask us to, in order to share costs.
That is rather the point. Every itinerary on this site is a starting draft. Add nights, drop a park, change the comfort level, start from Zanzibar instead — tell us what you want and we will rebuild it and re-cost it.
A Toyota Land Cruiser adapted for safari: pop-up roof, charging points, a cool box, and enough space that nobody sits in a middle seat. Windows open fully on both sides.
For July to September, nine to twelve months if you want the better camps. For the green season, three to four months is usually enough. We can occasionally do much shorter notice — ask.
It is customary but not compulsory. As a guide, most guests give their driver-guide around US$20–30 per vehicle per day, and leave something in the camp staff box.
Request this safari
Tell us your travel dates and group size. We will adjust the itinerary and send you an exact quote.
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