Tanzania Northern Safari Circuit Travel Guide
The Ultimate Guide on Traveling To Tanzania Northern Safari Circuit
Arguably the greatest safari destination in Africa, Tanzania Northern Safari circuit is a region of enormous diversity and quality, centered on the Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks, with guest accommodation in around 180 decent Tented camps(tented Losdges), Safari Lodges and Safari Hotels offering an extremely wide range of safari, cultural and active experiences.
Tanzania Northern Safari Circuit General Overview:
Tanzania Northern Safari Circuit is arguably the greatest safari destination in Africa.
A journey through this wonderful region can deliver a vast range of extraordinary experiences, centered on spectacular volcanic landscapes, incredible wildlife and fascinating tribal cultures. The Northern Safari Circuit is headlined by the Serengeti National Park, the mother of all safari destination, home to a great wildebeest migration and zebra migration and famously productive predator viewing.
The region also contains the majorities of best national parks and wildlife areas including the Conservation Area of Ngorongoro Crater, the Rift Valley lakes of Manyara, Eyasi and Natron, as well as the more subtle landscapes and wildlife of Tarangire National Park. All these National Parks are so closely together, the area has traditionally been visited by travelling overland with a private vehicle and driver-guide provided by us, which really does give you the freedom to explore and provides a uniquely engaging style of safari.
The regional is incredibly seasonal and very careful planning is needed to make the most of the weather and wildlife, as well as avoiding the visitor traffic in core areas. Although the Jun-Oct dry season is widely considered to be the best time for visit, the truth is that there are genuinely good reasons to come year round, not least the incredible migration calving event during the Jan-Mar green season.
Safaris into this region range from very commercial and goofy, through to extremely cool and authentic. We will use our intimate knowledge of all various the areas to ensure that you stay on the right side of that equation.
The best time to visit Tanzania Northern Circuit:
The best time to visit Tanzania is during the Dry season, from late June to October, when wildlife viewing is generally at its best. The wildebeest migration in the Serengeti is usually during June and July and the time to see the wildebeest calving is late January to February. The southern and western circuit parks are best visited during the Dry season (June to October), unlike the more popular northern circuit parks that can be visited year-round.
Another major highlight is the migration calving season in Serengeti during the Dec-Feb green season, which combines well with fine trekking conditions on Kilimanjaro and good weather down on the coast.
The main Mar-Apr rainy season is generally considered to be a period to stay away, although those who are prepared to endure a little condition will be rewarded by awesome wildlife and very low visitor numbers, especially in Serengeti. However, the conditions down on the coast Mar-Jun are not the greatest.
Best Time: June to October (All parks), June-July and January-February (Serengeti for the wildebeest migration and calving).
High Season: July to March (northern circuit parks; they get crowded), July to October (southern and western circuit parks; they don’t really get crowded any time of the year),
Low Season: April and May (northern circuit parks still get quite a few visitors unlike the southern and western circuit parks, where many lodges close down).
Best Weather: June to October (Little to no rainfall)
Worst Weather: March and April (Peak of Wet season)
Tanzania Northern Circuit Key locations:
We divide the Tanzania Northern Safari Circuit into a total of Eleven sub-areas, each of which has their own very different character, reasons to visit and seasonality. Most visitors combine multiple areas into their safari …
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti is the mother of all safari reserves, a most extraordinary place, best known for its enormous wildebeest and zebra migration, but with prolific wildlife year round. Guest accommodation is in a fabulous range of around 100 camps and lodges, offering a range of safari and cultural activities.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area & Ngorongoro Crater
Situated immediately to the south of Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation area is a range of dramatic volcanic peaks which is traversed during a safari, notably passing through the famous Ngorongoro Crater.
- Link : Ngorongoro Crater
- Link : Best lodges in Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Mount Kilimanjaro:
Located in Tanzania Northeast, Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, the highest walkable mountain in the world and one of the ultimate outdoor challenges. We are one of the leading providers of high quality treks, with five to eight night options, exceptional summit success rates and an exemplary safety record.
Together with West Kilimanjaro which Lying between the eponymous mountain and the well known Amboseli reserve, West Kilimanjaro is a quiet safari area with fabulous views, a small selection of camps, offering an unusually wide range of rather cool activities.
- Link : Mount Kilimanjaro
- Link : Best lodges in Mount Kilimanjaro
Tarangire National Park
Located 200km southeast of Serengeti, Tarangire is a solid safari area renowned for great baobab trees and prodigious herds of elephants. Guest accommodation is in around 20 camps and lodges, offering a good range of safari activities, notably including walking safari and night vehicle safari.
Lake Eyasi:
Located 100km south of Serengeti, Lake Eyasi is a relatively little-visited area renowned for fascinating cultural interactions with the local Hadzabe hunter-gatherer people, with guest accommodation in a couple of decent lodges.
- Link : Lake Eyasi
- Link : Best lodges in Lake Eyasi
Lake Natron:
Located 100km east of Serengeti, Lake Natron is a surprisingly remote and magical area of stupendous Rift Valley scenery, with a good range of cultural, paleontological and active experiences, notably the epic hike up the active volcano Oldonyo Lengai mountain. Guest accommodation is in just a handful of simple camps. Accessed via a fabulous trek or a very long and bumpy drive.
- Link : Lake Natron
- Link : Best lodges in Lake Natron
Lake Manyara National Park:
Located 150km southeast of Serengeti, Lake Manyara is a pretty little national park, but rather busy with vehicles and encroached upon by human settlement, with guest accommodation in a wide range of properties, offering a good range of safari, cultural and active experiences.
Arusha Town: Located in Tanzania North, Arusha is a significant and relatively pleasant town, the start point for safaris into the Serengeti region, with guest accommodation in a good range of largely rural lodges. Overnight stops are frequently needed here in order to make flight connections.- Link : Arusha Town
- Link : Best lodges in Arusha Town
- Link : Arusha National Park
- Link : Best lodges in Arusha National Park.
- Link : Usambara Mountains
- Link : Best lodges in Usambara Mountains
- Link : Mkomazi National Park
- Link : Best lodges in Mkomazi National Park.
Getting around
Tanzania is usually accessed via Kilimanjaro International Airport (for the Serengeti region and Mount Kilimanjaro), Dar es Salaam International Airport (for Selous and Ruaha and the coast) and Zanzibar International Airport (for the coast).
Whilst it is possible to arrive into any of these airports and connect to anywhere in the country, there are definitely some connections which are easier and cheaper than others, so it’s usually best not to book your international flights before contacting us.
If you are combining with neighbouring countries like Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, then it may be possible to fly direct into the national parks rather than detour back through these big airports. For example there are excellent flights from Entebbe and Kigali which head into the airstrips of Serengeti.
Once in the country, the majority of locations are best connected by light aircraft services, which are generally arranged to seamlessly route between the key areas.
The major exception to this is when travelling between the various reserves in the north (Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire) which are usually best connected by means of guided overland safaris.
Within each location it is usual to travel around with a guide and a vehicle. Self-drive is definitely not recommended, not even in somewhere as popular as Zanzibar Island.
We always include all connecting transport in your trip unless you specifically ask us not to.
Trip planning
The usual problem with planning a trip to Tanzania is that there are so many wonderful locations competing for your time. It is literally possible to spend 4-6 weeks here and still keep coming up with new places and novel experiences.
The vast majority of travellers end up spending 10-21 nights in country.
By far the most popular location to visit is Serengeti, usually in combination with one or more of the neighbouring reserves (Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire). A safari in this region is usually best done over 6-12 nights.
The most popular extension to that kind of safari is to head down to the tropical coast for a few days, or to add more safari in the remote reserves to the south or west of the country.
A few people, especially returning visitors, choose to skip the north and instead focus on the remote reserves of the south (Ruaha and Selous) and the west (Katavi and Mahale), usually spending 3-6 nights in each spot.
The other major option is to trek Mount Kilimanjaro, which takes 6-11 nights including the hotel stops either side. All manner of safari and beach options can then be added to these treks, with the classic triple of trek, safari and beach typically lasting 14-24 nights.
Of course you can always discuss all this in detail when we come to help with your trip, but in the meantime here’s some links to more detailed discussions about trip shapes …
Best Accommodations in Northern Safari circuit
Whether you’re planning a safari for your group, looking for a bird-watching, photography, Active, Culture with like-minded travelers or planning your romantic honeymoon, we can leverage our years of experience to design a perfectly tailored safari for you.