Tanzania showcases an exceptional range of wildlife and landscapes, from the world famous northern circuit home to the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater, to the more secluded southern circuit featuring Selous and Ruaha National Parks. Along the coast, Zanzibar adds a completely different dimension with its pristine beaches and colorful marine life, offering the perfect balance of relaxation and exploration. Together, these regions create a seamless blend of safari adventure, rich biodiversity, and coastal escape.
Even within a single week, travelers can experience the highlights of the northern circuit, where the Serengeti is renowned for its dramatic annual migration and parks such as Tarangire and Lake Manyara deliver rewarding wildlife sightings throughout the year. For those seeking solitude and deeper immersion, the southern circuit provides a quieter, more personal safari in vast wilderness areas with minimal crowds, revealing a raw and authentic side of Tanzania’s natural beauty.
Serengeti National Park stands as one of the world’s most renowned wildlife sanctuaries and is an essential highlight of any Tanzania safari. Covering approximately 14,763 square kilometers, this UNESCO World Heritage Site takes its name from a Maasai expression meaning endless plains, a fitting description of its vast and open horizons. The park offers outstanding opportunities to encounter the Big Five alongside an extraordinary range of other wildlife species. With animals constantly on the move in response to seasonal rains and migration cycles, every game drive feels dynamic and full of discovery.
The Serengeti’s landscapes are remarkably diverse, shifting from sweeping short and long grass plains in the south to acacia dotted savannahs in the central region, wooded hills in the north, and expansive woodlands and dark clay plains across the western corridor. Scattered throughout the plains are dramatic rocky formations known as kopjes, while rivers such as the Seronera, Grumeti, and Mara provide vital lifelines for wildlife. Birdlife is equally impressive, with nearly 500 recorded species ranging from large raptors like eagles and vultures to ostriches, secretary birds, hornbills, and many migratory species from Europe and Asia. This rich variety of habitats and wildlife makes the Serengeti a truly captivating destination for both game viewing and birdwatching.
Best Time To Visit: Late June to September
Ngorongoro Crater is a unique sanctuary where humans, particularly the Maasai, live in harmony alongside abundant wildlife. This enormous natural caldera, the largest of its kind in the world, harbors a permanent and extraordinary concentration of animals. Formed around three million years ago from a collapsed volcano, Ngorongoro is often celebrated as one of Africa’s most remarkable natural wonders and is rightly considered a global treasure. Nicknamed the “Garden of Eden,” the Crater floor provides a safe haven for thousands of creatures, including wildebeest, over two hundred lion prides, zebras, elephants, hippos, hyenas, Thomson’s gazelles, African buffalo, crocodiles, and a rich variety of bird species, as well as one of the best opportunities in Africa to see endangered rhinos.
Visiting Ngorongoro is an unforgettable experience, offering not only breathtaking wildlife encounters but also the chance to explore Maasai culture through nearby village tours. The combination of stunning scenery, remarkable biodiversity, and cultural richness makes the Crater a must-see destination on any Tanzanian safari.
Best Time To Visit: Late June to September
Lake Manyara National Park is an attractive and amazingly diverse park for its size of 325 square kilometers (125 square miles). The park is well known for the drama of its terrain, quickly changing from a shallow soda lake covered in flamingos to acacia woodland housing large concentrations of baboons troops, giraffe and elephant herds, and a birding paradise for than 400 bird species to the Great Rift Valley escarpment with its famous tree-climbing lions. The park also boasts an underground water forest. Lake Manyara is a great stop on the way to the Serengeti, or a wonderful short safari of its own for those on shorter holidays.
Best Time To Visit: July to October
The Mkomazi National Park is a bridge between the northern safari circuit and other coastal attractions and starts at a height of 3245km2. The park hosts some unique and two of the highly endangered species – the black rhino and African wild dog.
Tarangire National Park is one of Tanzania’s most visually striking safari destinations, celebrated for its impressive wildlife diversity and especially for its large elephant populations. The park takes its name from the Tarangire River, a vital water source that winds through its heart from the south toward Lake Burungi in the northwest. As part of the expansive Tarangire Manyara ecosystem, which covers roughly 35,000 square kilometers, the park is defined by sweeping savannahs and iconic baobab trees that dominate the landscape and provide shelter for a wide variety of birds and bats, creating a truly memorable safari setting.
Situated within a semi arid zone, Tarangire supports a rich mosaic of wooded savannah shaped by acacia, terminalia, combretum, and commiphora species. Its diverse habitats include riverine forests, seasonal floodplains, wetlands, open grasslands dotted with baobabs, rocky kopjes, and lush swamps such as Silale. During the dry season, the park becomes a critical refuge for migratory wildlife from the wider Tarangire Maasai Steppe ecosystem. With over 550 recorded bird species, Tarangire is also a paradise for bird enthusiasts, particularly along the riverbanks, floodplains, wetlands, and open acacia woodlands.
The Saadani National Park lies in the historic triangle of Bagamoyo, Pangam and Zanzibar covering an area of 1100km2. Offering a unique combination of both marine and mainland flora and fauna the park accesses the open ocean with coral reefs changing inland waters to mangrove forest ecosystems.
The Mikumi National Park lies at the border of Africa’s biggest game reserve-the Selous dissecting the tarred road between Dar es Salaam and Iringa. The floodplain of the national park is the central part and hosts numerous wildlife reserves. Hippos at the pools near the entrance of the park are the main attractions. While Mikumi is the fourth largest park in Tanzania, it stands at a height of 3230km2 and is part of a much larger ecosystem.
Arusha National Park is a gem of varied ecosystems and spectacular views of Mt. Meru, the crater that gives the region its name. It is a popular destination for day trip visitors who are about to embark from the town of Arusha on longer northern circuit safaris. The small national park includes the slopes, summit, and ash cone of Mt. Meru, the Momela Lakes, Ngurdoto Crater, and the lush highland forests that blanket its lower slopes. Game viewing around the Momela Lakes is at a laid-back and quiet pace, and while passing through the forest many visitors stop to search for troupes of rare colubus monkeys playing in the canopy
The Udzungwa Mountains National Park forests consist of verdant glades of 30 metre high trees. Rising to a high altitude of 1992km2, Udzungwa is the largest and most bio-diverse chains of the ecosystem in Africa. Collectively referred as the Eastern Arc Mountains, the area has closed -canopy spans rising to a height of 250m to 2000m.