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Serengeti National Park

  • Serengeti National Park, Mara Region, Tanzania

Last updated: 22 September, 2024

The Masai’s name for this area, Siringitu, says it all: “The place where land moves on forever”.

This Tanzanian reserve is vast: 15,000 square kilometres, and because it hasn’t changed for millennia, the game experience is totally authentic, and the annual great migration of over two million creatures in search of food and water still one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on earth.

Vistas are primarily grasslands, with areas of savannah, and rocky kopjies into which most accommodation is built – from palatial lodges to simple bush camps.

Orientation

The Park is located in Tanzania, just south of the equator and Kenya’s Masai Mara National Park, with Lake Victoria to the west.

Because the reserve is so large, its geography is extremely varied: from the famous vast African grasslands fringed by woodland rising to hills dotted with enormous volcanic boulders.

The south is the most frequently visited and where the migration calves around March; the northern reaches are less visited and equally beautiful, turning into the Masai Mara in Kenya, just over the border.

Tours, tickets & transfers

14

Our selection of the best Viator tours of this destination, plus helpful tickets and transfers

  • Arusha

If you only have 4 days but still want to visit the most famous parks of Tanzania (Serengeti,Ngorongoro and Tarangire) this is the perfect tour for you. It only spends two night in Serengeti, which we usually think it's too enough for you,but if your time-frame is short and you really want to visit this amazing park, then it is the right choice for you.

Price $999

Min age 0

Rating 4.90 / 5 [86 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Arusha

5 days budget camping safari,you get unparalleled access to the famous Tanzania national parks: Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and the great Serengeti national Park. This is a suggested or sample of Northern safari itinerary - it can be adapted to suit your own personal needs and preferences, or to any seasonal changes and migratory animal movements.

Price $1,250

Min age 0

Rating 4.93 / 5 [62 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Moshi

4 days safari is a short safari but covers the best parks in Tanzania. Clients will likely see the big 5. Considering that the parks are strategically closely located and the fact that each park has its uniqueness, clients will leave with lifetime experience. This is designed for budget clients. Come and gather memories.

Price $1,282

Min age 1

Rating 4.98 / 5 [58 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Arusha

Experiencing 3-4-5-6 Days Tanzania Safari either in private or joining or in group to see seven wonders and Big 5 of the world in different national parks in Tanzania is what makes it unique. We are the Tanzania safari tours specialists in Tanzania and East Africa. We are excited about the natural world, extremely proud to call Tanzania our home with great peace and safe place for tourists all over the world. Your trip of a lifetime deserves the very best services and organization. We attend to all of the details of your Tanzania safari touring with professional care. You deserve to fulfill every desire on your safari bucket list. We offer a unique and fantastic selection of itineraries basing on desired destinations that turn your dreams into realities. Our main experties have big experience for wildlife camping safari, luxury lodging,Mid-range lodge, budget safari, luxury safaris, beach holidays, cultural tours and cycling adventure tours in Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Price $2,800

Min age 6

Rating 4.95 / 5 [48 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Arusha

This is the perfect tour for you. If you only have 4 days but still want to visit the most famous parks of Tanzania (Serengeti and Ngorongoro, Tarangire) plus Manyara .Which we usually think it's too little, but if your time-frame is short and you really want to visit this amazing park, then it is the right choice for you.

Price $1,700

Min age 0

Rating 5 / 5 [29 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

Viator Logo
Website >

Travel advice

When to go

Tanzania is a year-round destination, with daytime temperatures ranging between 20C and 35C. There are two rainy seasons: the long rains, from about March to May, and the short rains in November and December. Most visitors come from June to October, although these dry months are the most expensive. In April and May in the southern Serengeti, game is plentiful, herds are calving and prices are low, so if you don’t mind getting wet every now and then, it can be a great time to go on safari.

December to July sees the great migration in the south; June to October in the north and, if you are lucky, the famous wildebeest crossings of the Mara River.

Getting there and away

Kilimanjaro International, just outside Arusha, receives domestic carriers from Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi. From there, the fastest way into the Serengeti is by light aircraft, to either Seronera airstrip in the heart of the Serengeti or Kirawira airstrip in the western corridor. The alternative drive is interesting, but long: passing the gate of Lake Manyara National Park, going up the Rift Valley Escarpment, through communal farming lands to the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area, down on to the plains past Olduvai Gorge; it is a distance of about 325 km, and takes about eight hours.

Getting around

Game drives in open-sided safari jeeps are normally offered by camp, with guides to drive (trackers are generally not needed in the Serengeti as no vehicles are allowed off-road). Visitors have to be out of the park by dusk; those staying in local lodges and campsites must be back there by sunset. Most transfers between camps are in (often bumpy) small planes. Take a camera, though; scenery is spectacular and pilots fly low enough to game spot. Horseback safaris, for experienced riders only, can be taken from lodge to lodge – or camp set up en route – all in luxury.

Where to stay

Game viewing in the Serengeti is seasonal; in wet season in the south, when the creatures give birth, the landscape is lush and predators fat. In dry season, creatures are more likely to be seen near water. Their paths generally follow the same pattern, but cannot be guaranteed; the only way to guaranteed a sighting is to book a mobile safari, where camps are set up depending on the herd’s location.

Health & Safety

Tanzania is a malarial area, so precautions are recommended (particularly if going to the coast after a safari). Only bottled water should be drunk and fruit only eaten from streets if it can be peeled. It is not recommended to take valuables, although most upmarket camps have safes. Some camps do not accept children for safety reasons.

Take your safari essentials: binoculars for bird and game spotting, bathing suits (for post safari or sometimes waterhole swims), and warm clothing for evening and morning game drives – it gets cold!