A relaxed, family-friendly safari through Tarangire, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater, with comfortable lodges, a private 4x4, and a patient guide who is wonderful with children.
This 6-day family-friendly lodge and tented-camp safari is a relaxed, comfortable introduction to Northern Tanzania’s best-loved wildlife parks – Tarangire National Park, the Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater. It is designed with families in mind, with an easy pace, private travel, and a knowledgeable guide who looks after every detail. You explore in a private 4×4 safari Land Cruiser with a pop-up roof, accompanied by a professional English-speaking driver-guide.
After arriving and settling in near Arusha, you begin among the elephant herds and baobabs of Tarangire, spend two unhurried nights in the heart of the Serengeti in search of big cats and the great herds, and finish with a game drive on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater, home to the Big Five including the rare black rhino.
Accommodation is in comfortable, well-located 3-star lodges and tented camps on a full-board basis while on safari, with an Arusha guesthouse on arrival and departure. It is a safe, welcoming way for families to experience a classic Tanzania safari.
Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport, where you are met and transferred to Arusha for a relaxed overnight at Parachichi House on a bed-and-breakfast basis, ready to begin your safari the next morning.
After breakfast, drive to Tarangire National Park, Tanzania’s third-largest park and a sanctuary for large elephant herds, with baobab-dotted plains and wildlife gathering along the Tarangire River – a wonderful first day for families. In the evening, drive to Manyara Safari Lodge for dinner and overnight.
Depart for the Serengeti National Park, with a picnic lunch and wildlife viewing en route. Arrive in time for a sunset game drive across the plains, followed by dinner and overnight at Serengeti Heritage Camp.
Spend a full day exploring the Serengeti, one of the last places on earth where wildlife still roams in such numbers. Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives with a picnic lunch, watching for big cats, wildebeest, and abundant birdlife, before returning to Serengeti Heritage Camp for dinner and overnight.
After breakfast, enjoy a sunrise game drive in the Serengeti, then travel toward the Ngorongoro highlands with game viewing and a picnic lunch en route. Arrive at Ngorongoro Wild Tented Lodge for dinner and overnight.
After breakfast, descend into the Ngorongoro Crater for a game drive in search of the Big Five, including the rare black rhino. After lunch, ascend from the crater and drive back to Arusha for a final overnight at Parachichi House.
Every day of this itinerary is tailor-made and can be shaped around your dates, pace and budget. When you are ready, our team handles every detail - you simply arrive and enjoy.
Yes – unless stated otherwise, our safaris are private departures for your party only, with your own driver-guide and 4×4 vehicle. You set the pace and can adjust game-drive times with your guide each day.
Your quote covers park and conservation fees, accommodation on the stated board basis, a professional English-speaking driver-guide, a private safari vehicle with a pop-up roof, game drives per the itinerary, and drinking water in the vehicle. International flights, visas, travel insurance, tips and personal expenses are excluded.
Tanzania is a year-round destination. June to October offers classic dry-season game viewing; the green season (November to May) brings lush scenery, newborn animals and fewer crowds. The Great Migration moves through the Serengeti all year – tell us your dates and we will advise where the herds are likely to be.
Absolutely. Every itinerary is a starting point – we tailor the parks, pace, lodges and length to your interests and budget. Just let us know what you have in mind and we will build it around you.
Once you are happy with the plan we confirm availability and send a booking form and invoice. A deposit secures your dates, with the balance due before travel. We confirm exact amounts and payment options when you enquire.
Most visitors need a tourist visa for Tanzania (available online or on arrival) and a yellow-fever certificate if arriving from a risk country. We recommend consulting a travel clinic about malaria prevention and routine vaccinations well before departure.
Tell us your dates and what matters most - our team designs every journey by hand and replies within 24 hours, seven days a week.
Arusha is the base camp for the northern safari circuit. It sits at around 1,400 metres on the southern slopes of Mount Meru, which gives it a mild, green climate, and almost every Tanzanian safari, Kilimanjaro climb and Zanzibar add-on begins or ends with a night here.
It is a working city rather than a resort. The Clock Tower roundabout at its centre is traditionally held to mark the midpoint between Cairo and Cape Town, and the Cultural Heritage Centre on the western edge of town houses one of East Africa’s largest collections of African art and Tanzanite. Most arrivals land at Kilimanjaro International Airport, roughly an hour east, and transfer straight here.
Tarangire National Park is a classic safari destination in northern Tanzania, famous for its wild, dramatic landscapes dominated by thousands of ancient baobab trees. The park’s eco-landscape centers around the perennial Tarangire River, which serves as the primary northern water source during the harsh dry season. The surrounding terrain is a beautiful mix of open acacia savannah, seasonal swamps, and deep river valleys that create a highly photogenic backdrop for big-game viewing.
During the dry months from July to October, the park experiences a massive mini-migration as thousands of animals travel from the surrounding dry Maasai Steppe to gather along the riverbanks. Tarangire is world-renowned for hosting some of the largest elephant herds in Africa, with groups of up to 300 individuals frequently seen bathing and digging for water in the dry riverbeds. This high concentration of prey draws prominent predator populations, including tree-climbing lions, leopards, and large packs of spotted hyenas.
Safari activities focus on extensive game driving along the river loops, alongside options for guided bush walking tours and bird-watching excursions to spot over 500 native species. Logistics are straightforward, with the main park gate located roughly a comfortable two-hour drive on paved roads from Arusha town. Accommodations are diverse and upscale, featuring luxury eco-lodges perched on scenic ridges, elevated treehouse suites built directly into living baobabs, and classic mobile tented camps.
The Serengeti National Park is Tanzania’s flagship safari destination and a world-renowned wilderness sanctuary celebrated for its immense, uninterrupted sense of space. The eco-landscape is defined by its iconic, endless short-grass plains, granite rock outcroppings (kopjes), and riverine forests that stretch north toward Kenya’s Maasai Mara. The park is a highly dynamic ecosystem that changes radically with the seasons, transforming from a golden, windswept desert in the dry months to a vibrant green sea of grass after the rains.
The park is the definitive home of the Great Wildebeest Migration, a continuous annual cycle where over two million wildebeests, zebras, and gazelles march across the plains in search of fresh grazing land. This massive concentration of migratory prey supports Africa’s highest density of large apex predators, making it common to see lions hunting in teams, cheetahs tracking game from the kopjes, and leopards resting in sausage trees. The wildlife volume here is widely considered second to none, delivering exceptional big-game viewing throughout the year.
The primary safari activities revolve around morning and afternoon game drives, long-range migration tracking, and iconic hot air balloon safaris over the savannah at sunrise. Logistics are supported by a well-maintained network of internal airstrips (such as Seronera and Kogatende) connecting directly to Arusha, alongside traditional driving access via the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Accommodations represent the pinnacle of safari hospitality, ranging from ultra-luxury permanent stone lodges to exclusive, mobile canvas tented camps that relocate seasonally to match the moving herds.
The Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtaking global wonder, standing as the world’s largest intact, unfilled volcanic caldera and a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. The eco-landscape is a self-contained Eden, featuring a 600-meter-deep rock wall that encloses a diverse interior floor filled with open grasslands, acacia forests, swamps, and a central alkaline lake. This unique geographical bowl creates a highly concentrated ecosystem where over 25,000 large mammals live year-round within a compact, easily explorable space.
The crater floor offers one of the absolute best opportunities in Africa to view the endangered Black Rhino roaming in its natural habitat. The resident wildlife population is incredibly dense, featuring prominent prides of black-maned lions, massive bull elephants, spotted hyenas, and vast herds of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles. Due to the rich grazing land and constant water supply, the animals have no need to migrate, resulting in world-class big-game viewings across all seasons.
Activities are strictly regulated, consisting of half-day or full-day game drive descents down the steep, single-track volcanic walls into the caldera floor. Logistics involve a scenic drive up through the cool, misty montane forest of the crater rim, which requires specialized 4×4 safari vehicles and official park permits. Accommodations are legendary, featuring ultra-luxury stone lodges built directly along the crater rim to offer panoramic, bird’s-eye views of the landscape below.
Parachichi House is a modern bed-and-breakfast in Arusha, a short drive from Arusha Airport. It is a practical town base at the start or end of a northern-circuit safari rather than a wilderness property.
Rooms are comfortable and air-conditioned, with free Wi-Fi, and the property has a full-service spa with a steam room. There is a multi-cuisine restaurant and a bar on site.
A buffet breakfast is included, and the central location makes airport transfers and pre-safari logistics easy. It suits travellers who need a comfortable, well-connected overnight in town.
Manyara Safari Lodge, part of the Heritage Camps and Lodges collection, sits on the Rift Valley escarpment along the border of Lake Manyara National Park. Its elevated position makes it a comfortable base for Lake Manyara and the route north.
Rooms include standard rooms and family suites, and the escarpment setting keeps the lodge largely free of insects. Verified facilities are a bar and lounge, a restaurant with private dining areas, and guided bird-watching.
Meals are served in the restaurant during safari stays. It suits families and travellers who want a settled, well-located base near the park; any additional amenities are best confirmed before publishing.
Serengeti Heritage Camp is a tented camp in the Serengeti, giving guests a classic under-canvas base close to the plains and the wildlife. It suits itineraries that want a bush-camp feel in the central park.
Accommodation is in en-suite safari tents. Verified facilities include a campfire area, full-board dining, solar power and easy game-drive access from the camp.
Meals are provided full-board during safari stays. It offers a tented-camp atmosphere rather than lodge-style comfort, and its exact standard is best confirmed before publishing.
Ngorongoro Wild Camp is a semi-permanent tented camp in the southern Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with raised canvas tents on private viewing decks. It gives access to the crater while keeping a genuine bush-camp feel.
The tents are comfortable and set on decks for wildlife viewing, and the camp runs on solar power. Verified facilities include free Wi-Fi, a restaurant tent with full-board and Maasai-barbecue menus, and an evening fire pit.
Meals are provided full-board in the dining tent. The camp is unfenced, so wildlife passes close to the tents – an authentic experience that should be presented as a tented camp rather than a lodge.
