Safaris
You visit: Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Tarangire
4 Days Budget Camping Safari – Tarangire, Serengeti & Ngorongoro
- Days
- 4
- From
- $925pp
- Style
- Budget
The route
6 stops · about 1,020 km by road
Drawn from the itinerary below: drives on the main safari roads, flights as dashed arcs, climbs as a dotted footpath. Distances are approximate.
The complete Northern Circuit - Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Eyasi - in one grand eight-day journey.
Our most complete Northern Circuit safari, taking in five distinct landscapes across eight unforgettable days. From the elephants of Tarangire and the forests of Lake Manyara to the endless Serengeti, the wildlife-packed Ngorongoro Crater and the cultural shores of Lake Eyasi, this journey shows you the full breadth of northern Tanzania.
Travelling in a private 4×4 with an expert guide, you stay at premium lodges and tented camps and enjoy a rich mix of big-game viewing, dramatic scenery and authentic cultural encounters with the Hadzabe and Datoga peoples around Lake Eyasi.
It is the definitive Tanzania safari for travellers who want to see it all, at a comfortable and generous pace.
Drive to Tarangire for an afternoon among elephants and baobabs.
Travel to Lake Eyasi for an afternoon at leisure and an optional cultural visit.
A dawn walk with the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers, then travel into the Serengeti.
A full day of game drives across the Serengeti’s famous plains.
Still atSerengeti National Park · Serengeti Bushtops
Game-drive out of the Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Highlands.
A full day in the crater, one of the finest wildlife arenas on earth.
Still atNgorongoro Crater · Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
Descend to Lake Manyara for forest and lakeshore game viewing.
A final morning drive before returning to Arusha.
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.
You visit: Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Tarangire
You visit: Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Tarangire
You visit: Kilimanjaro · Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Tarangire
Tell us your dates and what matters most - our team designs every journey by hand and replies within 24 hours, seven days a week.
Tarangire is the park people tend to underrate until they get there. It is a land of huge, ancient baobab trees, wide grassy swamps and the Tarangire River, which keeps flowing when the rest of the region dries out. In the dry season that river pulls in wildlife from far around, and the result is some of the biggest elephant herds you will see anywhere in northern Tanzania. It is also close to Arusha, which makes it an easy first stop on safari.
Elephants are the main reason to come. Families of dozens are a normal sight, walking in single file down to the river or dusting themselves under the baobabs. Alongside them you can expect buffalo, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck and dik-dik, plus lions that know the herds will come to drink. Look out for species that are harder to find further north, such as fringe-eared oryx and lesser kudu. Tarangire is also excellent for birds, from colourful lovebirds and hornbills to big ground birds like the kori bustard and ostrich.
Even in the wetter months, Tarangire is worth a day if it is on your way. Our Tanzania weather guide explains what each month is like.
Tarangire is roughly two to two and a half hours from Arusha by road, almost all of it on tarmac, heading south towards Babati. That means you can leave Arusha after breakfast and be on a game drive before lunch. It is also a simple drive on to Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro highlands afterwards.
We often start a Northern Circuit safari here. A night or two in Tarangire, then Ngorongoro, then the Serengeti is a classic route that builds as you go. If you have only a few days after climbing Kilimanjaro, Tarangire and the crater make a strong short safari with no flights needed. You can then fly from Arusha to the coast for a few days on Zanzibar.
There are lodges and tented camps both inside the park and on its edges. Camps inside put you close to the river for early starts, while some of those outside the boundary can offer guided walks and other activities, depending on the camp and local park rules. We will suggest which suits you, depending on how much time you have and how you like to travel.
Lake Eyasi is a long, shallow soda lake below the Rift Valley wall, south-west of the Ngorongoro highlands. The water rises in the rains and shrinks to salt flats in the dry months, and the land around it is dry bush, baobabs and acacia. What brings travellers here is not wildlife but people. This is home to the Hadzabe, one of the last communities in Tanzania who still live mainly by hunting and gathering, and to the Datoga, pastoralists known for their skill as blacksmiths.
All our visits are arranged with the communities through local guides who know the families personally, and the fees go to the community. These are people living their own lives on their own land, not a show put on for visitors. Groups are kept small, you ask before taking photographs, and you follow your guide’s lead on when to join in and when to watch. Visits can be early and physical, so wear closed shoes and bring water. Be ready for a morning that does not follow a script.
Eyasi can be visited all year. The dry months, roughly June to October, are the easiest for walking and the roads. During the rains the lake fills and the bush turns green, but tracks can be muddy. Our Tanzania weather guide covers the seasons in more detail.
From Arusha it is a drive of around four hours, passing Lake Manyara and Karatu, with the final part on gravel. From Karatu, the base for Ngorongoro, it is roughly an hour and a half.
There are a few small lodges and tented camps around the lake. Many travellers stay one night at Eyasi for the early start, or stay in Karatu and make an early drive across.
Eyasi fits naturally into a northern safari between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater, and it gives the trip a human side beyond game drives. It works well after a Kilimanjaro climb, as the walking is gentle compared with the mountain. Let us know on the inquiry form if you would like to include it.
The Serengeti is big, open country. Its name comes from the Maasai word for plains that seem to run on forever, and once you are out on the short grass south of Seronera you will see why. The park covers about 14,750 km² and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but numbers do not say much. What matters is that this is one of the few places left where very large herds still move freely, and the lions, cheetahs, leopards and hyenas that follow them are part of everyday life on a game drive.
Wildebeest and zebra get the headlines, but they are only one part of it. Expect giraffe, buffalo, elephant, topi, hartebeest, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle, and a long list of birds, from secretary birds striding through the grass to vultures circling a kill. The central Seronera area, with its river valley and rocky kopjes, is well known for big cats, and leopards are often found resting in the sausage trees along the watercourses. Black rhino live here too, but they are rare and you should treat a sighting as a bonus.
There is no bad month in the Serengeti, only different ones. The herds follow the rain in a rough loop through the year:
The pattern shifts every year with the rains. Our Great Migration tracker shows where the herds are likely to be month by month, and the Tanzania weather guide explains the seasons in more detail.
By road, central Serengeti is a full day from Arusha, roughly seven to eight hours with stops, passing Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro highlands on the way. Most travellers break the drive with a night near the crater. If time is short, light aircraft fly from Arusha to several Serengeti airstrips in about one to two hours, depending on which part of the park you are heading for and how many stops the plane makes.
Most of our Northern Circuit safaris build towards the Serengeti and give it at least two or three nights, because the distances inside the park are large. A common shape is Tarangire, then Ngorongoro, then the Serengeti, then a flight back to Arusha or straight to the coast. After a Kilimanjaro climb, a few days sitting in a vehicle watching lions is a very good way to rest tired legs.
You can choose between permanent lodges, fixed tented camps and seasonal mobile camps that move to follow the herds. Mobile camps put you close to the action in migration season, while lodges in the central area suit families and first-time visitors. We will match the camp to the month and to where the animals are likely to be.
The Ngorongoro Crater is the floor of an old volcano that collapsed in on itself, leaving a bowl about 260 km² across and roughly 600 m deep. Standing on the rim on a clear morning, you look down onto grassland, a soda lake, swamps and patches of forest, all ringed by steep green walls. Because so much wildlife lives inside such a small space, a single day on the crater floor can show you more species than a week in many other places. It is part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where Maasai families still graze their cattle alongside the wildlife on the highlands around the crater.
The crater is one of the best places in Tanzania to look for black rhino, although they are shy and usually seen at a distance. Lions and spotted hyenas are common, and you are likely to see buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, Grant’s gazelle, warthog and hippos at the pools. Large bull elephants wander the swamps and the Lerai forest. Flamingos gather on the shallow soda lake when water levels suit them, and the birdlife around the marshes is rich all year.
The crater is good in every season because most animals live there year round. June to October is dry, with clear views and the most visitors. The green months from November to May bring fresher scenery and fewer vehicles, with the heaviest rain usually in April and May. Whatever the month, the rim sits at well over 2,000 m, so mornings and evenings are cold. Bring a warm layer. See our Tanzania weather guide for more on the seasons.
The drive from Arusha to the crater rim takes about three to four hours on a good tarmac road through farmland and the town of Karatu, with the option of stopping at Lake Manyara or Tarangire on the way. Descending to the crater floor takes around half an hour down a steep, winding track. We aim to be on the floor early, when the light is soft and the animals are most active.
Ngorongoro sits naturally between Tarangire or Lake Manyara and the Serengeti, so it slots into almost every Northern Circuit route. Many travellers spend one full day in the crater, then continue west to the Serengeti or south to Ndutu in calving season. It also works well as a short safari after climbing Kilimanjaro, since it is close to Arusha and needs no flights. Have a look at our safari ideas to see how we build it in.
You have three broad choices. Lodges on the crater rim give you the view and the shortest drive down in the morning, but they cost more and the nights are chilly. Camps and lodges around Karatu, among coffee farms and forest about forty minutes away, are often better value and a little warmer. There is no accommodation on the crater floor itself, so every visit is a day trip from above.
Lake Manyara is a small park with a lot packed in. It lies at the foot of the Great Rift Valley escarpment, so you drive in under a wall of rock with a shallow alkaline lake stretched out beside you. Between the two is a band of tall, shady groundwater forest, kept green by springs that seep from the foot of the cliffs. In a single morning you can move from forest to woodland to open lake shore, and that change of scene is what makes Manyara feel different from the bigger parks around it.
The forest near the gate is busy with olive baboons and blue monkeys, and elephants often feed among the trees. Further in you will find giraffe, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and impala, with hippos in the pools near the lake. Manyara is famous for its tree-climbing lions. They are seen sometimes, lying out along the branches of acacia trees, but they are unpredictable and many visitors leave without spotting them, so enjoy it as a lucky extra rather than a promise. The lake itself is the real highlight for birders: flamingos gather in the shallows when conditions suit them, along with pelicans, storks and a wide range of water birds.
Manyara can be visited all year. The dry season from June to October is easiest for general game viewing, as the bush is thinner and animals come to water. The wetter months, roughly November to May, are the best time for birds, with migrant species arriving and the forest at its most lush. Flamingo numbers rise and fall with the water level, so they are never guaranteed. Check our Tanzania weather guide for month by month conditions.
The park gate is about two hours from Arusha on tarmac, at the small town of Mto wa Mbu. That makes Manyara an easy half day or full day visit, and it sits directly on the road to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, so you do not have to go out of your way to include it.
Because it is right on the main safari road, we often use Manyara as the first afternoon of a safari or as a gentle stop on the way to Ngorongoro. It pairs well with Tarangire for travellers with limited time. It also suits people coming down from Kilimanjaro who want a short, relaxed taste of safari before heading to the beach. Browse our safari ideas to see where it fits.
Most travellers stay on top of the escarpment, where lodges and camps look out over the lake and the Rift Valley, or in and around Mto wa Mbu, where simpler camps are good value. A few tented camps sit closer to the park itself. Staying nearby lets you be at the gate when it opens, when the forest is cool and quiet.
Arusha is our home town and the starting point for almost every trip we plan. It sits at around 1,400 metres on the lower slopes of Mount Meru, which keeps the air fresher than you might expect this close to the equator. It is a busy, working East African town rather than a resort: matatu minibuses, coffee and banana farms on the edges, markets full of produce, and the headquarters of the East African Community. Most safaris on the Northern Circuit begin here, and so does the drive to the Kilimanjaro gates.
Arusha is pleasant all year. June to August is the coolest stretch, with chilly mornings and evenings. The long rains usually arrive around March to May and the short rains around November, but town life carries on as normal. Our Tanzania weather guide covers the parks and the mountain too.
Most international visitors land at Kilimanjaro International Airport, roughly an hour’s drive east of Arusha depending on traffic. Arusha also has its own smaller airport on the west side of town for domestic and light-aircraft flights to the parks and the coast. By road, Arusha is about five to six hours from Nairobi, with a border crossing at Namanga.
You can stay in town, close to restaurants and shops, or just outside on coffee estates and garden properties with views of Meru and, on clear mornings, Kilimanjaro. Before a climb or a safari, most travellers spend one or two nights here to rest after the flight.
Arusha is the hinge of every itinerary. We meet you at the airport, brief you the evening before you set off, and check your gear before a Kilimanjaro climb. From here it is a few hours to Tarangire, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro on a private safari, and a short flight to Zanzibar when you are ready for the beach. If you arrive with a spare day, we will suggest something worth doing with it.
Tarangire Safari Lodge sits on a bluff overlooking the Tarangire River inside Tarangire National Park, an area famous for its large elephant herds and baobab trees. Its position gives sweeping views and direct access to game drives.
Accommodation is in en-suite tents and rooms with a classic safari style. Facilities include a swimming pool, a restaurant and game-drive access, with family rooms available.
Meals are provided during safari stays. It is a comfortable mid-range lodge with a strong sense of place, well suited to travellers who want to be inside the park.
Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge rests on a slope overlooking the soda flats of Lake Eyasi, and is often used as a base for cultural visits with the Hadzabe and Datoga communities. Its setting suits itineraries that combine wildlife and culture.
Accommodation is in cottages with private verandas and solar lighting. Facilities include a swimming pool, an open-air viewing deck, a restaurant and bar, a gift shop and free Wi-Fi.
Meals are full-board, with room service available. It is a comfortable mid-range base in a remote area, well placed for morning walks with local communities.
Serengeti Bushtops sits on a private rise in the wild northern reaches of the Serengeti, looking out over an ocean of golden grassland that runs uninterrupted to the horizon. It is a “wild luxury” camp in the truest sense – remote, intimate and built for travellers who want the drama of the plains on their doorstep. Its position places guests within reach of the Mara River, where between roughly July and October the Great Migration gathers in its thousands and the famous river crossings unfold.
Accommodation is in a handful of vast canvas suites raised on wooden decks, each with its own private hot tub, an open fire for cool evenings and a shaded veranda facing the wilderness. Interiors pair polished timber floors and hand-crafted furniture with the soft glow of lanterns, and a personal butler is on hand throughout your stay to arrange sundowners, bush breakfasts and the small, unhurried moments that define time here.
Days move to the rhythm of the wilderness – early game drives in search of big cats and migrating herds, long lunches back at camp, spa treatments on your deck, and evenings around the fire beneath an enormous starlit sky. Private dinners set out on Simba’s Rock and candle-lit tables in the grass turn the everyday into the unforgettable, making Bushtops one of the most romantic and immersive bases from which to witness the migration.
Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge stands on the Rift Valley escarpment above Lake Manyara, part of the Serena Hotels group, with wide views over the park and the lake below. Its position makes it a comfortable base for game drives at Lake Manyara.
This is a comfortable, well-appointed lodge in the Serena style. Facilities include a swimming pool and a dining room serving buffet meals.
Meals are provided in the dining room during safari stays. It is a mid-to-upper-range lodge suited to travellers who want reliable comfort near the park.
