Northern
The Northern Circuit
The Tanzania of the imagination
The Circuit
The Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire's baobabs and the snows of Kilimanjaro — all within a few hours of one another. If you have pictured a Tanzanian safari, you have almost certainly pictured the north.
The northern circuit strings together the country's most celebrated parks along a single well-served road from Arusha, which means you can combine four or five completely different landscapes without long transfers or expensive internal flights. It is the reason first-time visitors, families and photographers keep coming back.
Popularity has a cost: the Seronera valley and the crater floor can feel busy in August. We plan around that — earlier starts, quieter sectors, and lodges positioned away from the main gates — so you get the icons without the queue.
Best for
- First safaris and once-in-a-lifetime trips
- The Great Migration and its river crossings
- Families and multi-generational groups
- Combining wildlife with a Kilimanjaro trek
Planning notes
- Destinations
- 9 parks & places
- Suggested length
- 6 – 10 days
- Best time to go
- June to October for classic dry-season game viewing; January to March for calving on the southern Serengeti plains.
- Getting there
- Fly into Kilimanjaro International (JRO), or connect from Dar es Salaam to Arusha. Parks are linked by road; fly-in options from Arusha reach the Serengeti in about an hour.
Why Come Here
What the northern circuit does best
The Great Migration
Nearly two million wildebeest and zebra circling the Serengeti year-round — calving in the south from January, river crossings in the north from July.
The Ngorongoro Crater
A collapsed caldera holding lion, elephant, buffalo and some of Tanzania's last black rhino inside a single 260 km² panorama.
Kilimanjaro and Meru
Africa's highest summit and its most underrated volcano, both trekkable without technical climbing skills.
Cultures of the Rift
Maasai communities on the crater highlands and the Hadzabe of Lake Eyasi, one of the last hunter-gatherer peoples on the continent.
The Destinations
Where you go on the northern circuit
Journeys Here
Safaris on the northern circuit
7 Days / 6 NightsTarangire · Ngorongoro Crater · Serengeti
Serengeti Signature Safari
The essential northern circuit, done properly
View journey
8 Days / 7 NightsNgorongoro Crater · Serengeti
Great Migration Safari
Follow the greatest show on Earth
View journey
9 Days / 8 NightsMount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro — Machame Route
Seven days to the roof of Africa
View journeyGood to Know
Questions, answered
Six days covers Tarangire, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti at a civilised pace. Eight to ten lets you add Lake Manyara, a second Serengeti sector, or a few nights on the coast afterwards.