Witnessing wildebeests and zebras gallop across Serengeti National Park as part of the Great Migration, trekking volcanoes, or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania’s best attractions are big, bold, and beautiful.
The best places to visit in Tanzania are extraordinary, whether camping and bird-watching or spotting the Big Five on safari. While visitors will surely encounter the famous Big Five on any safari, they should also look for rare or endangered species like the African wild dog, green sea turtle, Egyptian vulture, and various antelope.
Outside its extraordinary (OK, compulsory) natural attractions, Tanzania boasts cities and towns filled with history, architecture, and superb cuisine. Tanzanian citizens populate every corner of the country, including some 120 ethnic groups, such as the Hadza in the north, the Iraqw of the Great Rift Valley, the Pimbwe of western Tanzania, and the Maasai in the Serengeti. While they all have tongues, the Kiswahili language unifies these groups as Tanzanians.
With all that in mind, these are the best places to visit in Tanzania.
Wildlife, beaches, friendly people, fascinating cultures—the Serengeti, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the Zanzibar Archipelago—Tanzania offers all these and more in one adventurous, welcoming package.
Top choice for 15 Best things to do in Tanzania
1. Serengeti National Park
The Maasai people, who have lived here for thousands of years, call this park Siringet, which means “endless plains” in the Ma language. Indeed, anyone visiting Serengeti will see flat, verdant land studded with acacia trees extending dozens of miles. These plains host an intricate ecosystem offering some of the best variety of fauna and flora in Africa, including 450 species of bird and 35 types of mammal.
Over two million wildebeests, antelope, and zebra migrate from the Ndutu region in the south of the park to the Maasai Mara in Kenya each year between May and September. This thrilling spectacle is the largest terrestrial migration on the planet.
2. Zanzibar
The numerous beaches in the Zanzibar Archipelago are simply some of the most gorgeous in the world. Most travelers lie at Nungwi Beach north of Unguja (Zanzibar Island). If crowds are not your thing, try Muyuni for dolphin spotting, Jambiani for kite surfing and parasailing, Paje for swimming, and Matemwe for diving or snorkeling.
North of Unguja, Pemba Island is a land of thick forests and crystal-clear waters. While the weather can be iffy, Misali and Vumawimbi Beaches offer unique diving and snorkeling opportunities.
3. Mt Kilimanjaro National Park
Since its opening in 1977, Mt. Kilimanjaro National Park has become one of Tanzania’s most visited parks. Unlike the other northern parks, this isn’t a place to come for the wildlife, although it’s there. Instead, you come here to gaze in awe at a snowcapped mountain on the equator and climb to the top of Africa. At the park’s heart is the 5896-meter Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain and one of the continent’s most magnificent sights.
Kilimanjaro is also one of the world’s highest volcanoes, and it’s the highest free-standing mountain on earth, rising from cultivated farmland on the lower levels, through lush rainforest to alpine meadows, and finally across a lunar landscape to the twin summits of Kibo and Mawenzi. Kilimanjaro’s third volcanic cone, Shira, is on the mountain’s west side. The lower rainforest is home to many animals, including buffaloes, elephants, leopards, and monkeys, and elands are occasionally seen in the saddle area between Kibo and Mawenzi.
A hike up Kili lures around 25,000 trekkers each year, partly because reaching the summit is possible without ropes or technical climbing experience. However, non-technical does not mean easy. The climb is a serious (and expensive) undertaking and only worth doing with proper preparation. There are also many opportunities to explore the mountain’s lower slopes and learn about the Maasai and the Chagga, two of the main tribes in the area.
Entry gates are at Machame, Marangu (the park headquarters site), Londorosi, and several other points. Trekkers using the Rongai route should pay their fees at Marangu Gate.
4. Ngorongoro Conservation Area
The UNESCO-designated Ngorongoro Conservation Area is next door to the Serengeti National Park, a true natural treasure thanks to its natural importance and beauty. Millions of years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions created a mammoth crater that is now home to the highest concentration of mammals in the world. (The ensuing ash created the Serengeti plains.) In a single Land Rover rides across the crater, it’s common to witness up to 30,000 animals of multiple species. Lions, hyenas, cape buffalo, and big tuskers thrive in the swampy areas.
5. Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park is a two-hour drive from Arusha. The south of the conservation area is home to a large population of elephants who make their way inland to Lake Manyara and Tarangire, both of which are in Ngorongoro’s shadow. This pattern illustrates an exciting element of Tanzania’s natural profile: the land has corridors that allow elephants and other animals to move undisturbed from park to park.
Another notable attraction in the park is its massive baobab trees, which could be hundreds if not thousands of years old. Leopards, baboons, and other mammals use the branches of these iconic, majestic trees.
6. Lake Manyara National Park
On 650 sq km (251 sq miles), Lake Manyara National Park makes a mark. In this park, among the buffalo, hippo, cheetah, and giraffe, you’ll come across an odd sight: tree-climbing lions. Avid bird watchers can spot 400 species of birds, including the forest hornbill and pelican. On the highly alkaline Lake N Tron, thousands of lesser flamingos sift through the pink waters for food.
7. Arusha National Park
The transition between unappealing urban chaos and pristine mountain hiking trails is rarely as abrupt as in Arusha National Park. One of Tanzania’s most beautiful and topographically varied protected areas, the park is dominated by Mt Meru, an almost perfect volcanic cone with a spectacular crater. It also shelters Ngurdoto Cra er (often dubbed Little Ngorongoro), which has a swamp-filled floor and a lost-world feel.
At 552 sq km, it’s a small park, and while there is wildlife here, it’s nothing compared to other northern-city city parks. But these minor details can be quickly forgotten when walking amid the soul-stirring scenery and exploring the meaningful trekking possibilities.
Olpopongi Maasai Cultural Village is a good stop for anyone wanting to spend a night in an authentically constructed Maasai boma (a fortified living compound) or learn about Maasai traditions. It has a small, informative museum, medicinal walks, lessons in spear-throwing techniques, and more. It’s an excellent destination for families with children. There’s a booking office in M shi.
Pick-ups can be arranged from Moshi and elsewhere. If you’re driving, turn off the Arusha–Moshi highway at Boma Ng’ombe (23km west of Moshi) and continue 27km along a mostly sealed road to Sanya Juu, from where a poorly signposted track continues 25km further to Olpopongi.
9. Nyerere National Park (previously sly Selous National Park)
Set out from Dar-es-Salaam for the 5-hour drive to Nyerere National Park, Africa’s largest reserve. (The road is smooth until the last bumpy stretch; a 4WD vehicle is a must.) Within its almost 31,000 sq km (11,970 sq miles), vast herds of animals roam: the Big Five and particular antelope you rarely find in other parks on the continent. Look out for roan antelope, brindled gnu, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest and sable.
Nyerere also has the world’s most significant concentration of the endangered African wild dogs, whose frenetic pace while hunting makes for a thrilling game drive. Avid twitchers can also spend hours spotting birds among the trees and wilderness. With its lush landscapes and the picturesque Rufiji River coursing into oxbow lakes, the park is a photograph’s dream. Note that most visitors take a one-hour charter flight to the various airstrips in the park, another opportunity for standout pictures.
10. Saadani National Park
Tanzania has 16 national parks, each packed with wildlife. Each park is unique and attracts different wildlife, so if you specifically want to see elephants, lions, rhinos, buffalo, leopards (the big five), or other creatures, it’s worth asking a safari guide like Great Image Expedition; who knows Tanzania, for the best place to fulfill that dream.
Nyerere National Park is unique because it’s off the beaten track, wilder, and less touristy. Saadani is where the bush meets the beach so that wildlife can be seen on the beach.
I’d hope to see waterbuck, giraffe, warthog, yellow baboon, hartebeest, wildebeest, zebra, elephant, lion, abundant bird life, and maybe turtles.
11. Gombe Stream National Park
Just shy of the shores of Lake Tanganyika is Gombe Stream National Park, which was made famous by Jane Goodall’s behavioral research on resident chimpanzees. Conducted over four decades, these studies are considered the longest ever done on wild animal populations. Within the small (22 sq km/13 5 sq mile) confines of Gombe’s grasslands, woodlands, and thick rainforest, you can spot red colobus, blue monkeys, olive baboons, red-tailed monkeys, and chimps.
Like most of us, I’d love to see chimpanzees in the wild. There’s a chimpanzee habitat in Tanzania at Gombe Stream National Park, where you can trek to see it. It’s a remote area accessible only by boat on the northern shore of Lake Tanganyika.
The accommodation would be essential,, and I’m sure the trekking would be hard work,, but it would be well worth the chance to see chimpanzees.
Nearby, Mahale Mountain National Park, also on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, has chimpanzees. I want to spend a week or more in the area, as seeing chimpanzees in the wild would be a privilege. Stream Nation l Park
12. Stone Town
For over a thousand years, Stone Town (or Zanzibar Town) was a thriving entrepôt, drawing merchants from as far as Persia, China, and Europe who traded guns, textiles, minerals, and spices. Today, this history can be found in atmospherically narrow cobbled streets filled with Arab-style buildings. At the same time, many mosques and the Islamic dress of locals testify to Islam’s influence on the island.
Zanzibar was also once a major slave trading center, with a large and infamously brutal market in Stone Town. It closed in 1873, but before that, the trade of enslaved men and women here was perhaps one of the most robust in the world.
The intricate cuisine fuses African, Indian, Arabic, and French elements. One of the top things to do i Tanzania, the nightly market at Forodhani Gardens is one of the best places to try l cal foods. Each dish is enhanced with spices grown in the area to this day, which once made Stone Town the world’s largest spice market. To get the best out of your visit to Stone Town, hire a guide to walk you through the history layer by layer.
13. MAFIA ISLAND
Divers and snorkelers travel worldwide to Mafia Island to explore the underwater environment protected by the Mafia Island Marine Park.
While Mafia Island experiences its most excellent weather from May to October, the best diving conditions are from October to March.
Mafia Island Marine Park is home to many species, incredible coral gardens, and a calm diving environment.
The area is home to around 400 different types of fish and numerous bird species. Additionally, Mafia Island is the historical breeding ground of the green turtle, which is on the verge of extinction.
Mafia is a popular spot for deep-sea fishing, particularly for big-game fish like tuna, marlin, and sailfish.
14. RUAHA NATIONAL PARK
Tanzania’s largest park, Ruaha National Park, was established in 2008. It contains one of the country’s highest concentrations of elephants and vast herds of buffalo and gazelle.
Ruaha National Park’s primary feature is the Great Ruaha River, which offers breathtaking wildlife viewing along its banks.
Through a hydroelectric plant at Kidatu, the river contributes significantly to Tanzania’s electrical needs.
Because Ruaha National Park is the least visited park in Tanzania, the environment there is still largely unspoiled.
Birdwatchers can enjoy over 400 species of birds not present in northern Tanzania, while photographers are drawn in particular by the river, breathtaking gorges, and towering trees.
15. LAKE VICTORIA
Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda surround Lake Victoria, which is the biggest freshwater lake in Africa. Millions of people live near his lake, which feeds the White Nile and generates revenue for them.
One of the least frequented areas of the nation is the Tanzanian portion of Lake Victoria, yet the cities of Bukoba, Musoma, and Mwanza contain various attractions.
A few of the islands that are close to Mwanza and Musoma have turned into wildlife sanctuaries.
Boat tours or treks can be planned around Lake Victoria, and bird-watching and fishing trips are popular adventures.
On Lake Victoria’s southwest coast is Rubondo Island National Park, which includes several smaller islands.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
When Is The Best Time To Go On A Safari In Tanzania?
- The long dry season, from July through October, is the ideal time to visit Tanzania.
- The Great Migration, treks, safaris, and Zanzibar beach vacations are all at their best during these months.
- The busiest time of year to visit Tanzania is in July. Elephants are congregating at Tarangire National Park as the migration approaches Kenya.
- The Big Five are more likely to be seen in August because animals begin looking for water sources, making their movements predictable for guides.
- Flamingos also flock in large numbers to Lake Natron because they may find food and refuge there.
- In September, the last month of the peak season, the migratory herds of wildebeest and zebra disperse across the Serengeti.
- The Mara River, which flows from Kenya’s Northern Serengeti, is their main barrier. Seeing the ds of wildebeest desperately swim through crocodile-infested waters can be thrilling.
- For those fascinated by the wildebeest population, visiting near the end of January is a great time to see the calving season on the Ndutu Plains.
Is Tanzania Worth Visiting?
- Tanzania genuinely has something to offer every kind of traveler.
- Incredible game reserves filled with wildlife, beautiful beaches, abundant lodging, and fantastic culture and cuisine are just a few of the attractions.
We’re looking forward to welcoming you into the wilderness of Tanzania
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