Northern Tanzania
Northern Circuit Map
The parks, gates and airstrips of northern Tanzania on one map. Tap a park to see when to go, what it costs to enter and which of our safaris visit it.
Tap a marker or a park. Drag to move the map.
- Parks
- Gates
- Airports and airstrips
- More places
Parks
Serengeti National Park
The migration spends around nine months of the year in the Serengeti, and some 3,000 lions live here all year.
- Best time
- Year-round · Feb (calving) · Aug-Sep (Mara crossings)
- Known for
- Great Migration, Serengeti Lion Project, Seronera leopards, calving season
- Park entry, adult, per day (16 May to 14 Mar)
- $82.60
- Park entry, adult, per day (15 Mar to 15 May)
- $70.80
Safaris that go here
The Parks at a Glance
Fees are the rates for a non-resident adult and include the 18% VAT. They come from the official TANAPA and NCAA tariffs, and our quotes already include them.
Serengeti National Park
Best time
Year-round · Feb (calving) · Aug-Sep (Mara crossings)
- Park entry, adult, per day (16 May to 14 Mar)$82.60
- Park entry, adult, per day (15 Mar to 15 May)$70.80
Ngorongoro Crater
Best time
Year-round · best June-October
- Conservation area entry, adult, per day$70.80
- Crater fee, per vehicle, per descent$295.00
Tarangire National Park
Best time
June - October (dry season, peak concentration) · Nov-May for birds and solitude
- Park entry, adult, per day (16 May to 14 Mar)$59.00
- Park entry, adult, per day (15 Mar to 15 May)$53.10
Lake Manyara National Park
Best time
Year-round · best June-October for land wildlife · Nov-Mar for birds and flamingos
- Park entry, adult, per day (16 May to 14 Mar)$59.00
- Park entry, adult, per day (15 Mar to 15 May)$53.10
Ndutu
Best time
Late January through late February (calving peak) · April-November for resident predators without migration crowds
- Ngorongoro Conservation Area entry, adult, per day$70.80
Arusha National Park
The national park closest to Arusha town, around Mount Meru. A game drive or a walk here can fit into an arrival or departure day.
- Park entry, adult, per day (16 May to 14 Mar)$59.00
- Park entry, adult, per day (15 Mar to 15 May)$53.10
Park gates
- Naabi Hill Gate
- The main gate for safaris coming from Arusha and the Ngorongoro Crater, on the south-eastern edge of the park where the Ngorongoro Conservation Area ends. Most northern circuit itineraries enter the Serengeti here, so it can be busy in the middle of the day.
- Loduare Gate
- The main entrance to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, on the road up from Karatu. The NCAA has an information point at the gate. From here the road climbs through the forest to the crater rim and the descent roads.
- Tarangire main gate
- The entrance used on almost every itinerary from Arusha, in the north of the park off the Arusha to Dodoma road at Kwakuchinja. The road is tarmac apart from the last few kilometres of gravel to the gate, and the gate is close to the Tarangire River, where the elephant herds gather in the dry season.
- Fort Ikoma Gate
- A gate on the north-western boundary next to Ikoma village, close to the lodges and camps in the Ikoma area just outside the park. The Fort Ikoma airstrip lies nearby.
- Ndabaka Gate
- The western gate, on the Mwanza to Musoma road near Lake Victoria. It opens onto the Western Corridor and the Grumeti River, so it is the natural entrance for travellers starting in Mwanza.
- Klein's Gate
- The north-eastern gate, which leads out of the park towards Loliondo. It is the gate to use if you are driving on from the northern Serengeti to Lake Natron.
- Bologonja Gate
- The far northern gate on the Kenyan border. The tourist crossing from here into Kenya's Maasai Mara is closed, and no reopening date has been announced. Travellers combining the two parks fly between them or go by road through Arusha and the Namanga border.
Airports and airstrips
- Kilimanjaro International Airport
- The international airport for the Northern Circuit, between Arusha and Moshi. The drive to Arusha takes about an hour.
- Seronera airstrip
- The airstrip for the central Serengeti. Scheduled flights link it with Kilimanjaro Airport and Zanzibar.
- Kogatende airstrip
- The airstrip for the northern Serengeti, close to the Mara River.
- Grumeti airstrip
- The airstrip for the Western Corridor of the Serengeti. It is also called Kirawira.
- Lake Manyara airstrip
- The airstrip near Mto wa Mbu, at Lake Manyara. Scheduled flights link it with Kilimanjaro Airport and Zanzibar.
- Kuro airstrip
- The airstrip inside Tarangire National Park.
More places
- Arusha
- The town where Northern Circuit safaris start and end. Arusha Airport, used for flights to the Serengeti and Zanzibar, is 7 km from town.
- Olduvai Gorge
- Where Mary and Louis Leakey found the Zinjanthropus skull and remains of Homo habilis and Homo erectus. The museum sits on the rim of the gorge, a short detour off the main road, so it fits easily into the drive to the Serengeti.
- Empakaai Crater
- A caldera about 8 km wide with a deep soda lake and flamingos on its floor. From the rim you can see Ol Doinyo Lengai and Lake Natron on a clear day.
- Lake Natron
- A shallow soda lake in the Rift Valley near the Kenyan border, coloured red in places by the microorganisms that live in its very alkaline water. It is the only regular breeding site in East Africa for the lesser flamingo.
- Ol Doinyo Lengai
- The Maasai call it the Mountain of God. It is the only active volcano on Earth known to erupt natrocarbonatite, a lava that runs cooler than most and turns white as it weathers.
- Lake Eyasi
- A lake south-west of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, reached by road from Karatu.
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