Tanzania holds more country than one trip can take in. The northern circuit runs from the Serengeti plains across the Ngorongoro highlands to the baobabs of Tarangire and the escarpment above Lake Manyara, with Kilimanjaro and Meru standing apart to the east. The southern circuit is emptier and built around two river systems, the Rufiji and the Great Ruaha. The west is the hardest to reach, and holds the chimpanzee forests above Lake Tanganyika and the floodplains of Katavi. The coast and the islands are a different country again: Swahili ports, coral reefs and a tide that governs the day.
Below is every place on this site that a safari is built around — national parks, game reserves, forest reserves, mountains, lakes, islands, beaches, and the towns that trips start and end in. Each entry opens a guide to that place: what is there, what visiting it is actually like, when to go, and what sits next to it on a route. Where operators list trips that go there, the entry also links through to those trips.
The named sights inside a place — a crater, a peak, a waterfall, a set of ruins — are written up as their own short pages beneath the guide they belong to, and are gathered at the foot of this page, grouped by the place they sit in.
What you can do, rather than where you can do it, is on Things to Do in Tanzania. Every safari on this site is sold and run by an independent tour company.
National Parks 21
From the Serengeti plains and the Ngorongoro highlands to the Rufiji floodplains and the forests above Lake Tanganyika.
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Arusha National Park
Northern Circuit
A compact park half an hour from Arusha taking in Mount Meru, the Momella Lakes and the Ngurdoto Crater. With no resident lion population, walking and canoeing are permitted here as they are not in the larger parks.
Full guide 7 safaris
Photograph by Geir Kiste, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Burigi-Chato National Park
Western Tanzania
A park in the Kagera region west of Lake Victoria, upgraded from game reserve status in 2019, with savannah, wetland and lakes and very few visitors.
Full guide
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Gombe National Park
Western Tanzania
Tanzania's smallest national park, a strip of forested valleys on the Lake Tanganyika shore north of Kigoma. Jane Goodall began her chimpanzee research here in 1960 and the study has continued since.
Full guide 1 safari
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Ibanda-Kyerwa National Park
Western Tanzania
A small park in the Kagera region near the Uganda border, upgraded from game reserve status in 2019. Very lightly visited, with little published visitor information.
Full guide
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Katavi National Park
Western Tanzania
One of the least visited large parks in Africa, built around the Katuma River and its seasonal floodplains. As the dry season advances, hippo and buffalo concentrate in extraordinary numbers.
Full guide
Photograph by Calle v H, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Kigosi National Park
Western Tanzania
A very large miombo and wetland park in western Tanzania, part of the wider Moyowosi-Kigosi system. Created a national park in 2019, but Parliament approved its revocation in June 2023 to allow a forest reserve. It has effectively no tourism infrastructure.
Full guide
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Kitulo National Park
Southern Circuit
A montane grassland plateau in the Southern Highlands known locally as the Garden of God, gazetted largely for its plants. Its orchids and wildflowers come out from around late October into April.
Full guide
Photograph by Daniel Msirikale, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Lake Manyara National Park
Northern Circuit
A narrow strip of groundwater forest, floodplain and alkaline lake pinned between the Rift escarpment and the water, with large baboon troops, a canopy walkway and lions that are sometimes seen resting in trees.
Full guide 37 safaris
Photograph by Clem23, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Mahale Mountains National Park
Western Tanzania
Forested mountains dropping straight into Lake Tanganyika, with no roads inside the park and access by light aircraft and boat. It holds one of the largest habituated chimpanzee communities in Africa.
Full guide 2 safaris
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Mikumi National Park
Southern Circuit
The most accessible large park from Dar es Salaam, bisected by the surfaced highway. The open Mkata floodplain makes it a practical short safari or a stop en route to Ruaha.
Full guide 1 safari
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Mkomazi National Park
Northern Circuit
Dry acacia-commiphora bush in the north-east against the Pare and Usambara ranges, sharing a border with Kenya's Tsavo West. It holds a black rhino sanctuary and a long-running African wild dog breeding programme.
Full guide
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Nyerere National Park
Southern Circuit
One of the largest national parks in Africa, gazetted in 2019 from the northern Selous Game Reserve and still widely sold under the Selous name. The Rufiji and its lakes make it Tanzania's strongest park for boat safaris, and walking is well established.
Full guide 4 safaris
Photograph by Erasmus Kamugisha, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Ruaha National Park
Southern Circuit
A vast dry park on the Great Ruaha River where southern African miombo meets East African acacia country, putting greater and lesser kudu, sable and roan in one itinerary. Its lion prides are among the largest anywhere.
Full guide 4 safaris
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Rubondo Island National Park
Western Tanzania
A forested island park in the south-western corner of Lake Victoria. Chimpanzees introduced from captivity in the 1960s have established themselves here alongside sitatunga and a long waterbird list.
Full guide
Photograph by Asterlegorch367, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Rumanyika-Karagwe National Park
Western Tanzania
A park in the Karagwe highlands of Kagera region, upgraded from game reserve status in 2019. Rolling country on the old caravan route west of Lake Victoria, with almost no tourism development.
Full guide
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Saadani National Park
Coast & Islands
The only national park on the Tanzanian coast, where the bush runs down to the Indian Ocean beach. Boat trips up the Wami River for hippo, crocodile and birds are the signature activity.
Full guide
Photograph by Rasheedhrasheed, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Saanane Island National Park
Western Tanzania
A small island park in Lake Victoria within sight of Mwanza, reached by boat in minutes, with granite outcrops, introduced plains game and rock hyrax.
Full guide
Photograph by Dickson Eremiah, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Serengeti National Park
Northern Circuit
Tanzania's flagship park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, roughly 14,750 square kilometres of open plain, kopje and riverine woodland. The migration moves through it across the year and the Seronera valley holds resident big cats whatever the season.
Full guide 64 safaris
Photograph by Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Tarangire National Park
Northern Circuit
A baobab country park along the Tarangire River. As the surrounding land dries out between June and October, elephant gather here in some of the largest concentrations in northern Tanzania.
Full guide 50 safaris
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Udzungwa Mountains National Park
Southern Circuit
An Eastern Arc rainforest park with no game-viewing roads at all; everything is done on foot. It holds primates found nowhere else, including the Sanje mangabey and the Udzungwa red colobus.
Full guide 2 safaris
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Ugalla River National Park
Western Tanzania
Miombo woodland and seasonal floodplain along the Ugalla River, gazetted as a national park in 2019 from the former game reserve. TANAPA records sable and roan here and describes its tourism as low-impact and largely undeveloped.
Full guide
Photograph by John Lyakurwa, licensed under CC BY 4.0
Conservation Areas & Game Reserves 6
Reserves and conservation areas buffer the parks and protect the migration corridors between them. Most see very few visitors.
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Grumeti Game Reserve
Northern Circuit
A private concession on the western edge of the Serengeti ecosystem. Vehicle numbers are limited, and activities restricted inside the national park, such as night drives and walking, are generally permitted here.
Full guide
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Ikorongo Game Reserve
Northern Circuit
A reserve on the northern Serengeti boundary forming part of the wider ecosystem the migration uses, with concession-based access rather than public entry.
Full guide
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Maswa Game Reserve
Northern Circuit
A reserve on the Serengeti's south-western boundary crossed by the migration as it moves between the southern plains and the west. Access is through concessions rather than public gates.
Full guide
Photograph by Kim Tz, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Northern Circuit
A multiple-use landscape between Manyara and the Serengeti, shared with Maasai pastoralists and holding the crater, the volcanic highlands and the Olduvai archaeology. A World Heritage Site listed for both its wildlife and its human record.
Full guide 60 safaris
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Pande Game Reserve
Coast & Islands
A small coastal forest reserve inland of Dar es Salaam, protected for its remnant forest and birds rather than for big game. TAWA calls it the smallest game reserve in Tanzania.
Full guide
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Selous Game Reserve
Southern Circuit
The reserve remaining south of Nyerere National Park after the 2019 gazettement, retaining its World Heritage listing. Its blocks are managed separately from the national park and are not the area most Selous safaris visit.
Full guide 1 safari
Photograph by Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Forest Reserves 10
The Eastern Arc forests and the coastal forest remnants hold endemic birds, primates and plants found nowhere else, and some of the best forest walking in the country.
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Amani Nature Forest Reserve
Northern Circuit
Submontane rainforest in the East Usambaras, one of the most biologically important forests in Africa and a long-standing destination for birders and botanists.
Full guide
Photograph by Nina R from Africa, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Chome Nature Forest Reserve
Northern Circuit
The largest remaining forest block in the South Pare Mountains, rising to Shengena Peak, with high endemism and very few visitors.
Full guide
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Kalambo Nature Forest Reserve
Western Tanzania
The forest reserve around the Kalambo Falls on the Zambian border, one of the highest uninterrupted waterfalls in Africa and an important archaeological site.
Full guide
Photograph by Humphrey Kaburu, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Lake Ngozi Nature Forest Reserve
Southern Circuit
A crater lake in forest on Mount Rungwe near Tukuyu, reached on a short forest climb and one of the larger volcanic lakes in Africa.
Full guide
Photograph by Daniel Msirikale, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Magamba Nature Forest Reserve
Northern Circuit
Montane forest above Lushoto in the West Usambaras, with trails to viewpoints and remnant colonial-era plantation, promoted by Tanzania Forest Services.
Full guide
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Minziro Forest Reserve
Western Tanzania
A swamp forest on the Ugandan border in Kagera, biologically part of the Guineo-Congolian belt rather than East Africa, with bird and butterfly species found nowhere else in Tanzania.
Full guide
Photograph by Friedemann Vetter, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Ngezi Forest Reserve
Coast & Islands
The last substantial indigenous forest on Pemba, in the north of the island, home to the Pemba flying fox and the Pemba scops owl.
Full guide
Photograph by Marcel Oosterwijk from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Pugu-Kazimzumbwi Nature Forest Reserve
Coast & Islands
Coastal forest in the hills south-west of Dar es Salaam, in Kisarawe District. Tanzania Forest Services describes it as the remnant of the oldest lowland coastal forests in the country, and it holds bat caves and short walking trails.
Full guide
Photograph by Rwebogora, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Uluguru Nature Forest Reserve
Southern Circuit
The protected forest core of the Uluguru Mountains above Morogoro, promoted by Tanzania Forest Services for its endemism and its walking trails.
Full guide
Photograph by Josefito123, licensed under CC BY 4.0
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Uzungwa Scarp Nature Forest Reserve
Southern Circuit
A forest reserve on the eastern scarp of the Udzungwas, separate from the national park, holding some of the rarest primates and birds in the Eastern Arc.
Full guide
Photograph by Josefito123, licensed under CC BY 4.0
Mountains & Highlands 9
Kilimanjaro and Meru in the north, and the ranges and highlands that run south towards Lake Nyasa.
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Kipengere Range
Southern Circuit
Highland country between Kitulo and Lake Nyasa, sometimes called the Mountains of God, with grassland, wildflowers and long ridge walking.
Full guide
Photograph by tjabeljan, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Livingstone Mountains
Southern Circuit
A steep range falling into the north-eastern shore of Lake Nyasa, walked from Matema and largely unvisited.
Full guide
Photograph by Daniel Msirikale, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Mount Hanang
Northern Circuit
A 3,420 metre volcanic peak south of Babati, climbed over one or two days on a steep, little-used trail through Barabaig grazing country.
Full guide
Photograph by Emesik, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Mount Kilimanjaro
Northern Circuit
Africa's highest mountain and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world, reaching 5,895 metres at Uhuru Peak. The national park is climbed by several established routes, each with its own approach and acclimatisation profile.
Full guide 5 safaris
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Mount Meru
Northern Circuit
A 4,566 metre volcano inside Arusha National Park, climbed over three or four days with a park guide, with an armed ranger normally accompanying groups because of the game on its lower slopes. Frequently walked as acclimatisation before Kilimanjaro.
Full guide
Photograph by Arnold Tibaijuka, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Pare Mountains
Northern Circuit
A quieter Eastern Arc range between Moshi and the Usambaras, walked from Same and Mbaga for forest, viewpoints over the Maasai steppe and Pare village life.
Full guide
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Southern Highlands
Southern Circuit
The cool, fertile uplands around Mbeya, Tukuyu and Njombe, with crater lakes, tea estates, waterfalls and the northern end of Lake Nyasa.
Full guide
Photograph by Daniel Msirikale, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Uluguru Mountains
Southern Circuit
An Eastern Arc range rising directly behind Morogoro, walked for its forest, its endemic species and the Luguru terraced farming on its slopes.
Full guide
Photograph by MKANZA BENSON TANU, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Usambara Mountains
Northern Circuit
Part of the Eastern Arc, an ancient chain of forested massifs with an exceptional level of endemism in both plants and animals. Walking between villages from a base at Lushoto is how most people see them.
Full guide
Photograph by Joachim Huber from Switzerland, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Lakes & Rift Valley Waters 8
The Great Lakes on three borders, the soda lakes of the Rift, and the shallow seasonal lakes that draw the flamingos.
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Lake Babati
Northern Circuit
A freshwater lake in the Manyara region known for its hippo population, usually visited by canoe with local guides from the town on its shore.
Full guide
Photograph by Daniel Thomas, Salisbury, NC, USA (danieltiii), licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Lake Burigi
Western Tanzania
A lake inside Burigi-Chato National Park in the Kagera region, part of a chain of water bodies that draws hippo, crocodile and waterbirds.
Full guide
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Lake Eyasi
Northern Circuit
A seasonal soda lake south of the Ngorongoro highlands. The country around it is home to the Hadzabe, one of the last hunter-gatherer peoples in East Africa, and to Datoga pastoralists and blacksmiths.
Full guide 5 safaris
Photograph by kiwiexplorer, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Lake Natron
Northern Circuit
A shallow, highly caustic soda lake below the volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai near the Kenyan border, and East Africa's single most important breeding site for lesser flamingos.
Full guide 3 safaris
Photograph by Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Lake Nyasa
Southern Circuit
The Tanzanian shore of the lake also known as Lake Malawi, reached at Matema and Kyela, with freshwater beaches, endemic cichlids and the Livingstone Mountains behind.
Full guide
Photograph by Daniel Msirikale, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Lake Rukwa
Southern Circuit
A shallow, fluctuating salt lake in the Rift between Katavi and the Southern Highlands, with large waterbird numbers and almost no tourism infrastructure.
Full guide
Photograph by Lichinga, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Lake Tanganyika
Western Tanzania
The second deepest and second oldest lake in the world, forming Tanzania's western border. Its endemic cichlids make the shoreline unexpectedly good for snorkelling, and it is the approach to Mahale and Gombe.
Full guide 2 safaris
Photograph by Orrling, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Lake Victoria
Western Tanzania
Africa's largest lake, with Tanzania holding its southern half. Its ports, islands and fishing villages are a different country from the safari circuits a few hours east.
Full guide 2 safaris
Photograph by Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Islands & the Coast 31
Zanzibar and Pemba, the Mafia archipelago, the marine parks, and the old Swahili ports along the mainland shore.
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Bagamoyo
Coast & Islands
A historic port north of Dar es Salaam that was the terminus of the caravan routes from the interior and later the capital of German East Africa, with slave-trade, mission and Kaole sites.
Full guide
Photograph by Mangapwani, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Bwejuu
Coast & Islands
A quiet east-coast village just north of Paje, with the same lagoon and reef but far less of the kite traffic.
Full guide
Photograph by Chris huh, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Chumbe Island
Coast & Islands
A small island south-west of Stone Town managed as a private coral park, with a fully protected reef sanctuary, a historic lighthouse and a small eco-lodge. Visitor numbers are deliberately capped.
Full guide
Photograph by Rob from United Kingdom, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Chwaka
Coast & Islands
A village on the bay of the same name on Zanzibar's east coast, at the edge of the Jozani-Chwaka Bay national park and its mangroves.
Full guide
Photograph by Mnazini, licensed under CC BY 4.0
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Dar es Salaam
Coast & Islands
Tanzania's largest city and main port, and the gateway to both the southern circuit and the islands. Ferries to Zanzibar leave from the harbour.
Full guide 5 safaris
Photograph by Kipala, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Dongwe
Coast & Islands
A stretch of east-coast shore between Bwejuu and Michamvi, largely given over to small resorts and very quiet outside them.
Full guide
Photograph by Roberto Faccenda from Canale CN, Italy, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Fanjove Island
Coast & Islands
A private island in the Songo Songo archipelago off the southern coast, with one small lodge, an old lighthouse and reefs almost nobody dives.
Full guide
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Fumba
Coast & Islands
A peninsula south-west of Stone Town facing the Menai Bay conservation area, the departure point for sandbank trips and the bay's dolphins.
Full guide
Photograph by lazyweaver, licensed under CC BY 3.0
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Jambiani
Coast & Islands
A strung-out village south of Paje on the same lagoon, slower and more residential, where the tide withdraws a long way and the seaweed plots are worked by hand.
Full guide
Photograph by Jonathan Dalrymple, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Kendwa
Coast & Islands
A wide west-facing beach just south of Nungwi, quieter than its neighbour, swimmable throughout the tidal cycle and the usual place on the island to watch the sun set over water.
Full guide
Photograph by Zoheb, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Kilwa Masoko
Coast & Islands
The mainland town serving the Kilwa ruins, with the UNESCO-listed Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara a short boat crossing away.
Full guide
Photograph by Halidtz, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Kiwengwa
Coast & Islands
A long east-coast beach with the island's heaviest concentration of large resorts, and a set of limestone caves inland still used for ritual.
Full guide
Photograph by AliceMartinelli8, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Kizimkazi
Coast & Islands
Two villages at Zanzibar's southern tip, known for dolphin boat trips and for the Dimbani mosque, which carries a Kufic inscription dated to the twelfth century.
Full guide
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Mafia Island
Coast & Islands
An island south of Zanzibar, most of whose waters lie inside Mafia Island Marine Park. Whale sharks gather in the channel on a seasonal cycle and the reefs are quiet by comparison with Zanzibar's.
Full guide
Photograph by Nina R from Africa, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Makunduchi
Coast & Islands
A town on Zanzibar's southern coast, best known for Mwaka Kogwa, the Shirazi new year festival held here each July.
Full guide
Photograph by Erasmus Kamugisha, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Mangapwani
Coast & Islands
A stretch of coast north of Stone Town with a coral cave and a separate stone-built slave chamber, used after the trade was formally abolished.
Full guide
Photograph by Laika ac from USA, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Matemwe
Coast & Islands
A long village beach on Zanzibar's north-east coast, directly opposite Mnemba Atoll and the shortest boat ride to its reef. Seaweed is still farmed on the flats at low tide.
Full guide
Photograph by Olivier Lejade from France, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Michamvi
Coast & Islands
A peninsula at the northern end of the south-east coast, and one of the few places on that side of the island facing west for sunset.
Full guide
Photograph by MASOUD OBI, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Mikindani
Coast & Islands
A small historic port near Mtwara in the far south, with a restored German boma, Swahili houses and a bay almost untouched by tourism.
Full guide
Photograph by Halidtz, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Mnazi Bay-Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park
Coast & Islands
A marine park on the Mozambican border near Mtwara, protecting reefs, mangrove and the Ruvuma estuary, with very little visitor traffic.
Full guide
Photograph by Tina Cordon, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Nungwi
Coast & Islands
A fishing village turned resort strip at Zanzibar's northern tip, where the tidal range is small enough to swim at any state of the tide. Dhow building still goes on at the shore.
Full guide
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Paje
Coast & Islands
The centre of kitesurfing on Zanzibar's south-east coast, with a broad shallow lagoon inside the reef and reliable cross-shore wind in season.
Full guide
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Pangani
Coast & Islands
A quiet old Swahili and German trading town at the mouth of the Pangani River south of Tanga, with empty beaches and river trips.
Full guide
Photograph by Mnazini, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Pemba Island
Coast & Islands
The northern island of the archipelago, hillier, greener and far less developed than Zanzibar, covered in clove plantations. Its steep offshore walls are regarded as the better diving of the two.
Full guide 1 safari
Photograph by Nigel Voaden from UK, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Pongwe
Coast & Islands
A small, sheltered east-coast bay between Kiwengwa and Uroa where the reef sits close in and the tide withdraws less than it does further south.
Full guide
Photograph by This photo was taken by Anton Zelenov. Please credit this with : Photo : Anton Zelenov in the immediate vicinity of the image. If you use one of my photos, please email me (account needed) or leave me a short message on my discussion page. It would be greatly appreciated. Do not copy this image illegally by ignoring the terms of the license below, as it is not in the public domain. If you would like special permission to use, license, or purchase the image please contact me to negotiate terms., licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Pwani Mchangani
Coast & Islands
A north-east coast village between Matemwe and Kiwengwa, with a long sand beach and seaweed farming worked at low tide.
Full guide
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Stone Town
Coast & Islands
The old quarter of Zanzibar City and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built of coral rag in a dense maze of alleys, with its Omani, Indian, Persian and European layers still legible.
Full guide 7 safaris
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Tanga
Coast & Islands
Tanzania's northern coastal city and second port, with the Amboni limestone caves, the Tongoni ruins and the Usambaras an hour inland.
Full guide
Photograph by Mangapwani, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Tanga Coelacanth Marine Park
Coast & Islands
A marine park on the northern coast declared after repeated coelacanth catches offshore, protecting reef and mangrove between Tanga and the Kenyan border.
Full guide
Photograph by Ali A. Fazal, licensed under CC BY 2.5
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Uroa
Coast & Islands
An east-coast fishing village on Chwaka Bay's northern side, quieter than the resort strips and still working its boats and seaweed plots.
Full guide
Photograph by Niceley, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Zanzibar
Coast & Islands
The main island of the archipelago, properly called Unguja, about 35 kilometres off the mainland. Reef-fringed beaches on the east and north, spice farms inland, and a Swahili trading history running through all of it.
Full guide 12 safaris
Cities, Towns & Regions 26
Where safaris start and end, and the towns worth a day in their own right.
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Arusha
Northern Circuit
Tanzania's safari capital, where almost every northern circuit itinerary begins and ends. Kilimanjaro International Airport lies east of the city between Arusha and Moshi, about an hour away; Arusha Airport handles the light aircraft into the parks.
Full guide 37 safaris
Photograph by Halidtz, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Babati
Northern Circuit
A town beside its lake south of Manyara, the base for Mount Hanang and for canoe trips among the hippo.
Full guide
Photograph by Daniel Thomas, Salisbury, NC, USA (danieltiii), licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Bukoba
Western Tanzania
A town on the western shore of Lake Victoria in Haya country, with lakeside beaches, coffee smallholdings and the ferry to Mwanza.
Full guide
Photograph by Bugsinmyfood, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Chato
Western Tanzania
A lakeside town in Geita region beside Burigi-Chato National Park, with an airport that has made the western Serengeti and Kagera more reachable.
Full guide
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Dodoma
Southern Circuit
Tanzania's capital, in the dry centre of the country. Parliament sits here, the surrounding hills produce most of Tanzania's wine, and the Kondoa rock art lies to the north.
Full guide
Photograph by Mchiriku, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Iringa
Southern Circuit
A highland town on the road to Ruaha and the usual overnight stop before the park, with the Isimila Stone Age site and the Hehe history around Kalenga nearby.
Full guide
Photograph by Travis cardy1, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Karatu
Northern Circuit
A highland town between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro gate, surrounded by coffee farms. Many itineraries sleep here rather than on the crater rim, where accommodation is scarcer.
Full guide 11 safaris
Photograph by Michelle Maria, licensed under CC BY 3.0
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Kigoma
Western Tanzania
The lake port and railhead serving western Tanzania, and the gateway to Gombe and Mahale.
Full guide 2 safaris
Photograph by Halidtz, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Kondoa
Northern Circuit
The town serving the Kondoa rock-art sites, a UNESCO World Heritage property covering hundreds of painted shelters in the Irangi hills.
Full guide
Photograph by Nina R from Africa, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Lushoto
Northern Circuit
The main town of the West Usambaras and the base for walking in them, set in a cool highland valley with viewpoints over the plains at Irente and Mambo.
Full guide
Photograph by Pequod76, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Marangu
Northern Circuit
A Chagga village on Kilimanjaro's south-eastern slopes at the Marangu gate, with waterfalls, caves and banana-and-coffee smallholdings on the walks around it.
Full guide 2 safaris
Photograph by Fanny Schertzer, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Matema
Southern Circuit
A village on the northern shore of Lake Nyasa below the Livingstone Mountains, with a sand beach, local pottery and boat trips along the shore.
Full guide
Photograph by Daniel Msirikale, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Mbeya
Southern Circuit
The main town of the Southern Highlands, set below Loleza and Mbeya Peak, and the base for Ngozi, the Kiwira natural bridge and the Mbozi meteorite.
Full guide
Photograph by Mazplusfly, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Morogoro
Southern Circuit
A town at the foot of the Uluguru Mountains on the main road west from Dar es Salaam, and a common staging point for Mikumi and Nyerere.
Full guide
Photograph by MillaVillaKulla, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Moshi
Northern Circuit
A town on Kilimanjaro's southern slopes and the traditional base for climbs, closer to the Machame and Marangu gates than Arusha. Coffee estates, waterfalls and hot springs fill the days either side of a trek.
Full guide 7 safaris
Photograph by Prosper Phissoo, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Mto wa Mbu
Northern Circuit
A market town at the foot of the Rift escarpment below Lake Manyara, unusual for the number of Tanzanian language groups living side by side in it, and a centre for village walks and cultural tourism.
Full guide 6 safaris
Photograph by lecucurbitacee, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Mufindi
Southern Circuit
Tea country in the highlands south of Iringa, with plantation estates, trout streams and forest walks at altitude.
Full guide
Photograph by sisty, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Musoma
Western Tanzania
A lake town on a peninsula in eastern Lake Victoria, north of the Serengeti's western corridor and near Julius Nyerere's birthplace at Butiama.
Full guide
Photograph by Mnazini, licensed under CC BY 4.0
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Mwanza
Western Tanzania
Tanzania's lake port on the southern shore of Lake Victoria, ringed by granite boulders, and the practical entry point for the western Serengeti and Rubondo.
Full guide
Photograph by Prof.Chen Hualin, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Ndutu
Northern Circuit
The short-grass plains and acacia woodland straddling the southern Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, around Lake Ndutu and Lake Masek. This is where the wildebeest calve between roughly late January and March, and where predator activity concentrates on the herds. Camps here are sold as their own base rather than as a Serengeti add-on.
Full guide 1 safari
Photograph by mwanasimba from La Réunion, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Njombe
Southern Circuit
A cool highland town among tea and timber plantations between Iringa and Lake Nyasa, with waterfalls on the escarpment nearby.
Full guide
Photograph by Gumtau, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Same
Northern Circuit
A town on the Moshi-Tanga road serving the South Pare Mountains and the southern approach to Mkomazi.
Full guide
Photograph by Alexander Johmann from Vienna, Austria, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Songea
Southern Circuit
The main town of Ruvuma region in the far south, named for the Ngoni leader executed here after the Maji Maji war, whose memorial and museum stand in the town.
Full guide
Photograph by Downluke, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Tabora
Western Tanzania
A historic caravan-route junction in the miombo of central-western Tanzania, still the main railway crossroads of the interior.
Full guide
Photograph by Mangapwani, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Tukuyu
Southern Circuit
A small town on Mount Rungwe's slopes in the wettest part of Tanzania, surrounded by tea estates, crater lakes, waterfalls and the Kiwira natural bridge.
Full guide
Photograph by Sara&Joachim, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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Ujiji
Western Tanzania
An old caravan and slave-trade terminus just south of Kigoma, and the place where Stanley is said to have met Livingstone in 1871.
Full guide
Photograph by Peter A Levey, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Attractions and Sites 189
The individual places within each destination: the falls, caves, hot springs, palaces, tombs, rocks and landing sites. Grouped by the destination they sit in. Several are written up because the name circulates and the site does not, which is worth knowing before you plan a drive around one.