7 Day Tanzania Highlights Safari (Serengeti & Ngorongoro)

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrival in Arusha

Karibu Tanzania. Welcome to the land of raw beauty and real silence. Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, your Serengeti Lion Safaris driver greets you with a quiet smile and a hand-written welcome card. It’s late. You’re tired. But the air smells different, and even the breeze feels ancient.

After the pick up, your safari guide shall transfer you to your lodge in Arusha, located in green gardens or just beside a coffee farm. You’ll rest here tonight—your first African sleep.

Accommodation:
Camping: N/A
Budget: Green Mountain Hotel
Standard: Venus Premier Hotel
Luxury: Arusha Coffee Lodge

Day 2 – Arusha to Serengeti: Into the Wide Open

After breakfast, you leave the town behind. The highway turns to countryside, the countryside becomes savannah. You pass Lake Manyara in the distance, climb the escarpment into the Ngorongoro highlands, then descend—finally—into the Serengeti.

Upon arrival in Serengeti, you get greeted by the endless plains, and you’ll understand why as the horizon stretches like a painted scroll. Wildebeest graze with zebras. Giraffes stretch over treetops. Lions sleep with one eye open beneath the shade.

Today’s drive is long but worth it. You arrive in the heart of the park in time for a soft, golden game drive before sunset.

After your first safari game viewing, proceed to your accommodation for the days dinner, relaxation and overnight.

Accommodation:
Camping: Seronera Campsite
Budget: Into Wild Africa
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp
Luxury: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Day 3 – Serengeti Central: Lions, Dust & Golden Light

Your first full day in the Serengeti. And it hits hard and yes, immediately after our lovely breakfast, you set off into the bush. This is prime predator time. Lions stalk the edge of buffalo herds. Hyenas circle like shadows. If you’re lucky, a leopard lounges in a fig tree above you, tail flicking lazily.

The terrain shifts as you drive—from river valleys to rocky kopjes. Every bend hides something alive. You stop for breakfast in the wild, crouched near your jeep as birds scatter overhead.

By afternoon, the light softens but, you must proceed with the adventure. After the day of exciting experiences, you head back slowly, tired but stunned.

Accommodation:
Camping: Seronera Campsite
Budget: Into Wild Africa
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp
Luxury: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Day 4 – Serengeti: Full-Day Game Drive with Optional Balloon Safari

Today, you either fly or roll.

Optional: a sunrise hot air balloon ride lifts you above the golden plains. You float silently as the world wakes below—elephants like moving stones, herds scattering like smoke. It ends with champagne breakfast in the bush.

If you choose wheels instead, your full-day game drive offers the same magic at ground level. You chase stories across the landscape—cheetahs sprinting, jackals sniffing, wildebeest in dusty herds moving like currents through tall grass.

This is the Serengeti in its full rhythm. You don’t direct it. You just follow.

Accommodation:
Camping: Seronera Campsite
Budget: Into Wild Africa
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp
Luxury: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Day 5 – Serengeti to Ngorongoro: From Flat Plains to Green Rims

You’ve lived in the Serengeti wild for three nights now. It’s on your boots, in your hair, under your nails. Today, you say a slow goodbye to the Serengeti and climb back toward Ngorongoro.

You’ll stop along the way. Maybe a last glance at lions. Maybe a herd of elephants blocking the road. You don’t complain.

By afternoon, you reach the crater rim. The air is cooler. The green is thicker. And below you, a world sits waiting. You check into your lodge overlooking the crater. It’s a view that silences dinner conversation for a minute or two.

Accommodation:
Camping: Simba A Campsite
Budget: Rhino Lodge
Standard: Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge
Luxury: Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

Day 6 – Ngorongoro Crater Game Drive: The World’s Wildest Bowl

You descend into the Ngorongoro Crater just after sunrise. Mist clings to the rim behind you. Ahead, the bowl opens—lush, dense, quietly alive.

You might spot rhinos, grazing calmly. Lions, sprawled like royalty. Flamingos dancing on the lake. Hyenas running crooked trails in the grass. It feels like too much. And it is. That’s the point.

You eat lunch beside a hippo pool, where the water bubbles with movement and the conversation quiets.

By afternoon, you ascend again. One last look back. You don’t want to leave, but you’re full.

Accommodation:
Camping: Panorama Campsite
Budget: Eileen’s Tree Inn
Standard: Country Lodge Karatu
Luxury: The Retreat at Ngorongoro

Day 7 – Return to Arusha: Final Glimpses

Your final day begins with a warm breakfast and a slow drive back to Arusha. You pass banana fields, sleepy towns, and the familiar sights of the foothills. But something feels different.

You’re not the same person who arrived seven days ago. You’ve stood beneath baobabs, watched cheetahs move, and looked into the eyes of a lion. You’ve breathed in something older than time.

Serengeti Lion Safaris gets you to the airport or your hotel. But part of you stays here—somewhere on the plains, under the acacia trees, exactly where you were meant to be.