Last updated: September 2026
Tanzania holidays offer an unrivalled combination of East Africa’s finest wildlife experiences and the Indian Ocean’s most beautiful island destination — the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Kilimanjaro on the mainland, and Zanzibar’s white-sand beaches, turquoise lagoons and UNESCO-listed Stone Town on the coast, all within a single East African country that ranks among the most rewarding long-haul destinations available from the UK.
Tanzania is East Africa’s most comprehensive travel destination — larger than Kenya, with a greater diversity of landscapes and wildlife habitats, and a coastal dimension in Zanzibar that adds Indian Ocean beach quality to the mainland’s safari and mountain content. The Serengeti-Ngorongoro ecosystem contains the world’s greatest concentration of large mammals, and Zanzibar’s Stone Town is one of the most culturally layered historic cities in sub-Saharan Africa. For UK visitors who want the definitive East Africa experience, Tanzania is the benchmark.
This guide covers the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, when to visit, getting there and practical booking information for Tanzania holidays from the UK.
Tanzania holidays are chosen by UK visitors who want the full East Africa experience — not a single-focus safari or beach holiday, but both, within a single country. The Zanzibar-and-safari combination (a week of Indian Ocean beach on Zanzibar followed by a four-to-five-night northern circuit safari through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro) is consistently rated among the top ten long-haul holiday itineraries available from the UK and is the natural way to book a Tanzania holiday for most first-time visitors to East Africa.
Tanzania’s wildlife parks are extraordinary by any standard. The Serengeti — spanning 14,750 square kilometres of open savannah — hosts the annual wildebeest migration in a scale and over a landscape that exceeds even the famous Kenya Mara crossing. Ngorongoro Crater is a self-contained wildlife ecosystem within a volcanic caldera, with permanently resident populations of all big-five species including one of Africa’s highest concentrations of black rhino. Together they form the most significant wildlife area in Africa.
Zanzibar adds a beach dimension that few safari destinations can offer. Stone Town — a compact UNESCO World Heritage historic city of coral-stone buildings, Arabic archways, Swahili carved doors and spice market fragrance — gives Zanzibar a cultural depth that makes it more than just a beach add-on. The northern beaches of Nungwi and Kendwa, with their white sand, turquoise lagoon and sheltered swimming, deliver Indian Ocean beach quality that ranks among the finest in the world.
The Serengeti National Park is the largest and most famous wildlife park in Tanzania — 14,750 square kilometres of open savannah, acacia woodland and river systems that contain the highest density of large mammals anywhere on Earth. The park is home to all of the big five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo), along with cheetah, wild dog, hyena, jackal, bat-eared fox, hippo, crocodile, giraffe and dozens of antelope species, all resident year-round.
The great wildebeest migration — approximately 1.5 million wildebeest, along with 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle — moves continuously through the Serengeti ecosystem through the year, following rainfall and fresh grass. In the southern Serengeti (around Ndutu), the calving season from January to March produces one of the most dramatic wildlife spectacles in Africa — vast wildebeest herds giving birth with predator action from lion, cheetah and hyena concentrated around the calving grounds. From July onwards the migration moves north towards the Mara River, where the famous Tanzania-side river crossings occur.
Tanzania safari camps within the Serengeti range from permanent luxury lodges in iconic locations to mobile tented camps that follow the migration through the year. The luxury camp experience — Serengeti under canvas, game drives at dawn and dusk, campfire dinners under the southern sky — is the benchmark against which other safari accommodations are measured.
Ngorongoro Crater is one of the world’s great natural wonders — the intact caldera of a collapsed volcano, 19 kilometres across and 600 metres deep, containing a complete and self-sustaining ecosystem with a permanently resident wildlife population of approximately 25,000 large mammals. The crater rim gives a panoramic view over the entire ecosystem from above, while the descent to the crater floor brings visitors face-to-face with lion, elephant, hippo, buffalo and the highest density of black rhino remaining in East Africa.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area also includes the Olduvai Gorge archaeological site — where Louis and Mary Leakey discovered some of the earliest hominin fossils in the 1950s and 1960s — and the Empakaai Crater, a smaller, water-filled caldera of extraordinary beauty. Most Tanzania safari itineraries combine two to three nights in the Serengeti with one night on the Ngorongoro rim, giving a full-day crater floor game drive before moving on.
Zanzibar — officially Unguja Island — is Tanzania’s Indian Ocean jewel: a spice-scented coral island 35 kilometres off the Tanzanian coast, reached by a 25-minute flight from Dar es Salaam or a two-hour high-speed ferry from the mainland. Stone Town, the island’s historic capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a dense labyrinth of narrow lanes, carved-door Omani and Swahili architecture, Arab forts, Hindu temples and the former slave market — one of the most fascinating historic cities in sub-Saharan Africa.
The north and northeast beaches of Zanzibar — Nungwi, Kendwa, Matemwe and Kiwengwa — have some of the finest Indian Ocean beach conditions in the world. Nungwi, at the northern tip, is a large fishing village with an excellent beach and a resort infrastructure built around dhow-building yards and a sheltered lagoon. Kendwa, a short walk west, has calm water suitable for swimming at all tide levels and a relaxed beach-bar atmosphere. The east coast beach at Paje is the centre of Zanzibar’s kitesurfing scene, with the Indian Ocean’s southeast trade wind providing consistent conditions from June to September.
The Zanzibar-and-safari combination — three to four nights on the northern circuit (Serengeti, Ngorongoro) followed by a week on Zanzibar — is the standard Tanzania holiday format for UK visitors and one of the most complete long-haul holiday experiences available.
Mount Kilimanjaro — Africa’s highest peak at 5,895 metres and the highest free-standing mountain in the world — is Tanzania’s most famous landmark and the most climbed major mountain in the world. The standard Marangu and Machame routes require five to seven days of trekking without technical climbing skill, making Kilimanjaro accessible to fit, acclimatised walkers who do not require mountaineering experience. The mountain is a full-programme addition to a Tanzania holiday, typically tacked before or after a safari and Zanzibar section.
Tanzania’s northern safari circuit (Serengeti, Ngorongoro) is best visited from June to October (dry season, excellent game-viewing) or January to March (calving season in the southern Serengeti). Zanzibar’s beach season aligns with October to March and June to August — the long rains of April to May and short rains of November should be avoided for a beach holiday. A Tanzania holiday combining safari and Zanzibar works best in June to October or January to February, when both destinations are in good condition simultaneously.
Tanzania holidays use Kilimanjaro International Airport (for the northern safari circuit) or Dar es Salaam Julius Nyerere International Airport (for Zanzibar connections via a 25-minute domestic flight). UK services operate via Nairobi or Doha, with a total journey time of approximately nine to eleven hours. Search4Sun works with UK tour operators offering Tanzania departures from airports across the UK.
Tanzania requires a visa for UK citizens — available as an e-visa applied online before travel (recommended) or on arrival at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam and at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Yellow fever vaccination is required for travellers arriving from yellow fever-endemic countries, and recommended for all visitors. Malaria prophylaxis is required for travel to mainland Tanzania and for Zanzibar. Your tour operator will advise on specific health requirements as part of the booking process.
The currency is the Tanzanian shilling on the mainland and for everyday transactions in Zanzibar, though US dollars are widely accepted in tourist areas, safari camps and hotel payments across the country. Credit cards are accepted at most tourist-facing businesses. ATMs are available in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Stone Town (Zanzibar) but are less reliable in more remote areas — carrying some US dollar cash for safari camps and smaller lodges is advisable.
Tanzania is a predominantly Swahili-speaking country, with English widely spoken in tourist areas, national parks, hotels and among safari guides. Kiswahili (Swahili) is the national language and a few basic phrases — asante (thank you), karibu (welcome) — are appreciated by local communities. The country has a strong safety record in tourist areas, and large numbers of UK visitors travel to Tanzania each year without significant incident. As always, checking the current FCDO travel advice before booking is recommended.
Search4Sun works with leading UK tour operators to find the best value Tanzania holidays. Browse departures from local airports across the UK. For peace of mind when booking, always check your holiday is ABTA protected.
For last-minute Tanzania deals, check LastMinute.com for the latest availability and rates.
Yes — Tanzania holidays booked as flight-inclusive packages through a UK-licensed tour operator are ATOL protected.
If your operator ceases trading before or during your trip, you are entitled to a refund or repatriation at no extra cost. Read our full holiday protection guide for details.
Tanzania and Kenya are the two premier East Africa safari destinations, each with significant strengths.
Tanzania’s Serengeti is larger and less crowded than Kenya’s Maasai Mara, and the Ngorongoro Crater is a unique self-contained wildlife ecosystem with no Kenya equivalent.
Tanzania also has Zanzibar as a natural beach extension in the same country. Kenya offers a slightly shorter flight, the famous Mara river-crossing spectacle in season, and a more developed tourist infrastructure with a wider range of hotel options. For first-time safari visitors, Kenya’s greater accessibility and wider UK package availability makes it the more straightforward starting point. For those who want the definitive East Africa safari experience or the Zanzibar addition, Tanzania is the stronger destination.
UK citizens require a visa for Tanzania, available as an electronic visa (eVisa) applied for online before travel or as a visa on arrival at major entry points.
The eVisa is recommended to avoid queues at the airport.
Zanzibar as part of Tanzania uses the same visa — separate visas are not required. Visa requirements, fees and processing times can change, so always verify the current position with your tour operator or the Tanzania High Commission before booking.
The most popular and practical format for a Tanzania holiday combining safari and Zanzibar is to do the safari first (fly into Kilimanjaro or Arusha, complete the northern circuit safari over four to five nights) then fly to Zanzibar for the beach section (minimum five nights, ideally seven).
This sequence means arriving in Zanzibar relaxed and ready for beach time after the more active safari programme.
The domestic flight from Arusha or Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar is under two hours. A total Tanzania holiday of twelve to fourteen nights gives comfortable time for a meaningful safari and a satisfying Zanzibar beach stay without rushing either component.
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