What Serengeti costs
Entry €61 per person per day, plus eighteen percent VAT, plus a concession for every camp inside the park — in the Serengeti you pay a meter, not a trip.
- Lean
- USD 180–300 per person per day
- Comfortable
- USD 400–800 a day
- Expensive
- USD 1,000 and up
The Serengeti is not a cheap safari, and the price adds up from four lines charged by the day: entry of €61 per person, eighteen percent VAT on everything, a concession of €61 a night for any camp inside the park, and the vehicle with guide. That is why budget tours sleep just outside the gate.
The figures below are per person per day, in dollars because that is how it is charged, for the northern circuit with two driving days from Arusha included. Everything is a range; July and August are the top edge, April and May the bottom.
Why budget tours sleep outside the park
Every camp inside the park boundary pays TANAPA a concession of €61 per guest per night, and that is built into the room price. Camps just outside the gate — at Naabi or in Karatu — do not carry that line, so for the same comfort they are a hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars a night cheaper. The price is the morning: from a camp outside the gate you drive an hour and a half to the middle of the park before the safari even starts.
Three bills for three days in the park
- A group camping safari from Arusha, August — about USD 900–1,100 a head for five days with Ngorongoro, entries, food and tent included; the vehicle shared with six.
- A tented camp with a bathroom inside the park, August — USD 1,800–2,500 a head for the same five days; a vehicle for four and a guide who listens to the radio.
- A mobile camp with the herds plus a flight — USD 4,000 and up: a flight from Arusha instead of seven hours' drive, a camp that moves with the migration, a private vehicle.
Where you save without losing anything
On the number of people in the vehicle — six share the same guide as two; on the season, because April and May cost half; and on doing Ngorongoro and the Serengeti in one trip, since you drive past it anyway. You do not economise on the guide or on the number of days: two days in the Serengeti are one driving day and one safari day, and entry is paid for both.
The same comparison for 143 places: hostel, hotel, getting into town and a day pass. Travel costs →
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What does a Serengeti safari cost?
Per person per day: a group camping tour USD 180–300 all in, a tented camp with a bathroom inside the park 400–800, a mobile camp with the herds a thousand and more. Entry of €61 per person per day plus eighteen percent VAT is the same for every profile.
Why is a camp inside the park so much dearer?
Because of the concession every camp inside the boundary pays the park, €61 per guest per night, built into the room price. A camp outside the gate does not carry it — but you drive an hour and a half to the middle of the park every morning.
Are entries included in the tour price?
It depends on the operator, and you ask in writing before paying. Entry is €61 per person per day plus VAT; cheaper quotes leave it as a supplement, which over five days is over four hundred dollars a head.
Ready for Serengeti?
Where to next
The best time to visit Serengeti
→The migration is in the park every month — just at a different end: the south for calving in February, the…
Ngorongoro · 137 km
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How well does Serengeti suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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