How to get to Serengeti National Park Tanzania

The Serengeti National Park is a vast, undulating plain that stretches 30,000 square kilometres (11,583 square miles) from Kenya’s Maasai-Mara game reserve to Northern Tanzania, the park is divided into Northern Serengeti, the Western Corridor, Eastern Serengeti, Central Serengeti and Southern Serengeti making it a vast ecosystem and knowing where to go and how long it will take will depend on the region

The best way to get to Serengeti National Park is by Road, While the roads are well travelled, they’re not always clearly marked, which can make finding your way difficult. 

Safari guides know how to best navigate the park’s dirt roads and how to find the most fascinating wildlife. Many of our holiday packages will cover transportation to and from Arusha and they will also allow you to visit other destinations along the way as some parts of Serengeti are over 10 hours away from Arusha.

By air

There are nine airstrips found inside the park. The Seronera airstrip serves Central Serengeti; the Lobo, Kleins and Kogatende airstrips provide access to the north; the Grumeti, Kirawira and Sasakwa airstrips offer service to the Western Corridor; and the Kusini Ndutu airstrips are situated in Southern Serengeti for travellers who may wish to access the park quicker will need to fly from Arusha or any other destination in Tanzania to any of this airstrips however you will still need to arrange transfers from and to the lodge and also for game drives during your stay in Serengeti.

Drive time and distance 

The distance varies from 225 km (140 miles) to 275 km (170 miles) depending on which gate or entry point of Serengeti you want to access. Well, in terms of journey time, typically you want to allow for 6 to 7 hours for the most eastern part of the park entry gates such as Naabi Hill and Ndabaka Gate and up to 8 hours for Klein’s (Northern-east side of the park) and Bologonya gate (at the border of Masai Mara in Kenya & Serengeti in Tanzania) and this includes a couple of brief stops en route for a fuel stop and washroom break.

Where to stay

Serengeti is a huge national park so we would recommend a minimum of four days in order to properly explore it and find the wildlife. Being so large, you do need to spend time driving around looking for the Big Five, which takes time. Plus, in four days you’ll experience different weather and a variety of safari experiences.