Arusha Travel Guide: Where to Stay, Eat and Start Your Safari

Arusha sits at 1,400 m under Mount Meru, which makes it far cooler and greener than most people expect from Tanzania. It is a working town rather than a resort, and it is where every northern safari begins.

Getting there

Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) is about an hour away and is the airport to aim for. Dar es Salaam is a long domestic hop or a very long drive. Arusha Airport, in town, handles light aircraft to the Serengeti and Zanzibar.

We include airport pick-up with our safaris. If you arrive separately, agree the fare before getting into a taxi — around $50 from JRO is normal.

Where to stay

Budget guesthouses start around $25–$40 a night, comfortable mid-range lodges $60–$120, and garden lodges with pools $150 and up. Tell us your budget and we will suggest places we actually use.

• ·Town centre: convenient for the market and restaurants, noisier.
• ·Njiro: quiet, residential, good mid-range guesthouses and lodges.
• ·Sakina and the Moshi road: handy for early departures towards the parks.
• ·Usa River and the eastern outskirts: green garden lodges, closest to the airport and Arusha National Park.

What to do in town

The Maasai central market for fabric, spices and beadwork; the Cultural Heritage Centre for serious Tanzanian art; the Arusha Declaration Museum for the political history; and a coffee at one of the Themi Hill cafés, which roast beans from the Kilimanjaro slopes you can visit on the Materuni day trip.

Half a day covers the town comfortably. If you have a full spare day, use it on Arusha National Park, the Materuni waterfalls or the Chemka hot springs instead.

Money, connectivity and practicalities

• ·Currency: Tanzanian shilling; USD is accepted for park fees, tours and most lodges.
• ·Bring clean USD notes printed after 2009 — older notes are refused.
• ·ATMs are plentiful in town and scarce once you leave it.
• ·A local Vodacom or Airtel SIM costs a few dollars and works in most of the parks.
• ·Tipping: roughly $20–$25 per day for your safari guide, $10 for the cook, from the group.

Is Arusha safe?

Broadly yes, with normal city sense. Use taxis or a lift after dark, do not walk around with a camera bag or phone in hand, and expect persistent street sellers around the clock tower — a polite, firm no works. Petty theft is the realistic risk, not violence.

Starting your safari here

We collect you from your Arusha hotel or from Kilimanjaro Airport, brief you the evening before, and leave early. Arriving a day ahead is worth it: it absorbs flight delays, lets you sleep, and turns the first game-drive day into something you actually enjoy rather than survive.