How Many Days Do You Need for a Safari? 2, 3, 5 or 7

One day — a real safari, if you pick the right park

A single day only works in Arusha National Park or, at a stretch, Tarangire. Anything further and you spend the day in the car. Arusha National Park is 45 minutes from town and allows walking safaris, which makes it a surprisingly rich day.

Two days — the shortest trip that includes the crater

Two days gets you Tarangire and the Ngorongoro Crater with one night in Karatu. It is compact but not rushed, and the crater alone gives you a realistic shot at the Big Five. This is the standard weekend safari for volunteers and for travellers stopping in Arusha before Kilimanjaro.

Three days — the best value on the northern circuit

Three days covers Lake Manyara, the Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire: forest and soda lake, volcanic caldera, baobab savannah. Three genuinely different ecosystems, and the point at which most people stop feeling they missed something. It is our most booked itinerary.

Five days — the minimum for the Serengeti

The Serengeti is a seven to eight hour drive from Arusha. Squeezing it into fewer than five days means two of them are spent almost entirely on the road. Five days gives you two nights inside the park, which is enough to follow the migration rather than glimpse it.

Seven days — the whole circuit, unhurried

Seven days adds a third Serengeti night and puts Manyara back in. You get slower mornings, longer game drives, time for a Maasai village or Olduvai Gorge, and the flexibility to follow the herds wherever they happen to be that week. If you have come a long way and may not return, this is the one.

Our rule of thumb

• ·Three days if the Serengeti is not essential.
• ·Five days if it is.
• ·Seven days if you want the trip to feel like a holiday rather than an itinerary.