How Much Does a Tanzania Safari Cost?

Updated September 2026 · 8 min read · By Lion Crest Expeditions, Arusha

On our own tours, a private day trip from Arusha costs from $175 per person, a 3- to 4-day safari roughly $765 to $1,990 per person, and a week-long safari from about $1,960 per person. The biggest factors are group size, the season, the parks you visit and where you sleep.

Example prices from our tours

All prices are per person, in US dollars, for a private safari. The lower figure is for a larger group, the higher figure for two travellers or one.

Every tour page has a price finder: choose how many are travelling and it shows the price per person and the total for your group.

Where the money goes

A large share of any Tanzania safari price is fixed government fees. The rest pays for the vehicle, fuel, your guide, accommodation, meals and drinking water. That is why very cheap offers usually cut something important: a shared vehicle, an inexperienced guide, or lodges far outside the parks.

Official park fees in 2026

Fees are charged per person for every 24 hours inside a park, for non-resident adults, and include 18% VAT:

Children under 5 enter free. Children from 5 to 15 pay less: $23.60 per day in the Serengeti and $17.70 in Tarangire, Lake Manyara and Arusha National Park. On top of this, lodges and camps inside the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area charge a nightly concession fee, which we include in our prices.

Sources: Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) tariff and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA). The last official TANAPA schedule was published for 2023/24 and is still the one applied in 2026. The government can change fees; any increase after you book is shown in our list of exclusions.

Why group size changes the price so much

The vehicle, the guide, the fuel and the Crater service fee cost the same whether one person or six are on board. For example, on a Ngorongoro Crater day, the $295 Crater service fee alone works out like this:

That is why a solo traveller pays about three times more per person than someone in a group of six, even though the day is exactly the same.

Budget, mid-range or luxury: what really changes

• Budget camping: you sleep in simple dome tents at public campsites, with shared toilets and showers, and a camp cook travels with you. Same parks, same game drives, lowest price.
• Mid-range: comfortable lodges or permanent tented camps with private bathrooms, often just outside the park gates or on the Ngorongoro highlands.
• Luxury: small tented camps and lodges deep inside the parks, often in the best wildlife areas. Prices rise steeply, and some trips add light-aircraft flights to save driving time.

The game drives themselves, the parks and the guide are the same across all three. What you pay for is where you sleep and how you travel between parks.

Costs that are not in the tour price

• International flights to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) or Arusha.
• Tanzania tourist visa: $50 for most nationalities; US citizens pay $100 for a multiple-entry visa.
• Compulsory inbound travel insurance: from 1 October 2026, foreign visitors entering mainland Tanzania must buy a $44 policy from the National Insurance Corporation. Zanzibar has its own $44 compulsory policy.
• Tips for your guide and camp staff (see our packing list and tips guide).
• Drinks, souvenirs and personal items.
• Vaccinations and medicine recommended by your travel clinic.

Five ways to pay less without a worse safari

1. Travel as a group of four to six and share the vehicle.
2. Choose March to May or November, when park fees and many lodge rates are lower.
3. Combine day trips from Arusha instead of adding hotel nights.
4. Pick a camping safari for the same parks at a lower price.
5. Spend fewer nights in the Serengeti, which has the highest park fee, and more time in Tarangire and the Crater.