This 12-day honeymoon is built for newlyweds who want romance with a real dose of adventure. It begins on safari in Tarangire National Park, where elephant families show what raising a family looks like in the wild, before continuing to the Serengeti's endless plains, with the option to greet a sunrise from a hot air balloon, and the Ngorongoro Crater, among the best places anywhere to photograph your honeymoon. From there, you'll fly to Zanzibar for the second half of the trip, pearly beaches, a turquoise ocean, and some of the island's best-known experiences.
This is a private safari, giving you the flexibility to travel at your own pace with a dedicated vehicle and guide throughout the mainland portion. If 12 days feels like more time than you have available, our 5-Day Tanzania Honeymoon Safari and 7-Day Tanzania Honeymoon Luxury Safari cover the mainland portion alone in a shorter window.
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For a more accurate estimate, contact us with your specific requirements and budget. We'll send a detailed quote based on your itinerary, group size, and preferred level of comfort.
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On arrival at Kilimanjaro or Arusha International Airport, your honeymoon safari adventure begins. Our experienced pickup driver meets you and transfers you to your booked hotel or lodge, where you'll later meet your tour manager for a full trip briefing.
Distance: Airport transfer
Activity: Arrival and transfer, evening trip briefing
Accommodation: Hotel or lodge in Arusha
Meals: Dinner
After an early breakfast, a game drive at Tarangire National Park with picnic lunches. Herds of up to 300 elephants dig into the dry riverbed for hidden water sources here, while nomadic wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland gather around the shrinking lagoons, the highest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem. Tarangire is also the one place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope like the Fringe-eared Oryx and the long-necked gerenuk are regularly seen, and the only park that holds migrant species through the dry season.
Distance: Full day of game driving
Activity: Full-day game drive in Tarangire National Park
Accommodation: Lodge or campsite near Tarangire
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After breakfast, the route continues toward the Serengeti via the high-lying farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, leaving the highlands behind as you descend into the endless plains rolling toward the horizon. You'll head to the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park thanks to the Seronera River, arriving in time for lunch and an afternoon game drive.
Distance: Full day driving and game viewing
Activity: Drive to the Serengeti via Karatu and Ngorongoro, afternoon game drive
Accommodation: Lodge or campsite inside the Serengeti
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
An early morning game drive across the Serengeti, the largest national park in the world, a memorable way to introduce your new spouse to one of the planet's great wildlife landscapes. After returning for breakfast and a short rest, you'll head out again with your driver-guide for a full day of game driving with a picnic lunch, taking in some of the park's most rewarding wildlife spots.
Distance: Full day of game driving, split between morning and afternoon
Activity: Full-day game drive across the Serengeti
Accommodation: Lodge or campsite inside the Serengeti (second night)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After a relaxed morning and an early game drive, the journey continues toward Ngorongoro, with further game viewing en route. You'll arrive at the crater rim in the late evening for the night.
Distance: Morning game drive, then drive to Ngorongoro with en-route game viewing
Activity: Morning Serengeti game drive, transfer to Ngorongoro
Accommodation: Lodge or campsite on the Ngorongoro crater rim
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After breakfast, the descent into the crater begins for a 5 to 6 hour game drive. You'll have the chance to see the Big Five against the dramatic backdrop of the Great Rift Wall, before your driver takes you back to Arusha for the night.
Distance: Crater floor game drive, then drive back to Arusha
Activity: Full Ngorongoro Crater floor game drive, then return to Arusha
Accommodation: Hotel or lodge in Arusha
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
After breakfast at your hotel or lodge, you'll be transferred to Arusha airport to catch your flight to Zanzibar. On arrival, our transfer driver meets you and takes you to your hotel in Stone Town.
Distance: Flight from Arusha to Zanzibar
Activity: Flight to Zanzibar, transfer to hotel
Accommodation: Hotel in Stone Town
Meals: Dinner
A guided tour around 9am through Stone Town, the historic, century-old heart of Zanzibar with deep cultural and architectural significance. You'll visit the former slave market site (now an Anglican church built in 1871), the town market, the Zanzibar Memorial Museum, the House of Wonders (Beit-Al-Ajab, built in 1883), the Old Arab Fort, the Palace Museum, the Old Indian Dispensary (now a cultural centre), and on to the Maruhubi Palace ruins via the Livingstone House. Mid-afternoon, you'll drive to Jozani Forest for the red colobus monkey, found only on Zanzibar, alongside natural forest, mangrove boardwalks and the marine life beneath them.
Distance: Half-day Stone Town tour, half-day Jozani Forest visit
Activity: Stone Town historic tour, Jozani Forest visit
Accommodation: Hotel in Stone Town (second night)
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
A 9am start for the spice and botanical tour, with the chance to see and taste tropical fruits and a variety of spice plants used as ornament, medicine, flowers and food across plantations and plots on the island. The tour also includes a stop at Kidichi Bath, built in 1850 by the first Sultan for his wife Sheherazade, granddaughter of Fateh Ali Shah of Persia. Mid-afternoon, you'll transfer to Prison Island, home to giant Aldabra tortoises and a reef sanctuary ideal for swimming, snorkeling and beach relaxation, before returning to Stone Town.
Distance: Half-day spice tour, half-day Prison Island visit
Activity: Spice and botanical tour, Prison Island visit
Accommodation: Hotel in Stone Town (third night)
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
An 8am pickup for a full day of sailing, snorkeling and sunbathing on a traditional dhow, with a seafood barbecue along the way. Setting sail from Fumba, you'll explore Menai Bay, where dolphins are often sighted, before dropping anchor at the Kwale sandbank for snorkeling over the coral reefs. On Kwale Island, a buffet of grilled fish, lobster, calamari, chicken and coconut rice awaits, before the boat continues to a stunning natural lagoon for a final swim. In the evening, you'll transfer to your beach hotel.
Distance: Full-day dhow excursion
Activity: Safari Blue dhow trip: sailing, snorkeling and a seafood barbecue
Accommodation: Beach hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
A full day to relax at your beach hotel after the activity of the past ten days, the first of two unstructured beach days built into this honeymoon.
Distance: At leisure
Activity: Full day of beach relaxation
Accommodation: Beach hotel (second night)
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
After breakfast at the beach resort, you'll be transferred to the airport for your flight home, marking the end of this 12-day Tanzania and Zanzibar honeymoon.
Distance: Airport transfer
Activity: Departure transfer
Accommodation: N/A, end of honeymoon
Meals: Breakfast
Yes, this is a popular optional add-on during your time in the Serengeti, an early-morning balloon flight over the plains followed by a champagne breakfast on landing. Let us know if you'd like to include it and we'll arrange the timing and cost.
This is a private safari, meaning you'll have your own dedicated vehicle and driver-guide throughout the mainland portion, rather than sharing with other travelers. This gives you full flexibility over pacing, photo stops and timing, which suits a honeymoon far better than a fixed group schedule.
The mainland safari days are entirely vehicle-based, no fitness requirement applies there. In Zanzibar, the Stone Town tour involves walking through narrow historic streets, and the Safari Blue dhow excursion includes optional swimming and snorkeling. None of this is physically demanding.
The price covers all accommodation during your holiday, full board meals (breakfast, hot or picnic lunch, and dinner while on safari), all transfers and transport, park fees, game viewing activities as described in the itinerary, a safari driver-guide and safari cook, the local flight from Arusha to Zanzibar, and water throughout. Items of a personal nature, tips and gratuities for safari staff, international airfares, any required visas, and travel insurance are not included. See the full "What's included" and "Not included" sections on this page for the complete breakdown.
Yes, this is a private trip and the order, pacing, and specific activities in Zanzibar can be adjusted to suit your preferences, more beach time, a different balance of mainland safari days, or swapping in different Zanzibar excursions. Let us know what matters most to you and we'll tailor the itinerary.
Tarangire offers the country's largest elephant herds and rare dry-country antelope like the Fringe-eared Oryx; the Serengeti holds lion, leopard, cheetah and (seasonally) the wildebeest migration; and the Ngorongoro Crater offers a dense Big Five concentration in a single, dramatic setting.
Most nationalities can obtain a Tanzania tourist visa online via the eTA system before travel, or on arrival (this covers Zanzibar as part of Tanzania). The visa costs USD 50 for most nationalities and USD 100 for US citizens. Comprehensive travel insurance covering medical evacuation is recommended for all travelers, particularly given the combination of safari and water-based activities on this trip.
SafariBando operates ground teams covering both the mainland safari circuit and Zanzibar logistics, including airport transfers and domestic flight arrangements. If anything needs adjusting during your trip, our local team can assist directly, and the Flying Doctors Service covers medical evacuation from the mainland parks on this itinerary.
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Me and my partner did a 9 day safari in Tanzania and Kenya with Safari Bando, and I can honestly say it was a trip of a lifetime. Absolutely incredible. 5 days in Tanzania visiting Tarangire, Serengeti…
