Can you do a safari from Dar es Salaam in a week?

Yes, in the south. Mikumi is a five to six hour drive from Dar and Nyerere, the former Selous, is reachable by road or a short flight. Both hold elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hippo, lion and wild dog. What you cannot reasonably do in a week from Dar is the northern circuit — Serengeti and Ngorongoro are a domestic flight and a different trip.

Mikumi or Nyerere for a short safari?

Mikumi if budget and drive time matter most: it is closer, cheaper, easy to reach by road, and the open Mkata floodplain gives reliable plains-game viewing. Nyerere if the experience matters more: it is vastly larger, far less visited, and the Rufiji River boat safaris are something the northern parks cannot offer at all.

Should I do a safari or Zanzibar in seven days?

You can fit one properly, not both plus the city. A week comfortably holds Dar plus a park, or Dar plus Zanzibar with time to spare. Trying to stack all three means three travel days out of seven and no day anywhere long enough to matter.

How much does a week in Tanzania from Dar cost?

The safari dominates everything else. Park fees are charged per person per day in US dollars and are substantial, and most people book a package covering the vehicle, guide, park fees and lodging. Dar itself is inexpensive by comparison. Get quotes from several operators and confirm exactly which fees are included, because that is where quotes differ most.

Do I need to fly internally in Tanzania?

Not for this itinerary. Mikumi and Nyerere are both drivable from Dar, and Zanzibar has a ferry. Internal flights only become necessary for the northern circuit, which is a different trip built around Arusha rather than Dar.

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A 7 Day Tanzania Itinerary Starting in Dar es Salaam

Seven days that fit a city, an island and a national park without living on the road: two days in Dar, three at Mikumi or Nyerere, two on the coast. Which park to pick, what it costs, and the version that swaps the safari for Zanzibar.

Itineraries7 min readUpdated 26 August 2026

Elephants and open woodland in Nyerere National Park, southern Tanzania

A week is the first length of trip where Tanzania stops being a city break and becomes the country. It is also where most itineraries fall apart, because a week looks like it should hold Dar, a safari and Zanzibar, and it does not — not without spending three of the seven days in a vehicle.

This is the version that works: the city, one park, and the coast. There is an alternative at the bottom for anyone who would rather have the island than the animals.

Choosing the park

Everything else in this itinerary follows from this decision, so make it first.

	Mikumi	Nyerere (Selous)
From Dar	5–6 hours by road	Road or short flight
Size	Compact	Among the largest reserves in Africa
Crowds	Moderate	Very low
Signature	Mkata floodplain, reliable plains game	Rufiji River boat safaris
Cost	Lower	Higher
Best for	A first safari on a budget	A safari that feels remote

Mikumi shares an ecosystem with Nyerere and its open Mkata floodplain gives the closest thing Tanzania's south has to Serengeti-style viewing: elephant, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, lion. It is the practical choice, it is drivable, and a three-day trip there is genuinely satisfying.

Nyerere, the part of the former Selous Game Reserve upgraded to national park status, is on another scale entirely — vast, thinly visited, and cut through by the Rufiji River, which means you can do boat safaris alongside game drives. Hippo, crocodile, elephant coming down to drink at eye level from the water. Nothing in the northern circuit offers this.

Zebra and open grassland on the Mkata floodplain in Mikumi National Park — Mikumi's Mkata floodplain, five hours from Dar and the easiest real safari from the city.

Dar: arrive, and the city centre

MorningIf you landed the night before, Kivukoni fish market at six. If you are landing today, do nothing and let the heat and the flight settle.

10:00amThe National Museum of Tanzania. Do this before the park, not after: the Olduvai and Laetoli material puts everything you are about to drive through into context.

12:00pmThe Sokoine Drive waterfront walk. Azania Front, St Joseph's, the Old Boma. Half an hour.

4:00pmVillage Museum as it cools.

6:15pmSunset on the peninsula. Confirm your safari pickup time tonight.

Dar: Bongoyo, and pack

9:00amBoat and marine reserve entry at The Slipway. Twenty-five minutes to Bongoyo.

All daySwim, eat off the beach grill, do nothing. This is the last easy day before four days of early starts.

4:00pmBack on the last boats.

EveningPack a separate small bag for the safari and leave the rest at your Dar hotel — most will hold luggage for free. Neutral colours, long sleeves for the evenings, and far more insect repellent than you think.

The beach at Bongoyo Island off Dar es Salaam

Drive to the park, and an afternoon game drive

6:00amEarly pickup. The road out of Dar is the worst part of the day and getting ahead of the traffic matters more than the sleep.

MiddayArrive, check in, lunch. The drive is long but the last hour, once you are into the park, does the work.

4:00pmAfternoon game drive. The light is best in the last two hours and so is the animal activity. Everything sleeps through the middle of the day, animals included.

EveningDinner at the lodge, and an early night, because tomorrow starts before dawn.

A full day in the park

5:30amDawn game drive, which is the one that matters. Predators are still moving, the light is long, and the heat has not arrived.

11:00amBack for breakfast and out of the sun. Nothing worth seeing moves between eleven and four.

4:00pmSecond drive, or — if you are in Nyerere — a Rufiji River boat safari, which is the single best thing on this itinerary and the reason to have chosen Nyerere in the first place.

EveningAsk your guide what they saw that you missed. They always saw more.

Elephants in open woodland in Nyerere National Park — Nyerere: emptier, wilder, and the only one of the two with river safaris.

A last dawn drive, and back to the coast

5:30amOne more dawn drive. Do not skip it for the lie-in; the last morning is often the best one, because you finally know how to look.

10:00amBreakfast, then the drive back. Long, and you will sleep through most of it.

EveningBack in Dar. Shower, a real dinner, and something cold on a roof.

The coast, slowly

Two ways to spend the day, both correct after four days of early starts.

Saadani, if you want more animals

Distance: North of Dar
Note: The only park on the Tanzanian coast
Signature: Elephants on the beach

Saadani National Park is the only place in East Africa where the bush meets the Indian Ocean directly, which means elephant and buffalo on a beach and a boat safari up the Wami River with hippo, crocodile and mangrove birdlife. It is a genuinely strange and good place.

The shoreline and coastal bush of Saadani National Park

Bagamoyo and a slow coast day

Distance: 70km north
Drive: 90 minutes
Cost: Car and driver

Or the human history instead: Bagamoyo, the caravan terminus and mainland slave port that became the first capital of German East Africa, with the Kaole ruins south of the old town. Back to the peninsula by late afternoon.

Lazy Lagoon, a private island off Bagamoyo, is the do-nothing version of this day if you would rather swim than think.

The sandbar and shallow water at Lazy Lagoon island off Bagamoyo

Out

MorningKariakoo if you want to buy spices where the city actually buys them, and are alert enough to keep your phone away. Otherwise a slow breakfast and the peninsula.

WheneverLeave three hours for the airport on a weekday. This is not caution, it is the single most common way people miss flights out of Dar.

The alternative week: coast instead of safari

If beaches matter more to you than animals, the same seven days rearrange cleanly:

Days 1–2. Dar: the city, then Bongoyo.
Day 3. Morning ferry to Zanzibar. Stone Town on foot, a night in the old quarter.
Days 4–5. North to Nungwi or Kendwa, with a spice farm or Jozani forest on the way. Two nights.
Day 6. Ferry or fly back to Dar. An afternoon and evening on the peninsula.
Day 7. Out.

This version is cheaper, far less tiring, and involves no 5am starts. It is the better week for a first trip, a honeymoon, or anyone travelling with small children.

Booking, in order

The safari. Months ahead in high season. Get quotes from several operators and confirm precisely which park fees, vehicle costs and meals are included — that is where quotes diverge.
Zanzibar hotels, if you are taking the alternative version.
Your Dar hotel, which can hold your main luggage while you are inland.
Nothing else.

Practical notes

Park fees are per person, per day, in US dollars, and they are the largest single cost of the week. Bring clean post-2013 notes as backup even if your operator is handling it.
Malaria prophylaxis matters more inland than on the coast. Speak to a travel clinic well before you go.
June to October is the dry season and the best game viewing, as water sources shrink and animals concentrate. March to May is the long rains, when some southern lodges close entirely.
Neutral clothing, long sleeves for dawn and dusk, and a proper hat.
Cash for tips, which are expected for guides and lodge staff and are not usually in the package price.

The first two evenings and the last two are all on the peninsula. Midtown is on the roof in Masaki, and after four days of 5am starts it is a reasonable place to stop moving.

Book a table at Midtown

Common questions

Can you do a safari from Dar es Salaam in a week?: Yes, in the south. Mikumi is a five to six hour drive from Dar and Nyerere, the former Selous, is reachable by road or a short flight. Both hold elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hippo, lion and wild dog. What you cannot reasonably do in a week from Dar is the northern circuit — Serengeti and Ngorongoro are a domestic flight and a different trip.
Mikumi or Nyerere for a short safari?: Mikumi if budget and drive time matter most: it is closer, cheaper, easy to reach by road, and the open Mkata floodplain gives reliable plains-game viewing. Nyerere if the experience matters more: it is vastly larger, far less visited, and the Rufiji River boat safaris are something the northern parks cannot offer at all.
Should I do a safari or Zanzibar in seven days?: You can fit one properly, not both plus the city. A week comfortably holds Dar plus a park, or Dar plus Zanzibar with time to spare. Trying to stack all three means three travel days out of seven and no day anywhere long enough to matter.
How much does a week in Tanzania from Dar cost?: The safari dominates everything else. Park fees are charged per person per day in US dollars and are substantial, and most people book a package covering the vehicle, guide, park fees and lodging. Dar itself is inexpensive by comparison. Get quotes from several operators and confirm exactly which fees are included, because that is where quotes differ most.
Do I need to fly internally in Tanzania?: Not for this itinerary. Mikumi and Nyerere are both drivable from Dar, and Zanzibar has a ferry. Internal flights only become necessary for the northern circuit, which is a different trip built around Arusha rather than Dar.