12 Day Uganda Rwanda Tanzania Safari: Two Gorilla Treks and the Serengeti
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12 Days
A gorilla trek at Volcanoes, then Ngorongoro Crater and three nights in the Serengeti
Best for: Travellers who want one gorilla trek added to a classic Tanzania safari, in nine days
Itinerary ref: MC-029
A 9 day Rwanda Tanzania safari puts one mountain gorilla trek in Rwanda in front of a classic northern Tanzania safari: a night in Kigali, a flight to Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro Crater and three nights in the central Serengeti. It is the shortest route that does both well, and it is sold on fixed start days because the flight between the two countries does not run daily.
Tell us which week you would like to travel and we will confirm a start day that fits the flight for your 9 day Rwanda Tanzania safari.
Enquire About This SafariThis Rwanda and Tanzania safari itinerary is a gorilla trek followed by a safari, not two safaris squeezed together. As a gorillas and Serengeti safari it is as short as we would make it. You land in Kigali and drive straight to Volcanoes National Park for two nights and one trek, return to Kigali for a night, fly to Kilimanjaro, and spend the second half of the trip on the northern Tanzanian circuit: a night in Karatu, a morning inside Ngorongoro Crater and three nights in the central Serengeti.
The gorillas come first because the trek has a fixed permit date and is the most physical day. The Serengeti comes second, because it is the part of the trip that rewards a rested traveller with long days in a vehicle. For how the two countries combine in general, read our guide to how Rwanda and Tanzania combine.
If you want a second gorilla trek in Uganda as well, our 12 day route adding Uganda does it. If you can add Kenya, the 10 day route through Kenya brings in the Maasai Mara.
Eight nights, one international flight and two internal moves. Day 1 must fall on a Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday for the flight on day 4 to work.
| Night | Where | Where you stay | How you get there |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda | Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel, or Amakoro Songa Lodge | Arrive at Kigali, drive about 2.5 hours |
| 3 | Kigali, Rwanda | A boutique hotel in Kigali | Drive of about 2.5 hours after the trek |
| 4 | Arusha side, Tanzania | A lodge in the Arusha foothills | RwandAir flight to Kilimanjaro, then about 1h10 by road |
| 5 | Karatu, Tanzania | Gibb's Farm | Drive of about 3 hours |
| 6 to 8 | Central Serengeti | Kubu Kubu, central Serengeti | Ngorongoro Crater at first light, then 3 to 4 hours by road |
| 9 | Kilimanjaro airport | Departure | Flight from Seronera to Arusha, then the road to the airport |
If a lodge is full for your dates, we place you in a comparable lodge in the same area.
Nine days, two countries and one gorilla trek, with the Ngorongoro Crater and three Serengeti nights to follow.
Your driver-guide meets you at Kigali International Airport and drives you about 2.5 hours (105 km) north to the foot of the Virunga volcanoes, through terraced hills and small towns. You check in to your lodge in the afternoon. The first day of the 9 day Rwanda Tanzania safari is a rest day. Start on a Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday.
After an early breakfast you report to the Kinigi headquarters at about 07:00, where rangers assign you to a habituated gorilla family. The trek takes from half an hour to several hours, depending on where the family spent the night, and when you reach them you stay for one hour. You return to the lodge with the afternoon free.
After a relaxed breakfast you drive about 2.5 hours to Kigali. If time allows, you can visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial before dinner. We keep this night in the city deliberately, so that you are close to the airport for tomorrow's flight rather than risking a morning drive.
A midday flight on RwandAir takes you to Kilimanjaro International Airport, landing in the mid-afternoon. After immigration and the Tanzanian visa and insurance checks, your driver-guide takes you about 1h10 by road to Arusha, where you sleep tonight in a lodge in the foothills. This day is why the route runs on fixed start days.
A drive of about three hours takes you from Arusha towards Karatu, the small farming town on the slopes below the Ngorongoro Highlands. You stop for lunch on the way and spend the afternoon at your lodge, which is set among coffee farms and gardens. Tomorrow starts early.
You leave before dawn and descend into the crater at 06:00, when the gate opens, to spend the morning on the floor. Lions, elephants, hippos and buffalo live here, and black rhino can sometimes be seen. After a picnic lunch you climb out and drive three to four hours, through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and past Naabi Hill gate, to the central Serengeti, arriving in the late afternoon.
A full day in the Seronera valley and beyond, with an early morning drive, breakfast or a picnic in the bush and a late afternoon drive. The Seronera area is the best part of the park for big cats in every month of the year.
The second Serengeti day of the 9 day Rwanda Tanzania safari takes a different route. Your guide may take you to the kopjes where lions rest, to the river where leopards use the trees, or out to the plains towards Naabi Hill for the herds.
You take a flight of about 1h10 from Seronera to Arusha, then drive about an hour to Kilimanjaro International Airport for an evening departure. We advise booking your international flight for the evening, as the Serengeti flight schedule and the road make an earlier flight unreliable.
You spend two nights near Volcanoes National Park so that your arrival day is a rest day and the trek has a night's sleep behind it. Rwanda allows one visit per gorilla family per day, for a group of eight, so permits go first and everything else is built around them.
As checked on 10 October 2026, a Rwanda gorilla permit is USD 1,500 per person, and the minimum age is 15. Trekkers report to the Kinigi headquarters at about 07:00. The walk takes from half an hour to several hours, and you spend one hour with the family. If you want to know what else Rwanda offers, our Rwanda safari packages spend more days there.
The Kigali to Kilimanjaro flight is the hinge of the 9 day Rwanda Tanzania safari. RwandAir lists a service between the two airports on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, departing around midday and landing in the mid-afternoon. Some listings show the routing as direct and others show a stop in Dar es Salaam, so we confirm the day, the time and the routing when we book. Because the flight runs three days a week, we sell this route with fixed start days: day 1 must be a Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday, which puts the flight on day 4.
We never schedule the Serengeti on the day you land. A mid-afternoon arrival, immigration and the hour on the road to Arusha make a dark arrival if you drive on to Karatu, so you sleep in Arusha first. Our safari flight logistics guide covers the other flights on the circuit.
On the 9 day Rwanda Tanzania safari, two Serengeti nights leave you about one clear game-drive day once you have crossed from the crater, so we plan three. You spend a night in Karatu to be near the crater, descend at 06:00 when the gate opens, spend the morning on the floor and then drive three to four hours to the central Serengeti, arriving in the late afternoon. Our guides to Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti describe both in depth.
We base you in the central Serengeti, around Seronera, which holds lions, leopards and resident herds in every month. The great herds move with the rains: they are in the southern plains from January to March, the west in June and the north from July to October. If you travel from July to October and would rather be in the north for the river crossings, ask us for a fly-in version.
June to October is the strongest window, because the forest trails at Volcanoes are drier and the Serengeti is in its dry season, when animals gather at the rivers and waterholes. January to February suits the calving on the southern plains, where we would base you instead. Gorillas can be trekked all year, and the central Serengeti is good in every month.
The wettest months are March to May, with the heaviest rain in April and May. They are quieter, and the forests are muddier. Read our guide to the best time to visit Tanzania and our guide to how the Great Migration works to choose your dates.
On the 9 day Rwanda Tanzania safari we use classic comfort and premium lodges, chosen for their position: close to the park headquarters, the crater and the Serengeti game drives.
If a lodge is full for your dates we use a comparable lodge in the same area and tell you before you pay.
We keep dated changes on our entry alerts list, and the rules for each country are in our visa requirements guide. Travel insurance with medical evacuation is advised; see our insurance guide. These are checked facts, not promises, so please confirm on the official portals.
We quote the 9 day Rwanda Tanzania safari per person for your dates and group size, so the price is on request. The quote itemises the lines below.
| Cost line | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Gorilla permit | Rwanda USD 1,500 per person, as checked on 10 October 2026 |
| Flights | Kigali to Kilimanjaro on RwandAir and the Serengeti to Arusha flight on day 9, with a 15 kg soft-bag limit on the bush flight |
| Lodges | Eight nights at classic comfort and premium level, with meals as listed in your quote |
| Park and crater fees | Daily fees for Volcanoes, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, itemised |
| Vehicles and guides | A private vehicle with a driver-guide in each country |
| Visas and insurance | Paid by you to the government portals; we guide you through the order |
Our guide to what an East Africa safari costs explains how each line changes with the season.
Everything below is included in your quote for the 9 day Rwanda Tanzania safari unless it appears under not included.
The guides and routes we suggest reading before you decide.
Send us the week you would like to travel, and we will confirm the start day, the permit and the flights, then quote the route line by line.
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