Day Trip Ngorongoro Crater
A day in the Ngorongoro Crater with no overnight stay: down into the crater to the Big Five, privately guided, from Arusha City or with a flight from and to Zanzibar.
1 dayCalculate the price
Ngorongoro Crater
Around 260 square kilometres of crater floor, surrounded by walls of about 500 metres, and inside live some 25,000 larger animals.
Highlights
- Considered the world's largest intact caldera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- All of the Big Five possible in one day, but not guaranteed
- Around 25,000 larger animals on the crater floor
- The best chance of seeing rhinos in northern Tanzania
- More than 500 bird species, flamingos on Lake Magadi
- Olduvai Gorge as a side trip into early human history
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Ngorongoro Crater at a glance
Around 260 square kilometres of crater floor, surrounded by walls of about 500 metres, and inside live some 25,000 larger animals. The Big Five included. The Ngorongoro Crater is considered the largest intact caldera in the world.
The crater formed around two to two and a half million years ago, when a large volcano erupted and collapsed in on itself. The conservation area around it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, partly because wildlife and the Maasai with their herds live side by side here.
Impressions
An ecosystem inside a volcanic bowl
The crater walls are around 500 metres high and unbroken all the way round, and the rim lies above 2,200 metres. What lives down below mostly stays down below: the crater is an almost self-contained ecosystem in which grass plains, small acacia woods, swamps and the soda lake Lake Magadi alternate.
The crater is the best-known part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which extends as far as Olduvai Gorge. Unlike in a national park, people live here too: the Maasai move across the highlands with their herds, and on the way to the crater rim you drive past their villages.
Wildlife
Around 25,000 larger animals share the crater floor: wildebeest, zebras and buffalo on the plains, hippos in the pools, plus lions, hyenas and elephants. This is where the rare black rhino has its best chance in northern Tanzania of being seen. Or rather: where you have yours.
Two things are missing, though. There are no giraffes on the crater floor, probably because of the steep walls and the lack of trees to feed on, and leopards tend to show themselves on the wooded crater rim rather than down in the crater. Bird lovers, on the other hand, can count more than 500 species, and flamingos often stand in the shallow water of Lake Magadi.
Safari and surroundings
A safari day at the crater starts early: game drives are permitted from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and there is most movement down below in the morning. A steep crater road takes you about 500 metres down, and a game drive on the floor usually lasts six to eight hours. Nights are spent outside the crater, because all vehicles must leave it before sunset.
In the surrounding area, Olduvai Gorge is worth a visit, one of the most important archaeological sites in human history; its museum documents 3.7-million-year-old footprints from Laetoli. If you wish, you can also visit a Maasai village. The crater is most often combined with the Serengeti, whose centre lies around three and a half hours' drive away.
Best time to travel
The crater works all year round, because its animals do not migrate away. The dry months (June to October, late December to February) are the most pleasant, because the tracks are firm and visibility is clear. Most rain falls from March to May. And pack something warm: on the crater rim it can cool down to about 5 °C in the early morning.
Getting there
- From Arusha to the crater rim
- just over three hours by road
- From Kilimanjaro International Airport
- first around 55 kilometres to Arusha, just over an hour
- By domestic flight
- to Lake Manyara Airstrip, then about an hour and a half by road
The crater is visited on a safari with a 4x4 and a guide; with us, it is private for your travel group.
Fees
Entry around 70 to 80 USD per person per day for international visitors, plus a crater descent fee of around 300 USD per vehicle and a vehicle fee from about 40 USD per day. If you stay overnight in the conservation area, a concession fee of about 50 USD per person per night is added (as of August 2026; the authority adjusts its rates regularly). The fees are already included in our quotes.
Matching tours
Day trip · 1 tour
2 days · 1 tour
2-Day Tarangire & Ngorongoro Crater
Compact two-day safari from Arusha City: elephants on the Tarangire River, then down to the Big Five in the Ngorongoro Crater. One overnight stay, privately guided.
2 daysCalculate the price
3 days · 2 tours
3-Day Fly-in Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater
Fly into the Serengeti, return via the Ngorongoro Crater: three safari days with two overnight stays, from Arusha City or Zanzibar.
3 daysCalculate the price
3-Day Tarangire, Lake Manyara & Ngorongoro Crater
Three days on the northern route from Arusha City: Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater, with two overnight stays and a Big Five finale.
3 daysCalculate the price
4 days · 2 tours
4-Day Arusha National Park, Tarangire, Lake Manyara & Ngorongoro Crater
Four days, four parks: from Arusha National Park via Tarangire and Lake Manyara down into the Ngorongoro Crater, with three nights from Arusha City.
4 daysCalculate the price
4-Day Tarangire, Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater
Four days from Arusha City: elephants in Tarangire, two days in the central Serengeti and finally the Ngorongoro Crater. Three nights, privately guided.
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5 days · 2 tours
5-Day Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater
The great northern circuit in five days: from Tarangire via Lake Manyara into the Serengeti and finally down into the crater. Four nights, privately guided.
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5-Day Tarangire, Serengeti (3 days) & Ngorongoro Crater
Five travel days, three of them in the Serengeti: a start in Tarangire, a finish in the Ngorongoro Crater, four nights from Arusha City.
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6 days · 2 tours
6-Day Arusha National Park, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater
Six days right across the north, from the Momella Lakes to the crater floor, with two full days in the Serengeti and five nights.
6 daysCalculate the price
6-Day Arusha National Park, Tarangire, Serengeti (3 days) & Ngorongoro Crater
Six days with the focus on the Serengeti: three days in a row in the park, framed by Arusha National Park, Tarangire and the Ngorongoro Crater.
6 daysCalculate the price
7 days · 2 tours
7-Day Arusha National Park, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti (3 days) & Ngorongoro Crater
Seven days, the whole of the north: first Arusha National Park, Tarangire and Manyara, then three Serengeti days, and finally the crater.
7 daysCalculate the price
7-Day Fly-in Serengeti (3 days), Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Tarangire & Arusha National Park
Seven days, Serengeti first: fly in, stay three days, then back via the crater, Manyara and Tarangire all the way to Arusha National Park.
7 daysCalculate the price
Frequently asked questions
Which animals live in the Ngorongoro Crater?
Around 25,000 larger animals, including all of the Big Five: lions and buffalo are often seen, elephants regularly, and for the black rhino the crater is the best place in northern Tanzania. Add to that wildebeest, zebras, hyenas, hippos and more than 500 bird species. Only giraffes are absent from the crater floor, probably because of the steep walls and the lack of trees to feed on, and leopards mostly stay on the wooded rim.
When is the best time to visit the Ngorongoro Crater?
Basically all year round, because the crater keeps its animals. Wildlife viewing is easier in the two dry seasons (June to October and late December to February), while the tracks can be muddy from March to May. Whatever the season: set off early, because the most is going on down below in the morning.
How long does a game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater take?
Usually six to eight hours. Game drives are permitted from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and it pays to be at the gate at 7 a.m. sharp. At midday you picnic at one of the designated sites, and all vehicles must leave the crater floor again before sunset; nights are spent on the rim or further away.
What fees are payable at the Ngorongoro Crater?
Several at once: entry per person, a descent fee per vehicle, a vehicle fee and, if you stay overnight in the conservation area, a concession fee. The amounts are set by the park authority and adjusted regularly; the current ones are in the fees section above. Good to know: all fees are already included in our quotes, so there is nothing extra to pay.
Can you fly a drone in the Ngorongoro Crater?
Not without a permit. Every drone flight in Tanzania requires permission from the aviation authority, TCAA; for visitors from abroad, processing takes three to four weeks, and drones without a permit can be confiscated. Commercial filming in the conservation area also requires a permit from the conservation area authority. Our tip: you can have the view from above legally, on a hot-air balloon flight over the Serengeti.
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