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Serengeti in December
Mixed month: December is outside the recommended season (June – October, January – March). Plan around: Migration: the Herds Return South. Christmas and New Year peak can fall this month.
The season opens in January, next month. Long Rains: Muddy Tracks, Some Camps Closed usually starts in April, 4 months away.
2 days in Serengeti in December · from ₹84,018 for two
Stay, food & local travel; getting there extra
Before you book December
Closures, crowds and rules at Serengeti this month.
Heads up
Migration: the Herds Return South
In November and December the herds come back south through the eastern and central Serengeti, following the short rains to the calving plains. Herds can be anywhere along the way; ask your camp where they are a week ahead.
What’s on in December
Timing a trip around these changes what you pay and what you can book.
Christmas and New Year peak
The busiest fortnight of the year in Zanzibar and on the northern circuit: lodges set peak rates and minimum stays, Zanzibar resorts add gala dinners, and Kilimanjaro climbs fill. Book lodges, bush flights and the climb by September or October.
What it costs
For two sharing a room; 2 days on the ground, getting there not included.
Budget
₹84,018 for two
- Room a night₹19,020
- Food a day, each₹988
- Main sight entry, each₹29,010
Mid-range
₹1,53,276 for two
- Room a night₹76,080
- Food a day, each₹2,280
- Main sight entry, each₹29,010
Luxury
₹3,13,440 for two
- Room a night₹2,09,220
- Food a day, each₹5,320
- Main sight entry, each₹29,010
What December does to prices
- The busiest fortnight of the year in Zanzibar and on the northern circuit: lodges set peak rates and minimum stays, Zanzibar resorts add gala dinners, and Kilimanjaro climbs fill.
Totals cover the room (taxes included), food, local transport, entry and a 10% buffer: the figures the planner opens on. These are typical rates; Tourisma has no month-by-month rates for Tanzania yet, so they don't move with the month.
Getting there
Fly into Arusha (JRO), 231 km away
Then: Flight · 3h (Bush flight Arusha (ARK)–Seronera (SEU), Coastal / Auric)
Flights from India: from 5 cities, one way from ₹30,000
Fly into Stone Town (ZNZ), 636 km away
Then: Flight · 5h (Bush flight Seronera (SEU)–Zanzibar (ZNZ), Coastal / Auric, one or two stops)
Flights from India: from 6 cities, one way from ₹28,000
Routes compared
Entry rules
E-visa before you fly for up to 90 days, about ₹4,760
- Apply for the Tanzania e-visa (ordinary, single entry) on the official portal at immigration.go.tz at least 2-3 weeks before you fly: US$50, about ₹4,830, for up to 90 days. Processing takes about 5-10 working days; print the grant notice. Avoid look-alike visa sites, which charge more.
- Get a yellow fever vaccination at an authorised centre in India at least 10 days before you leave, and carry the yellow certificate. Tanzania asks for it if you transit more than 12 hours in Kenya, Ethiopia or another risk country, and India asks every traveller returning from Tanzania for it at the airport.
- Going to Zanzibar: buy the compulsory Zanzibar inbound travel insurance (US$44 a person, about ₹4,250) from the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation online before you arrive, and keep the certificate. It is required even if you have your own travel insurance.
- Carry US dollars in clean notes printed in 2009 or later for park fees, tips and visas; older or torn notes are often refused.
Carry: Passport valid for at least 6 months beyond your stay, with two blank pages; E-visa grant notice (printout); Yellow fever vaccination certificate (needed again to re-enter India); Zanzibar insurance certificate, for Zanzibar; Return or onward ticket; Hotel and safari bookings.
Visas on arrival are sold at the main airports for many passports, but whether Indian passports get one was not confirmed in 2026, so get the e-visa first. Tanzania has also published rules for a compulsory insurance on the mainland, reported to start on 1 October 2026; check before you fly whether you need it.
Checked 2026-10; confirm with the embassy before you fly.
Elsewhere in Tanzania in December
Instead in season this month.
- Mafia Island · great month
- Arusha · good month
- Lake Manyara · good month
- Ngorongoro Crater · good month
- Nungwi & Kendwa · good month
- Paje & Jambiani · good month
- Stone Town · good month
Nearby in Northern Safari Circuit:
Want this as a real plan?
Serengeti in December, day by day, priced for your group.