Ask ten people for the best time to visit the Serengeti and you will get ten confident answers. Here is ours. We are locally owned, based in Arusha, and we drive these plains in every month of the year, so we will say it plainly: the best time of year for a Serengeti safari is really three questions. Where is the migration, how is the game viewing, and how many other vehicles will be parked at your sighting. The answers point to different months.
When is the best time to visit Serengeti National Park?
For a first safari, the best time to visit Africa’s Serengeti is the dry season, roughly June to October. Grass is short, water is scarce, and the animals gather where you can find them. It is the safest all-round answer, and it is also when everyone else comes, so it cannot be the whole answer.
Where is the migration at each time of year?
Broadly: the southern plains around Ndutu from December to March for the calving, the centre and the western corridor from April to June, the far north from July to October for the river crossings, then a drift back south in November. The herds never leave the ecosystem, they circle it, so your dates decide where in the park you should sleep rather than whether you will find them. Our month-by-month migration guide maps each stage properly, so we will not repeat it here. The planning point is simple. There is no month without the migration. There are only months when it is a long way from your camp.
Is the dry season or the green season better for game viewing?
Neither wins outright. If you are choosing the best time to travel to the Serengeti purely for wildlife, the two seasons offer two different safaris, not a good one and a bad one. The dry months concentrate the animals and make the cats easy to find. The green season, November to May, brings the calving, hard-working predators, storm light and far fewer vehicles. The honest caveat is April and May, the heart of the long rains, when tracks turn heavy and some camps close. If your dates fall there, we will tell you before you book, not after.
When is the best time to go to the Serengeti if you hate crowds?
The green season, and the further from the central Seronera valley the better. January to March in the south gives you the migration and the calving with a fraction of the traffic. July to October in the north is magnificent, but you will share the famous crossings with plenty of company. We think both are worth it. We just want you to choose with your eyes open.
Tell us your dates and what you most want to see, and we will tell you where in the park to be, or say honestly that another month would serve you better. That is a WhatsApp conversation, not a sales pitch, and it is how every Serengeti safari we run begins.
