National Parks Atlas · Country · checked 25 Sep 2026
The Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater belong to one ecosystem but are run by two authorities, with two fee lists and two sets of rules.
Serengeti and Ngorongoro, each with fees and gates
park authorities, operators and transport providers
per vehicle and descent into the Ngorongoro
World Heritage Site since 1981
Last checked: 25 Sep 2026
Serengeti National Park is managed by Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA). The Ngorongoro Crater is not a national park but the heart of an inhabited conservation area with its own authority, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, where the Maasai live with their herds.
Most visitors see both on one trip, because the usual road to the Serengeti runs through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. That means two daily fees, two permits and two sets of gate times. The guides set them out with the tariff lists of each authority.
01 · Park guides
Fees, permits, gates, the migration calendar and the rules of each authority.
| Serengeti | Ngorongoro | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | National park since 1959 | Conservation area since 1959, inhabited |
| Authority | Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) | Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority |
| Size | 14,763 km², Tanzania's third-largest park | 809,440 ha; crater floor 260 km² (100 sq mi) |
| Entry per adult | US$70 a day in high season, 60 from 15 March to 15 May, plus 18% VAT | US$70.80 per person per day |
| Vehicle | US$40 up to two tonnes | US$47.20 for foreign-registered vehicles, plus US$295 per descent into the crater |
| Permit | 12 daylight hours, or 24 hours with an overnight stay | A single entry within 24 hours |
| Payment | Electronic only: card or mobile money, no cash | Online in advance recommended |
| World Heritage | Since 1981 | Since 1979, cultural heritage since 2010 |
03 · Fees
According to the TANAPA tariff list, adults pay US$70 per day from 16 May to 14 March and US$60 from 15 March to 15 May; children aged 5 to 15 pay 20, under 5 free, each plus 18 per cent VAT. Public campsites cost US$30 per person per night, and a balloon safari carries an extra park fee of US$50 per person per flight. The list is titled "Financial Year 2023/2024"; on 25 September 2026 the authority still showed it as current. The authority changes its fees on 1 July, so check before you travel.
Entry costs US$70.80 per person per day from age 16 and US$23.60 for children aged 5 to 15. The special feature is the crater fee of US$295 per vehicle for each descent to the crater floor. Day trips from Arusha include all this in the price; if you drive yourself, you pay it yourself, best online in advance. Lodges inside the area add a concession fee of US$59 per person per night.
The wildebeest herds are in the Serengeti ecosystem all year; the month decides where. According to the park authority's calendar, they calve in the south from January to March, move through the centre in April and May, cross the Grumeti in June and July and the Mara in August and September, and are back in the south in December. At Ndutu, in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the calving runs from late December to March. The authority stresses that the timing can shift.
The Ngorongoro Crater is accessible all year. The dry season runs from June to October and the rainy season from November to May, when migratory birds arrive. The crater rim lies above 2,200 m (7,218 ft), and nights are always cold, coldest from June to August. In the Serengeti the tracks are gravel and clay, partly impassable in the rainy season, and the low season from 15 March to 15 May has the lower fee.
The usual route runs from Arusha via Karatu through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to Naabi gate in the Serengeti. The conservation area's authority gives 174 km (108 mi) from Arusha Airport and 227 km (141 mi) from Kilimanjaro International Airport; the main Loduare Gate is 14 km (8.7 mi) beyond Karatu. The conservation area's gates are open from 6:00 to 18:00, and the transit to the Serengeti needs its daily fee.
Descents into the crater close at 16:00, and every vehicle must be back up by 18:00. Only four-wheel-drive vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes with a licensed guide may go down to the floor, and nobody gets out. Walking is prohibited in the crater and allowed on the rim, in Empakaai and in Olmoti only with an armed ranger.
The Serengeti ecosystem of 30,000 km² reaches across the border into Kenya's Maasai Mara, but the onward trip does not run through the parks: operators route it via Arusha and Nairobi.
06 · Editorial
Every fee, date and rule on this page comes from the park guides below, each linked to the official source.
Fees, opening times and reservation rules change. Check the official page before you travel.
