Arusha is located in the north of Tanzania, and is perfectly positioned for all Northern Circuit parks, making it the safari capital of Tanzania.
Many travellers spend just one night in Arusha before their safari begins. Those who stay a little longer find a national park on the city’s doorstep, where you can walk with a ranger, canoe past giraffes, and watch black-and-white colobus monkeys leap through the forest canopy.
Arusha National Park packs remarkable variety into a small space. Flamingos often gather on the shallow Momella Lakes, buffalo graze the floor of Ngurdoto Crater, and Mount Meru rises above it all. Climbers can take on Meru itself, a rewarding trek and a fine warm-up for Kilimanjaro.
Back in town, the Maasai market and the Cultural Heritage Centre are full of beadwork, carvings and local art. Coffee estates and flower farms line the outskirts, and the forest-ringed crater lake of Lake Duluti offers canoeing and birdlife close to the centre.
Arusha is sometimes called the Geneva of Africa. The East African Community has its headquarters here, and the 1967 Arusha Declaration helped shape modern Tanzania. Beyond the city, the road west leads to Tarangire, Lake Manyara, the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, which is why so many northern safaris start here.
Arusha sits at around 1,400 metres on the southern slopes of Mount Meru, a volcano that rises to 4,562 metres and is Tanzania’s second-highest mountain. The altitude keeps the climate mild, with cool mornings and evenings for much of the year. On clear days, the snowy summit of Kilimanjaro can be seen on the eastern horizon.
The capital of the Arusha Region, the city has grown quickly and is now home to more than 600,000 people. Its outskirts are a green patchwork of coffee estates, flower farms and small villages. Kilimanjaro International Airport is about 45 minutes away by road, while Arusha Airport, around 15 minutes from the centre, handles light aircraft flights to the parks and the coast.
Arusha is part of a wider selection of TANZANIA holidays and accommodation.
