Serengeti National Park is Tanzania’s most celebrated wilderness, a vast expanse of open plains, acacia woodland and rolling grassland that stretches to the horizon in every direction. It forms the heart of the Northern Circuit and is best known as the stage for the Great Migration, when more than a million wildebeest and zebra move in an endless cycle through the ecosystem in search of fresh grazing.

Beyond the migration, the Serengeti holds resident populations of lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant and buffalo year-round, making it one of the most reliable places in Africa for big cat sightings. The flat terrain and short grass in the south give way to riverine forest and kopjes further north, each area offering a different rhythm of game viewing depending on the season.

Most visitors combine the Serengeti with Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park as part of a longer northern Tanzania safari, flying between airstrips or travelling overland through the Ngorongoro Highlands. Whether timed around the migration or visited for its year-round predator activity, the park rewards travellers who allow several days to explore its different regions.