Arusha and AFCON 2027: Catch a Match, Then Head Into the Serengeti

Of the three Tanzanian cities hosting AFCON 2027 matches, Arusha is the one safari operators are quietly excited about — because it's already the town everything else starts from. Long before the tournament was announced, Arusha was where northern-circuit safaris begin: it's the nearest airport to the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire and Lake Manyara, and now it's also where you'll find the 30,000-seat Samia Suluhu Hassan Stadium.

What's actually nearby

"Nearby" undersells it. From Arusha:

• Arusha National Park is under an hour away — close enough for a half-day game drive the morning of a match.
• The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater are a half-day's drive, doable as a 2–3 night add-on either side of your fixtures.
• Kilimanjaro's trailheads are roughly the same distance in the other direction, for anyone tempted to add a shorter trek.

A realistic way to structure it

Most fans flying in for AFCON won't have a month free, so the trips that work best are built around whichever fixtures you already have tickets for. A common shape: fly into Kilimanjaro International Airport a day or two before your match, spend those days on a short Ngorongoro or Tarangire safari, come back into Arusha for the game, then either fly home or extend into a longer Serengeti circuit if you've got the time.

Browse our Arusha-area safaris or send us your match dates and we'll fit a safari around them rather than making you choose between the two.