Tanzania Safari from The USA: Flights, Visa and Planning

Getting to Tanzania from the United States takes some real travel time — there are no direct flights, so most American travelers connect through Amsterdam, Doha, Dubai or Addis Ababa before landing at Kilimanjaro International Airport. It's a long day of travel however you route it, generally somewhere in the 18 to 22 hour range door to door. US passport holders can typically apply for a Tanzania e-Visa online ahead of time, or get a visa on arrival — applying in advance is worth the extra step, since it means skipping the arrival queue after an already long journey. Given how far Tanzania is from anywhere in the US, we generally steer American travelers toward a longer trip: 9 nights or more tends to make far better use of the two travel days on either end than a shorter safari would. That extra time is also what makes it realistic to combine a Northern Circuit safari with a Kilimanjaro climb or a few days on Zanzibar's beaches, rather than trying to squeeze everything into a rushed week. See our real Tanzania visa guide for the application process, or get in touch and we'll help plan flight timing around your safari.