Choosing a Destination: A Guide for First-Time Travellers
With nine countries and a mix of safari and beach options, deciding where to go is often the hardest part of planning a first trip to Africa. This page walks through the main decisions; see our full destinations overview for a complete list of what we cover.
Kenya or Tanzania?
Kenya's Masai Mara and Tanzania's Serengeti both offer exceptional migration viewing, with Kenya generally faster and cheaper to reach and combine with a beach, and Tanzania offering a longer, more varied northern circuit. See our Kenya vs Tanzania comparison guide for the detail.
Gorilla Trekking: Uganda or Rwanda?
Uganda's permit costs roughly half of Rwanda's and offers more habituated families across four sectors; Rwanda has shorter drive times from its capital and a more polished tourism infrastructure. See our Rwanda vs Uganda comparison guide.
Which Beach?
Zanzibar and the Kenyan Coast are the easiest to combine with an East African safari; the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar sit further out and work best as a longer standalone extension. See our beach holidays page for a full comparison.
Solo, Couple, Family or Group?
Who you're travelling with shapes camp choice and pacing as much as the destination itself. See our solo safari travel guide, honeymoon packages page and family safari and beach page depending on your situation.
Not Sure Where to Start?
See our how to choose the right safari operator guide and our what is a safari page for the more fundamental groundwork before narrowing down a country.
Still deciding? Contact our team and tell us what you're after — we'll help you narrow it down.