Masai Mara or Serengeti?
The two parks side by side on what you will see, what you can do, what it costs, how you get there and the health picture, with the facts behind every rating.
Our verdict
The Serengeti and the Masai Mara are two halves of one ecosystem, split by a road border closed to tourists since 1977, so choose by month first. Pick the Serengeti from December to June, when the calving on the southern plains and the Western Corridor passage happen there and the Mara has no migration, or if you want space, cheetah country on the open plains and guided walks inside the park. Entry is $82.60 per 24 hours, but a road safari from Arusha also pays the Ngorongoro permit each way, so plan three nights at least. Pick the Mara for two or three nights between July and October: tarmac from Nairobi, elephant, buffalo and hippo near certain, at $100 a day from January to June and $200 from July to December. Neither allows night drives inside. To do both, fly via Tarime and Migori.
Best for big game Masai MaraBest for birding SerengetiBest for walking SerengetiBest for self-drive Masai MaraBest for families Masai MaraBest for a first safari Masai MaraBest for wilderness Serengeti
Tap a row label to see the reasoning behind a rating.
| Compare | Masai Maraabout 1,510 km² (WDPA); 1,530 to 1,560 km² in the county plan | Serengeti14,763 km² (UNESCO, TANAPA) |
|---|---|---|
| 5Jul to Oct; August busiest | 5Jul to Oct and Dec to Feb | |
5Jul to Oct; August busiestLions: About 465 older than a year, 2024; Elephants: 2,702 in the ecosystem, June 2024; Resident cheetahs: 12 adults in 2024, 28 in 2023 | 5Jul to Oct and Dec to FebWildebeest: 1,571,960 (TAWIRI, March 2023), now disputed; Lion prides monitored: 21 prides, 205 lions in the central study area, 2022/23; Elephants: More than 7,000 in the park, 2020 | |
| Elephant | Guaranteed | Likely |
| Lion | Guaranteed | Guaranteed |
| Leopard | Likely | Likely |
| Buffalo | Guaranteed | Likely |
| Wild dog | Rare | Rare |
| Cheetah | Likely | Likely |
| Hippo | Guaranteed | Likely |
| Giraffe | Guaranteed | Guaranteed |
Not published | 4500 speciesAbout 500 bird species listed on the wildlife page. | |
| 3Self-drive | 3Walking | |
2The 2023 to 2032 management plan bans walking safaris anywhere in the reserve; guided walks are standard only in the conservancies outside it, at Kicheche's camps and on Angama's escarpment. | 3bestTANAPA lists guided walks at $20 for one to four hours or $25 beyond, plus VAT, but they are booked through your camp with an armed ranger, children under 12 are not provided for and TANAPA publishes no list of walking areas. | |
2Night game drives are banned in the reserve and the Triangle; they run only in the conservancies, such as Kicheche Valley in Naboisho, and no conservancy publishes its own rules. | 2Night drives are not allowed inside the park, where driving stops at 6 pm and the TANAPA tariff has no night-drive line for the Serengeti; Klein's Camp, Mapito Safari Camp and Ikoma Tented Camp run them just outside the boundary. | |
1No boat activity exists, swimming in rivers inside protected areas is illegal and the Mara and Talek rivers hold crocodiles and hippos; the Mara Bridge hippo pool walk was closed in September 2025. | 1No boat activity is offered; hippos are watched from the vehicle at the Retima pool, the Grumeti and the Mara River, and at the crossing points you stay inside the vehicle. | |
3Tarmac runs all the way from Nairobi to Sekenani Gate, 228 km, and the Triangle admits any 4x4, but a June 2024 memo banned private vehicles for game drives on the Narok side, with 2026 enforcement unclear, and fuel inside is sold only at camps. | 3Legal with a high-clearance 4x4 but rare and discouraged by TANAPA: about 254 km and 6 to 7 h from Arusha, the Ngorongoro permit paid on the way in and again on the way out, Karatu the last reliable fuel, and public campsites at Seronera and Lobo that need no booking. | |
| $40cheapest bed | $30cheapest bed | |
$200International adult per day ({'name': 'Narok County Finance Act 2023 (No. 3 of 2023), First Schedule: Maasai Mara National Reserve Park Fees and Charges (read 6 Oct 2026)', 'url': 'https://narok.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Narok-County-Finance-Act-2023-UPL_compressed.pdf'}, 2026-10-06). | $83bestInternational adult per day ({'name': "TANAPA tariff 2023/24 and TANAPA's tariff data for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 (checked 6 Oct 2026)", 'url': 'https://www.tanzaniaparks.go.tz/uploads/publications/en-1688147569-TARIFFS%20Design%20202324.pdf'}, 2026-10-06). | |
$40Lowest listed rate per person per night across 78 places; 7 are budget tier. | $30bestLowest listed rate per person per night across 63 places; 5 are budget tier. | |
$700Median of 38 priced places; top end $2,708. | $584bestMedian of 18 priced places; top end $1,100. | |
2Cheapest listed bed $40, 7 of 78 places in the budget tier, park fee $200 a day. | 2Cheapest listed bed $30, 5 of 63 places in the budget tier, park fee $83 a day. | |
| $1,582camping | $3,198.80mid-range | |
$1,582Budget one: self-drive camping in the Mara Triangle | $1,227.20bestBudget one: self-drive camping, the cheapest way to sleep in the park | |
Not published | $3,198.80Budget two: a mid-range camp in the Seronera Valley | |
$5,020bestBudget two: a mid-range camp on the Talek, flying in | $7,497.60Budget three: fly in to a top-end camp | |
| Keekoroknearest airport | Seronera airstripnearest airport | |
Keekorok, Ol Kiombo, Musiara and Mara Serena strips, 30 to 80 min from Nairobi Wilson; Nairobi 5 to 6 h by roadFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | Seronera airstrip, 1 h 10 from Arusha via Manyara; Arusha to Naabi Hill Gate about 254 km, 6 to 7 h by roadFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | |
4x4 inside the reserveFrom the getting-there page. | A high-clearance 4x4 is the normFrom the getting-there page. | |
| Jul to Oct; August busiestpeak game viewing | Jul to Oct and Dec to Febpeak game viewing | |
Jul to Oct; August busiestFrom the best-time page. | Jul to Oct and Dec to FebFrom the best-time page. | |
Open all year; long rains Mar to May, with camps closed in April and MayFrom the best-time page. | Park open all year; several seasonal camps close Mar to MayFrom the best-time page. | |
| High all yearmalaria | High all yearmalaria | |
High all year, tablets advised (NaTHNaC)From the health page. | High all year, whole park (NaTHNaC)From the health page. | |
PresentA 2021 study trapped 1,167 tsetse at 10 sites in the reserve, with no human-disease trypanosomes found; a painful daytime bite, so wear neutral colours. | PresentConfirmed by a 2016 study near Seronera; mainly in the wooded areas, the Western Corridor, the north and around Seronera, rather than on the open short-grass plains. | |
Not published | October, 31.2°C mean maxMean daily maximum of the hottest month, from the health page. | |
Narok County Referral Hospital, about 87 km from Sekenani; serious cases flown to NairobiAir evacuation: AMREF Flying Doctors, up to USD 5,000 without cover. | Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre, about 300 km from Seronera or about 1.5 h by scheduled flightAir evacuation: AMREF Maisha Tourist plan from $50. | |
| 5First safari | 5First safari | |
4bestChildren 8 and under enter free and many camps have family tents, Angama welcoming children of all ages; but malaria risk is high all year and the nearest public hospital is Narok, about 87 km from Sekenani, so serious cases are flown to Nairobi. | 3Highs of about 27 to 31°C, short flights and lodges such as Four Seasons, with a Discovery Centre, and Dunia, which takes children from five, help; but malaria risk is high all year, tsetse is present, walks are effectively 12-plus and the nearest hospital with intensive care is in Arusha, about 300 km from Seronera. | |
5Lion, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hippo, zebra and spotted hyaena are guaranteed in two or three days and cheetah and leopard likely, with three airlines flying daily from Nairobi Wilson in 30 to 80 minutes. | 5Lion, giraffe and zebra are guaranteed and elephant, buffalo, hippo, leopard and cheetah likely over two days of drives, with daily flights from Arusha to Seronera in about 1 h 10. | |
2The Mara Conservancy recorded June 2025 sightings with more than 200 vehicles and August is the busiest month; conservancies set lower vehicle limits for those who stay outside the reserve. | 3bestA 14,763 km² park where the north and the Western Corridor are very quiet in February and April and May are the emptiest months, but Seronera is the busiest area and in August TANAPA caps the vehicles at each Mara River crossing point. |
Compare all of Kenya's parks on the comparison page. Serengeti has its own guide at visitserengetipark.com.
How the ratings work
- Big game is calculated from each park's sightings table on its wildlife page: guaranteed counts 3, likely 2, a fair chance 1, rare 0.5 and absent 0, across elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, wild dog, cheetah, hippo and giraffe, scaled so that 16 points is 5 out of 5.
- Birding follows the species count on the wildlife page. Low-budget safari follows the cheapest listed bed, the share of budget places and the daily park fee.
- Walking, night drives, water, self-drive, families, first safari and wilderness are our ratings, whole numbers from 1 to 5. Press "Why?" on any row to read the facts each one rests on, with the page they come from. Where a rule is not published we say so rather than guess.
- Prices are per person per night in US dollars as listed on the lodges pages, before park fees; the three-night totals come from each park's costs page and use the dated rates there. Fees are the international adult rate per day.