What currency do I pay with in Tanzania? How much does it cost to go on a safari or eat in a restaurant?

Find out the prices of hotels in Tanzania

Tanzanian Shilling (TZS)

In Tanzania, payment is made in Tanzanian shillings.

One shilling is divided into 100 cents, but cents are not in common circulation.

Coins are worth 50, 100, 200 or 500 shillings.

Bank notes are used in denominations of 500, 1 000, 2 000, 5 000 and 10 000 shillings. In current payment, all types of notes are found, including the highest denomination of 10 000 shillings.

• International currency code: TZS (numerical code 834)
• Currency symbol: TSh

Can I pay in foreign currency in Tanzania?

Shillings can be exchanged easily from dollars, Euros can also be exchanged at currency exchange offices.

In unofficial exchange offices or at the hotel, they often take the exchange rate of the euro as 1:1 with the US dollar.

In particular, US dollars can be used quite commonly to pay for tourist services (safari trips, boat trips, etc.), taxis, hotels, souvenir shops or restaurants at tourist sites.

Very often you can also pay with Euros or even British pounds, but at a 1:1 ratio with the US dollar, which is not usually convenient.

Currency exchange and card payments

You can't usually exchange Tanzanian shillings anywhere outside Tanzania.

ATMs

ATMs can be found in all major towns and many ATMs are also at airports.

Usually foreign card withdrawals are charged at around 15 000 tzs. The lowest fee we encountered at a Bank of Zanzibar ATM was 10 000 tzs.

Have you come across a bank in Tanzania whose ATMs were free of charge? Share with other travelers in the comments below this article!

Currency exchange

Money changers are widespread not only at the airport but also in city centres, but they usually offer worse rates than the ATM withdrawal fee.

Generally, the most advantageous exchange rate is from the US dollar or the euro.

It's better to have 50 and 100 usd bills to exchange, you'll get a better rate for them. Keep the smaller 5-20 usd bills to pay for souvenirs or tips.

Card payments - is cash needed in Tanzania?

You can pay by card in the larger supermarkets (Nakumatt - but there are very few) or at your hotel.

Some of the better restaurants or local tourist agencies also allow card payments, but you will often encounter a card fee (usually 3% or even 5%).

Either way, carrying plenty of cash is a must in Tanzania.

You can only pay with cash at street food stalls, local restaurants, many shops, taxis or public transport.

Book your hotel in Tanzania in advance

Bargaining and tipping

Haggling is quite common when buying souvenirs, but often also food at markets or even when arranging trips with local travel agencies.

In many cases, you can even haggle on the price of a safari trip in the Arusha or Moshi area. Entrance fees to the NP are usually set by the government and there is no way to move the price. In most cases, the price of the safari includes the entrance fee to the NP.

Tips make up a significant portion of the locals' earnings. As tourists you are always considered rich, it doesn't matter what country you come from.

Most Tanzanians have never left the country, anything beyond the border is so inaccessible and expensive to them. Generally in a restaurant you tip 10% of the final price. Drivers on safari expect to tip at least 5 usd/person/day, in some cases where one stays in luxury lodges it is courtesy and custom to tip the safari driver even 10 usd/person/day.

In museums, snake farms and similar institutions set up for tourists, there are local guides who expect a smaller fee for their knowledge and services inside the area.

Cleaners at hotels will clean better if you leave a few small dollars on their bed. Beware of the fact that change in Euros cannot be exchanged anywhere.

Cooks on safari usually expect to be paid extra for their services in addition to the price of cooking - full board during a camping safari. A suitable rate is about 20 usd for a four-day safari. If you hire a porter to climb Kilimanjaro, expect to pay around 20 usd per day plus tips.

How much does what cost - how expensive is Tanzania?

Tanzania is generally an average expensive destination. Street food, for example, is very cheap here, as are some hotels outside the tourist centres.

On the other hand, in touristy places like Zanzibar or safaris, prices are quite high.

Example of prices in Tanzania

How much does basic food, tourist attractions or transport cost in Tanzania? We visited most of the shops, many tourist attractions and paid that much:

Hotels and accommodation

• 3* hotel by the sea with breakfast in high season - from 100 usd
• Quality 5* hotel by the beach in Zanzibar with all-inclusive - from 250 usd
• Private apartments further from the sea without meals - from 50 usd
• Off-season hotel on the mainland - from 30 usd
• 🏨F ind hotel prices on booking.com
• 🏖️ Find cheap last-minute tours to Zanzibar

Food Prices

• Hot food at a street stall - between 6 000 tzs and 10 000 tzs
• Main meal in a regular local restaurant - approx. 15 000 tzs
• Main meal in a tourist restaurant - from 25 000 tzs
• International fast-food - from 20 000 tzs per menu
• Local delicacies (samosa, pastries, roti) - from 600 tzs per item
• Drinks in a restaurant - approx. 1 500 tzs for lemonade, approx. 1 000 tzs for water
• Capuccino or espresso - 5 000 tzs
• Coconut on the beach - you have to bargain, usually between 5 000 tzs and 10 000 tzs
• Cane juice - between 1 000 tzs and 2 000 tzs
• 💡 Tip: prices at Tanzania's most famous restaurant, The Rock

Attractions and sunbeds on the beach

The vast majority of prices at beach or tourist attractions are also quoted locally in US dollars.

• A full-day boat trip with lunch and snorkeling - from 65 usd
• Kitesurfing school for 2 hours - from 80 usd
• Diving school (2 dives) - from 200 usd
• Scuba diving for the more experienced (2 dives) - from 150 usd
• Hire of 2 sun loungers and umbrella per day - usually included for hotel guests, otherwise sun loungers are not available in Zanzibar

Find trip prices - GetYourGuide.com

Grocery store and market prices

• 1 apple, pear or orange at the market - around 1 000 tzs
• Fish bought at the market (small snack) - around 1 000 tzs
• 1.5 litres of water - 1 300 tzs
• Lemonade 0.5 l - 1 500 tzs
• Packed sandwich - 3 000 tzs
• Canned tuna - from 7 000 tzs
• Large Pringles - from 10 000 tzs
• 1 l of juice - 3 000 tzs
• 1 l of milk - 3 000 tzs
• 1 kg of tomatoes - 2 500 tzs
• 1 kg of chicken - 13 000 tzs
• 1 kg of beef - 11 000 tzs

Prices of cigarettes and alcohol

• 0.5 litres of local draught beer in a restaurant - 5 000 tzs
• 0.5 litre of beer in a shop - from 3 000 tzs
• A bottle of wine in a shop - 15 000 tzs
• Bottle of local rum - from 120 000 tzs
• A packet of cigarettes - 5 000 tzs

Transport prices

• Taxi - depending on your haggling skills, usually approx:
  • 10 km drive around 15 000 tzs
  • drive from Zanzibar airport around 37 000 tzs
  • Kilimanjaro airport round trip 175 000 tzs
  • Tip: use the Bolt and Uber mobile apps instead, where there is no need to haggle and prices are significantly lower than taxis
• One-way local bus ticket "dala dala" - 400 tzs to 1 000 tzs
• 1 litre of petrol - on average 3 000 tzs
• Rent a car for the day - from 25 usd depending on the season of the rental
• 🚗 Compare car rental prices in Tanzania

How to save

Generally, the higher the peak season, the higher the prices of all services. However, it doesn't pay much to go to Tanzania during the rainy season, so it doesn't pay to save money in this regard either.

However, keep an eye out for last-minute deals especially in the low season, i.e. late September or late March.

Accommodation

There are a number of local hotels in Tanzania, which are rooms with a bed and at most a mosquito net, a bedside table whose drawer usually contains a Bible and a condom, and a Turkish-style toilet. Such backpacker inns usually cost about 15 usd, but are only for the hardened.

The cheapest regular hotels with bathrooms in the room that aren't right on the beach can be had for around 30 usd per night for 2. However, you have to allow for additional costs or time to get to the sea or public transport stations.

Find the cheapest hotel in Tanzania

Transport

You can save a lot on transport if you take the local "dala-dala" buses. While these don't serve all tourist destinations, they can be used in Zanzibar, for example, so they can be useful for tourists as well.

• 🚐 O ur experience with public transport in Zanzibar

Prices for domestic flights or car rentals are at a similar level throughout the year, but it is advisable to book at least 3 weeks in advance.

When moving inland, bus or train travel is cheaper compared to air travel, but expect to need a Tanzanian sim card to buy a ticket (just an e-sim is not enough) and travel across Tanzania can take more than 24 hours.

Food

You can save the most on food. Street food is available absolutely everywhere in Tanzania. It's not a culinary marvel, but you'll eat just fine and I never once got sick of the local food in the entire 3 weeks.

We describe what the local specialties are and how much they cost in the Tanzanian cuisine chapter.

Daily budgets

To give you a better overview, we have prepared three variations of daily budgets.

The low-budget traveller - eats in street food shops or cooks his own food from food bought in markets, so he spends around 20 000 tzs per day on food.

For accommodation in apartments with a kitchenette, they will pay around 40 000 tzs per night/person and for transport by local minibuses "dala-dala" they will pay on average around 1 500 tzs per day. The lowest daily cost will therefore be around 80 000 tzs.

Regular traveller - we recommend combining street food with regular restaurants or hotel breakfasts. In this case, a meal a day will cost you on average 80 000 tzs. You will choose to stay in a 3* or 4* hotel near the beach for 180 000 tzs / person / night.

Once during your holiday you will pay for a full day boat trip for 180 000 tzs and you will be moving mostly by taxis, which will be one of the most expensive items and you will pay on average around 100 000 tzs per person per day.

In total, a day in Tanzania will set you back roughly 540 000 tzs.

Holidays with a tour operator - if you trust yourselves to a tour operator, prepare for a minimum of around 1 200 eur per person, but this price includes return flights from Europe, where Tanzania tours are most often organised.