Getting around Tanzania
Tanzania may be a poor developing country, but it is easy to get across the country by plane - there are many airlines operating here, mainly focusing on tourist destinations.
You can get around the mainland by long-distance buses or trains. The rail network is developing and there is now even a high-speed line from Dar es Salaam to the interior (towards Dodoma).
What is your experience of travelling in Tanzania? Let us know in the comments section below this article, thanks!
By air
Several airlines offer domestic flights, all operate modern aircraft and safety is not an issue.
The very busy United flies between the main tourist destinations and the largest city , Dar es Salaam.
Tanzanian airlines
The following airlines currently fly domestic routes:
- Air Tanzania - National Airline serving all Tanzanian airports
- Precision Air - a major regional airline serving major airports such as Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza and others
- Flightlink - small regional airline specialising in flights from Zanzibar to the mainland
- Coastal Aviation - large regional airline flying mainly to islands and safaris
- Auric Air - large regional airline flying mainly to islands and safaris
- Tropical Air - small airline flying mainly from Zanzibar to the mainland (Arusha, safari, Dar es Salaam)
- As Salaam Air - small airline specialising in flights from Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam to safari
How to get to the airport and which terminal?
We've used several airports in Tanzania and have written practical information from our experience - how to get to the airport fastest or cheapest from the centre and which terminals each airline uses.
Frequented routes
- Dar es Salaam - Zanzibar
- Flights operate several times an hour and are operated by most Tanzanian airlines
- the flight takes 25 minutes
- the average price of a one-way flight is 40 usd
- Zanzibar - Arusha
- flights operate several times a day and are operated by most Tanzanian airlines
- the flight takes 75 minutes
- the average price of a one-way flight is 120 usd
- Dar es Salaam - Arusha
- flights operate several times a day and are operated by most Tanzanian airlines
- the flight takes 80 minutes
- the average price of a one-way flight is 100 usd
- Zanzibar - Pemba
- flights operate several times an hour and are operated by most Tanzanian airlines
- the flight takes 20 minutes
- the average price of a one-way flight is 50 usd
Where and when to buy flights
The Tanzanian airlines listed above have their own reliable sales channels through their websites.
Most of them are also commonly displayed in search engines, through which we always recommend comparing prices, as many routes are operated by multiple airlines at the same time.
Compare flight prices - skyscanner.com
Flight prices for domestic routes are similar throughout the year.
However, we recommend booking flights to destinations near national parks and safaris at least 3-4 weeks in advance, as these routes only have small planes for 8-10 people, which fill up quickly.
Ferries
Tourists are heavily served by regular ferry lines, which currently operate only on these routes:
- Zanzibar - Dar es Salaam
- Sailing time - 90 to 120 minutes for fast catamarans / 7 hours for slow car ferries
- Price - from 35 usd one way
- ZanFast Ferries - green and white fast modern catamarans sailing 4 times a day + 4 times a week night slow ferry
- Azam Marine - red and white fast modern catamarans sailing 4x daily + 1x daily night slow ferry
- FlyingHorse - red and white fast older catamarans sailing 1x daily
- Zanzibar - Pemba
- Sailing time - 120 minutes for fast catamarans / 7 hours for slow car ferry
- Price - from 35 usd one way
- ZanFast Ferries - green and white fast modern catamarans sailing 6 times a week
- Azam Marine - slow ferry sails 2 times a week
- ℹ️ Tip! We have visited Zanzibar and written a handy guide from our experience:
You can buy tickets for all companies at several offices near the ports. You usually don't need to buy your ticket very far in advance, just a few hours before your trip.
Payment can only be made in cash in US dollars or Tanzanian shillings.
Online ticket purchase is not possible with FlyingHorse, which does not even have a functional website.
For other companies, tickets can be purchased online through the following channels:
- ZanFast Ferries - only via directferries.com
- Azam Marine - only through the official website azammarine.com
The boats are modern, air-conditioned, comfortable and reliable. Even though ticket prices are quite high, safety is of a high standard and ferry travel in Tanzania is of a similar standard to say, the Mediterranean.
Taxi and mobile app Uber / Bolt
Taxis are the most common form of transport for tourists in cities.
They are ubiquitous (including in tourist seaside resorts) and operate in the form of classic cars, tuk-tuks (called "Bajaj" in Tanzania) or motorbikes (called "Boda").
As a tourist you will always have a very difficult situation and unless you are really very skilled at haggling and very charismatic, you don't have much chance of getting the prices that the locals go for.
Very roughly, for a ride of around 10km (this tends to be the most common distance around big cities) you should pay these amounts:
- for a car around 16 000 tzs
- for a tuk tuk (bajaj) around 10 000 tzs
- for a motorbike (boda) around 8 000 tzs
From our own experience, we definitely recommend using the Bolt and Uber mobile apps, which work great in Tanzania!
I haven't had a single problem - the apps work the same as everywhere else in the world. You pay for the ride with a specified card and the availability of cars, tuk-tuks or motorbikes is great. I have never waited longer than 5 minutes.
In which cities do the Uber / Bolt mobile apps work well?
- Dar es Salaam
- Dodoma
- Arusha
- Moshi
- Mwanza
- Tanga
- Mbeya
Where on the other hand are the Uber / Bolt apps not working yet?
- Zanzibar
- Pemba
- Mafia island
- Kigoma
Car rental
As a tourist in Tanzania, you can hire a driverless car and travel around the country on your own. Remember that driving in Tanzania is on the left.
Book a car as you would anywhere in the world through various aggregators such as Booking.com or Kayak, which will compare prices from all available car rental companies.
If you are going on safari, we definitely recommend renting a 4x4 car!
However, renting a car in Tanzania has its own specifics. We rented a car in Zanzibar and describe our personal experience in this article.
Only local car rental companies
There are no multinational car rental companies operating directly in Tanzania, but some of them rent cars from local rental companies that serve as contractors.
These car rental companies do not have direct branches in Tanzania, but have contracted local rental companies to provide you with a car.
Always specify your arrival time when booking, as an employee from the rental company will be waiting at the airport to provide you with a car.
Frequent police checks
During your travels in all regions of mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, you will encounter very frequent police checks - several times a day.
I'm sure that at least once a day you will find a police officer asking you for a bribe for a made-up offence or at least a small 'gift'.
In the first case, the burden of proof is on the police. So politely state that you insist that everything be handled officially at the police station.
Most of the time the police officer will let you go, but there is a risk that you will actually go to the police station where other police officers will demand more bribes...
In the second case, the policeman will settle for practically any amount. However, it is much better to say that this is the severalth police check, who is asking for a gift, and that you have no money at all. In that case, the officer will usually let you leave without the "gift" and without a ticket.
Transfers via local travel agencies
Especially when travelling to national parks and safaris, it is often more convenient and cheaper to pay for a trip with a local travel agency than to go on your own.
There are dozens of agencies operating in Tanzanian tourist centres such as Zanzibar, Arusha and Moshi, providing trips not only for safaris.
In Tanzania, most local agencies operate through the well-known website GetYourGuide, where they offer their tours.
In our travels, we have almost always booked a trip on this site and always without any problems.
Book a trip - getyourguide.com
Trains
Rail transport in Tanzania has been developing rapidly since around 2020, with new high-speed lines being built to run modern trains at speeds of up to 160 km/h.
For now, however, the trains tend to be used by locals, as most of the reliable and fast connections are outside the tourist areas.
Tanzania has two railway companies.
TRC - Tanzania Railways Corportation
The main carrier operating modern fast trains and slow old narrow gauge trains painted in orange and white.
- SGR trains (fast and modern) - Dodoma direction
- MGR trains (slow and old) - Arusha, Moshi, Tanga, Dodoma, Tabora, Mwanza, Mpanda, Kigoma direction
- Timetables and online booking - trc.co.tz
How to buy a ticket - prices
For tourists, buying a ticket is quite complicated.
- Tickets can only be bought with a local Tanzanian phone number, even when bought on the spot at the ticket office
- Tickets for SGR fast trains are usually sold out 3-5 days in advance!
At the ticket office, you can normally only pay with Tanzanian shillings.
Tickets for modern SGR trains can also be bought through third parties such as 12go.asia, which we like to use when travelling in Asia. However, it didn't work well at all in Tanzania. This website arranges train tickets through a local middleman, but even after multiple urgings, he did not send the ticket and I had to buy a new ticket at the station.
These are examples of prices and journey times on the most frequent routes:
- Dar es Salaam - Arusha
- 1 train per day (old MGR trains only)
- Price from 18 700 tzs per seat or from 44 500 tzs per sleeper
- journey time 22 hours
- Dar es Salaam - Dodoma
- 4 modern SGR trains per day + 1 old MGR train per day
- SGR trains - price from 50 000 tzs in 2nd class or from 80 000 tzs in 1st class
- MGR trains - price from 18 700 tzs per seat or from 41 000 tzs per sleeper
- SGR trains - journey time 4.5 hours
- MGR trains - journey time 10 hours
- Dar es Salaam - Mwanza
- 1 train per day (old MGR trains only)
- Price from 37 000 tzs per seat or from 65 000 tzs per sleeper
- the journey takes 49 hours
- Dar es Salaam - Kigoma
- 1 train per day (old MGR trains only)
- Price from 37 000 tzs per seat or from 65 000 tzs per sleeper
- journey takes 48 hours
- ℹ️ Tip! We have visited Tanzania's largest city and written a handy guide from our experience:
The modern SGR trains have clean and comfortable interiors and the stations on the newly built sections are spacious, new and equipped with many services, shops and fast-food outlets.
Tazara Railway
Tazara is a Tanzanian-Zambian carrier operating older slow trains from Dar es Salaam via Mbeya to Zambia.
- Official website - tazarasite.com
- Tickets can only be bought on the spot at the ticket office, ideally at least 3 days in advance
Long distance buses
Classic large buses run on long routes across Tanzania.
Their age and quality varies considerably, and they are usually relatively comfortable but older vehicles from China or India.
Some companies have air-conditioned buses, some do not.
The buses are faster than the standard MGR or Tazara trains and also much busier.
Be aware that bus stations are normally very far from city centres and can usually only be reached by taxi - in larger cities via Uber or Bolt apps.
Tickets and where to book?
It's ideal to buy tickets at the bus station, but be aware that they can sell out at the last minute and it's advisable to buy at least 1 day in advance.
For example, you can use the 12go.asia website to buy, which doesn't show all bus companies, but at least the more modern ones with their own online ticketing do.
Minibuses "dala-dala"
The most widespread means of transport among the locals are minibuses or vans, which I called dala dala in Tanzania.
Routes and timetables
These buses usually have a fixed route, but they don't have a timetable or fixed stops.
They only start their routes when they are full or on frequent routes according to an approximate timetable, which is not written down anywhere.
Dala-dala will stop anywhere, just tell the conductor or wave to the driver if you want to get on.
Dala dala buses usually run for shorter distances (usually up to 200 km maximum, but they are the most common form of transport, especially in big cities).
Tickets
Fares are always paid in cash (in Tanzanian shillings only) inside the bus to the conductor.
Usually you pay on alighting.
Ticket prices tend to be tiered according to distance and range between 400 tzs and 1 000 tzs. Try to keep track of what the locals are paying so you don't end up with the conductor charging you an unreasonable price (this can happen to you as a tourist in Tanzania very often).
Safety
Dala-dala minibuses are in very mixed condition.
While in big cities or tourist areas the buses tend to be relatively modern, in rural areas they are often very old vehicles.
In addition, drivers often drive for days at a time, so the ride may not be entirely safe.
Overcrowding is a common problem.
In general, however, riding minibuses is not dangerous in terms of crime. Just be careful not to pay too much for the fare (this is a common problem with tourists).
Any questions left?
If you have any questions or comments about the article...
