Top 10 Best Places To Visit in Africa in 2025.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of national parks, wildlife reserves, and other safari locations in Africa. Whether it is the chance to track chimpanzees or gorillas, a cast of captivating huge mammals led by the Big Five, or more subdued delights like searching for rare birds or vibrant butterflies, each of them has something to offer. The highlights on the list below, however, stand out as maybe the top ten destinations in Africa for first-time travelers who are unsure about where to go.

1. Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti National Park, Tanzania’s oldest and largest national park, is ranked as one of the top destinations in Africa by many safari travelers. It is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site primarily because it is the site of the most spectacular yearly wildlife migration in the world, which includes tens of thousands of zebras and up to two million wildebeest.

With an estimated 3,000 lions, the vast plains are home to Africa’s greatest lion population. While leopards are frequently spotted in the central Seronera Valley, cheetahs are likely to be found there more consistently than anywhere else in East Africa. Elephants, buffalo, giraffes, spotted hyenas, bat-eared foxes, and a variety of antelope are among the other common fauna.

There is never a bad moment to visit the Serengeti. Great general animal viewing and the chance to witness the wildebeest migration are available from June to October. In the southern Serengeti, wildebeest give birth between late January and February. Since the landscape is at its greenest, rack rates are lower, and visitor numbers are at their lowest in April and May, many return visitors choose these months.
Where to stay: The Serengeti offers a number of campsites in addition to dozens of mid-range to upscale lodges and tented camps.

2. Kenya’s Masai Mara NR

The smaller Masai Mara National Reserve, which is essentially the Serengeti’s Kenyan equivalent, offers just as many wildlife viewing opportunities. The main inhabitants are big cats. Although prides of up to 20 lions steal the show, you can also view cheetahs, leopards, elephants, buffalo, giraffes, and, with a little more luck, black rhinos in the Mara Triangle.

When hundreds of thousands of wildebeest cross the Mara River from the Serengeti, the most dramatic part of the yearly migration, the Masai Mara comes into its own from late July to early October.

When to go to Masai Mara: All year long is a fantastic time to see wildlife. To have a good chance of seeing the wildebeest migration, visit between August and October. If you are more concerned with a low number of tourists, any other time is better.

Places to stay: The Masai Mara is home to dozens of tented camps and hotels ranging in price from budget to luxury. There are a number of campgrounds around its boundaries. Additionally, the private and communal conservancies that abut the main reserve offer upscale campers and resorts.

3. Uganda’s Bwindi NP

Mountain gorillas, in a nutshell. If you wish to witness these gentle giants, the largest primate in the world (weighing up to 200 kg), in their foggy mountain environment, this Ugandan national park is one of the best places to visit in Africa.

Almost every trip to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park ends with the opportunity to gaze into the huge silverback’s liquid chocolate eyes. However, it’s also a great site to watch forest inhabitants like the yellow-backed duiker, l’Hoest’s monkey, and all 23 of the Albertine Rift’s native bird species, including the stunning African green broadbill.

The best times to visit Bwindi are during the dry months of June to August and December to February, although gorilla tracking is possible throughout the year.
Where to stay: A variety of upscale and mid-range lodges are available at each of the four gorilla-tracking trailheads.

4. Kenya’s Amboseli NP

The main draws of Amboseli National Park are the largest freestanding mountain in the world and the largest terrestrial mammal. The most breathtaking vistas of the snow-capped Kilimanjaro rising above the animal-rich East African plains may be seen from this location. Established in 1975, Amboseli is home to the longest-running elephant research in the world.

It is also one of the best sites to visit in Africa to witness interactions between elephants, which are remarkably tusked and uncommonly comfortable around cars. Its mix of semi-arid acacia savannah and periodic marshes makes it an excellent place for birdwatching.

Anytime is a good time to visit Amboseli, but the greatest time to see wildlife is during the dry months of June through October and January through February.
Where to stay: The national park is home to a number of upscale and mid-range lodges and campers.

5. South Africa’s Kruger National Park

It would take at least two weeks to fully explore the unfathomably large Kruger National Park, one of the greatest destinations in Africa for a self-drive safari. Because of its closeness to Johannesburg, most people concentrate on the south, but if you want to venture off the beaten path, head to the more isolated north.

The highest number of mammal species found in any African national park, 147, may be found in Kruger. These include incredible numbers of all five of the Big Five (lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, and rhino), as well as cheetah, hippo, zebra, giraffe, warthog, baboon, and more than 20 antelope species. Additionally, 517 bird species have been identified there.

Any time of year is a good time to visit Kruger, but the best time to see animals is during the dry season, which runs from May to September.
Places to stay: Camping and hutted accommodations are available at an impressive network of reasonably priced and well-equipped rest camps. The several upscale private lodges located in different concessions within the park and the private reserves that border its western edge are more opulent.

6. Botswana’s Okavango Delta

One of the greatest destinations in Africa for up-close views of elephants, big cats, hippos, crocodiles, and other aquatic animals is the expansive interior delta formed by the Okavango River as it plunges into the Kalahari Desert’s sands. The true allure of the Delta lies in its untamed sense of wilderness, which is best experienced in a professionally poled mokoro dugout canoe.

Any time is a good time to explore Okavango, but July through October is the best time to see animals.
Accommodations: Dozens of upscale lodges, the majority of which are located within their own concession, round the delta.

Etosha National Park (Namibia)

The large, salty, and typically dry pan that gives Etosha National Park its name dominates Namibia’s premier reserve. Large herds of antelope, giraffe, and other grazers frequent the pan’s line of perennial waterholes, some of which are floodlit at night, throughout the dry season. Black rhinos, which coexist with lions, leopards, and elephants but not buffalo, make this one of Africa’s more dependable parks. Etosha is exceptionally well-suited for safaris that are self-drive.

When to go: The best time to see wildlife in Etosha is from July to September, during the dry season, which runs from May to October.
Where to stay: Apart from the reasonably priced government-run rest camps located inside the park, there are a number of upscale camps and lodges located in the private reserves to the east and south of the park, just outside it.

8. Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park

South Luangwa National Park is well known for its fantastic night drives and is one of the top destinations in Africa for a rough-and-tumble walking safari. The majority of the lodges in this area have professionally led wildlife walks, but the true experience is a multi-day hike between semi-permanent fly camps, where you can take in the sights and smells of the bush without being distracted by a running engine. Notwithstanding the lack of rhinos, this is a great reserve with a very high probability of seeing close-up leopards.

The optimum time to visit South Luangwa is during the rainy season (December to March), as it is the quintessential dry-season reserve. July through October are the best times of year to see wildlife.
Where to stay: The national park is surrounded by a number of upscale and mid-range resorts and campers. In it, several people also run fly camps.

9. Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park

One of Africa’s top destinations for adventurers is Mana Pools National Park. If you’re searching for a safari location that allows both guided and unguided strolling, this is the place to go. Even better, it provides the exhilarating chance to paddle down the forest-ringed Zambezi River, one of Africa’s most pristine wilderness wetlands. There will be plenty of elephants, hippos, buffalos, crocodiles, and birds that are related to water whether you walk or paddle. Healthy lion and leopard populations can also be found there.

The greatest time to visit Mana Pools is during the dry season, which runs from June to October.
Accommodations: There are a number of tiny, private camps in the park.

10. Tanzania’s Mahale Mountains National Park

Mahale Mountains National Park, one of the most isolated parks in East Africa, safeguards a section of the Rift Valley escarpment that is covered in jungle and borders the breathtakingly gorgeous Lake Tanganyika. One of the greatest destinations in Africa to see the closest living relative of humans is this park, which is home to 800 chimpanzees.

Japanese biologists habituated the chimpanzees of Mahale in the 1960s, and they are so laid back that it is common to see a fully grown adult brush carelessly by, just a few inches from you. The scene is breathtaking, and there are excellent representations of other primates and birds as well.

When to go to the Mahale Mountains: From July to October, when the chimps prefer the lower slopes, sightings are most likely to occur. At other times, you might have to trek a lot farther to locate them.
Where to stay: There are two tiny, opulent tented camps and one mid-range national park rest camp in the park.