The Jetsetters Journal

Pick a month

When to go: 17 places, month by monthThe whole year at a glance

At their best in November

Europe

Asia

Indian Ocean and Africa

Middle East and the Americas

Every hotel we shortlist170 hotels, one listFilter by place, by what each hotel is best for, and by the judges behind it.Browse all hotels

How the Shortlists work · How we choose

Journeys

When to go: 17 places, month by monthThe Shortlists

The dining car of the Orient Express

Rail · 5 trains

Luxury train journeys

Five great trains, from the Orient Express to the Andes.

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The Colosseum lit up at night

Cities · 1 perfect day

One day in Rome

Sunrise to midnight: the walk, the tasting menus and a view of St Peter's.

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Overwater villas on a Maldives lagoon

Islands · 12 months

The Maldives, month by month

When the sea is glass, when the mantas come, and when the price halves.

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Wildebeest crossing the Mara River

Wild · Jul to Oct

The Great Migration

Where two million animals will be, and where you should be waiting.

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The Grand Canal in Venice at the end of the line

Rail · London to Venice

The Orient Express

When it runs, what each cabin costs, and the best month to board.

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An aircraft wing against a dusk sky

Flights · Door to door

Emirates business class

From the car at your door in London to the lights of Dubai, in ten moments.

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Great Migration country at dusk: a lone acacia on the Serengeti plains

Wild · Safari · When to go

The Great Migration: follow the herd

Month by month: where more than two million animals will be, and where you should be waiting for them.

The short answer

When to see the Great Migration

The Great Migration is a year-round loop of more than two million animals, most of them wildebeest, with zebra and gazelle, through Tanzania's Serengeti and Kenya's Masai Mara. Go in February for the calving on the southern plains, and July to October for the river crossings in the north. April and May are the long rains: quiet, green and cheap.

  • CalvingJan to MarSouthern Serengeti
  • First crossingsJuneGrumeti, Western Corridor
  • River crossingsJul to OctThe Mara River, both sides
  • Long rainsApr to MayQuiet, green, best rates

Herd movements checked on 15 October 2026: When to see the Great Migration, Asilia Africa. Ending on a beach? See the best time to visit the Maldives, a straightforward hop from Nairobi or Dar es Salaam via the Gulf.

Move the month

Where is the herd in August?

Mara River

Peak crossing season, on both sides of the border.

Crowds: Busiest

The Great Migration month by month

The herds follow the rain and the grass, so every year runs a little early or late. Treat this as the usual pattern, not a timetable.

There is no start line and no finish. The loop is driven by the grass: when the rains come the southern plains turn green and rich in minerals, ideal for calving, and as they dry out the herds push north and west in search of water, reaching the Mara when Kenya's grass is at its best. A good guide reads the weather the way you would read a timetable, which is why the camp you choose matters more than the exact week you book.

  1. JanuarySouthern Serengeti · QuietThe herds spread across the short-grass plains around Ndutu. Calving begins.
  2. FebruarySouthern Serengeti · BusyCalving peaks: around half a million calves in two or three weeks, and the predators that follow them.
  3. MarchSouthern Serengeti · QuietCalves find their legs; the herds start to stir as the plains dry.
  4. AprilCentral Serengeti · Very quietThe long rains. Herds drift north-west; some camps close and others cut prices.
  5. MayCentral Serengeti · QuietColumns miles long move through Seronera in the rut.
  6. JuneWestern Corridor · ModerateThe Grumeti River: the first crossings, and its crocodiles.
  7. JulyNorthern Serengeti · BusyThe front reaches the Mara River. The crossings begin.
  8. AugustMara River · BusiestPeak crossing season, on both sides of the border.
  9. SeptemberMasai Mara · BusyThe Mara is full; crossings continue, in both directions.
  10. OctoberMasai Mara · ModerateThe grass runs short. The herds gather to turn south.
  11. NovemberEastern Serengeti · QuietThe short rains pull the herds south down the eastern side.
  12. DecemberSouthern Serengeti · ModerateBack on the southern plains, heavy with calves to come.
Wildebeest plunging down a riverbank into the Mara River during the Great Migration

July to October · The Mara River

The crossing

Thousands bunch on the bank for hours, then one goes and the rest follow, into the current and the crocodiles. No one can tell you when it will happen, or whether the herd will turn away at the last moment. That is why you stay three nights on the river, not one.

Camps on both sides of the border sit within reach of the crossing points. In the north of the Serengeti you trade the Mara's easy flights for fewer vehicles.

A running wildebeest herd with a line of safari vehicles behind it in the Masai Mara

The honest bit

You will not be alone

Look behind the herd in that photograph. In peak season the main reserve can have dozens of vehicles at a single crossing. The fix is where you sleep: private conservancies bordering the Mara limit the number of vehicles at each sighting, and allow walking safaris and night drives.

Ask any camp two questions: how many vehicles are allowed at a sighting, and can you go off-road. The answers tell you more than the brochure.

The followers

Where the herd goes, the cats go

Lion, leopard and cheetah shadow the migration. Leopards are the hardest to find and the most rewarding: look up, into the sausage trees, in the late afternoon. Calving season in February is the best time of all for predator action.

The Big Five

  • LionEverywhere the herd is
  • LeopardIn the trees, at dusk
  • ElephantBotswana for numbers
  • RhinoThe rarest sighting
  • BuffaloIn herds of hundreds
A leopard resting along a thick tree branch in golden light
Two elephants playing in the floodwater of the Okavango Delta

Beyond the migration · Botswana

The flood that arrives in the dry season

The Okavango's floodwater reaches the delta in the middle of Botswana's dry winter, so the water peaks just as everything else dries out. Elephants by the hundred, mokoro canoes through the reeds, and very few other people.

Best: June to October. Feel: remote, small camps, fly-in only. It pairs well with Victoria Falls.

Which safari, when

Four safari countries, compared

KenyaTanzaniaBotswanaSouth Africa
Best monthsJul to Oct, Jan to FebJun to Oct, Jan to FebJun to OctMay to Sep
Go forMara crossings, private conservanciesCalving, the whole SerengetiElephants, water, solitudeThe Big Five, shorter trips
From LondonDirect to NairobiOne stop to KilimanjaroVia Johannesburg to MaunDirect to Johannesburg
FeelClassic, socialVast, wildRemote, fly-inPolished, easy

Only Kenya and Tanzania have the Great Migration. For a first safari with the herds, Kenya is the easiest: a direct flight, a short hop to the Mara, and conservancies to escape the crowds. For space and the calving, choose Tanzania. For a second safari, Botswana. And if the journey matters as much as the arrival, see our guide to luxury train journeys.

Planning the trip

How to plan a Great Migration safari

Book early for August

The best camps near the Mara River fill a year ahead for July and August. If you are tied to school holidays, book as soon as you know your dates. Calving season in February is a little easier, and the shoulder weeks of June and November easier still.

Two camps, not one

Seven to ten nights split between two or three camps gives you different country and better odds. Seasonal mobile camps move with the herd, pitching on the southern plains for the calving and in the north for the crossings, so you sleep close to the action without long drives.

Light aircraft, soft bags

Most camps are reached by small planes from airstrip to airstrip. Luggage limits are strict, often around 15kg in a soft bag, so pack light: neutral colours, a warm layer for the open vehicle at dawn, binoculars for everyone and a camera with a long lens.

Then the beach

Dust and early starts make a few days by the sea the perfect ending. Zanzibar is a short flight from the Serengeti and the Kenyan coast is close to the Mara. For a honeymoon, the Maldives is a longer hop, and worth timing with the dry season there.

Questions people ask

The Great Migration, answered

When is the best time to see the Great Migration?

July to October for the river crossings in the northern Serengeti and Kenya's Masai Mara, and late January to February for the calving on the southern plains of the Serengeti. August is the busiest month at the Mara River.

Where is the Great Migration?

In Tanzania's Serengeti and Kenya's Masai Mara, which together form one ecosystem. The herds follow the rain in a clockwise loop: the southern Serengeti early in the year, the Western Corridor in June, the Mara from July to October, then back south down the eastern side.

How many animals are in the Great Migration?

More than two million animals, most of them wildebeest, travelling with zebra and gazelle. It is the largest overland movement of mammals on earth.

Is the Masai Mara or the Serengeti better for the Great Migration?

The Serengeti has the herds for most of the year and the calving; the Mara has them from about July to October, in a smaller area with easier access from London. For the crossings, both sides of the Mara River work.

How many nights do you need to see a river crossing?

Plan three nights at least. Crossings cannot be predicted: herds can gather on the bank for hours or days and then turn away. More time on the river is the only reliable way to improve your odds.

Is it worth going to the Serengeti in April and May?

If you want solitude and value, yes. The long rains make some roads hard going and some camps close, but the plains turn green, the herds are on the move, and rates are at their lowest.

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