Last Updated on July 29, 2025
If you’re headed to Tanzania, you’re likely considering visiting Moshi or Arusha. These two cities are common stops on a Tanzania trip because of their proximity to popular activities like going on safari and hiking.
Moshi and Arusha are quite near to each other. In fact, it’s only a 2 hour trip to go from one city to the other on a public bus. Because of this, many people choose to visit only one of the two.
If you’re debating whether to visit Arusha or Moshi, read on to learn 5 important considerations that might impact your choice.
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Moshi or Arusha: 5 Considerations For Planning Your Trip
On our trip to Tanzania, my partner and I traveled around Zanzibar as well as mainland Tanzania.
We spent several days on the island of Zanzibar, and then took a Precision Air flight from Stone Town to Arusha to go on our camping safari.
After our safari, we headed back to Arusha. We spent three days there, and then bussed to Moshi where we spent another three days.
Below are 5 of the key differences and considerations we noted in visiting both cities.
1. Moshi vs. Arusha: Activity Options
Moshi and Arusha are hubs for popular tourism activities in Tanzania. Moshi is very near Mount Kilimanjaro, and so it’s the gateway to climbing the mountain. Most guided overnight hikes start and end in Moshi.
Arusha is the gateway for safaris to Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and Serengeti National Park. Most safari trips will start and end in Arusha.
If you’re choosing between Moshi or Arusha, you will want to make your decision based on which activities you plan to do.
If you’re doing a safari but no activities in Kilimanjaro National Park, for example, it will be more convenient to stay in Arusha.
2. Moshi or Arusha: Day Trip Options
Moshi and Arusha offer different options for day trips, and that’s because the cities are in proximity of different attractions.
In Moshi, many of the popular day trips revolve around Kilimanjaro National Park. You can visit (and swim in!) Chemka Hot Springs, go on a hiking day trip in Kilimanjaro National Park, or visit Materuni Waterfall and go on a coffee tour.
In Arusha, you have closer proximity to the national parks that are known for wildlife. You can take a day trip to Ngorongoro Crater, go on a hot air balloon safari, or visit the Maasai Cattle Market.
Although Arusha and Moshi are in proximity to different attractions, we did notice that most day trip tours operate out of both cities.
For example, you can take a tour to Materuni Waterfall from Arusha (even though it’s much further from Arusha than Moshi). Just know that doing this day trip from Arusha would involve several hours of driving.
I think the main consideration here is how far you want to drive for your preferred day trips. If you’re interested in wildlife day trips, I’d stay in Arusha, whereas if you’re interested in hot springs and waterfalls, I’d stay in Moshi.
3. Moshi vs. Arusha: Transport Accessibility
So how do you get to Moshi and Arusha? Both cities are accessible by bus, train, and by flight. How you reach them, however, will depend on if you are transiting to them from an international or domestic location.
There are two airports in the Arusha and Moshi region. Kilimanjaro International Airport is the gateway to the region if you are coming from abroad.
This airport is almost equidistant from Arusha and Moshi – it takes around the same amount of time (1 hour) to drive from Kilimanjaro International Airport to both cities.
There is only one option for domestic flights to this region: Arusha Airport. Moshi does not have its own domestic airport. Arusha Airport is only a 20 minute drive from Arusha, but it’s a 2 hour drive from Moshi.
If you’re traveling domestically, you do have the option of buses and trains to Moshi and Arusha. Both cities are well-connected to other regions of Tanzania.
Traveling by bus and train is super affordable in Tanzania, but be warned that overland journeys can be very long. For example, taking the train from Arusha to Dar es Salaam takes 17+ hours, whereas a flight is about an hour.
This is why we decided to take domestic flights in Tanzania. For example, we flew from Zanzibar to Arusha on Precision Air, which saved us many hours of travel.
4. Moshi or Arusha: Walkability
One big difference we noticed between Moshi and Arusha was walkability. Arusha’s downtown area is pretty compact, but many lodges and hotels are outside of that area.
Moshi, however, is more centralized to one area. We found that in Moshi, we could walk to get wherever we needed to go, whereas in Arusha we relied more on tuktuks and taxis.
While Moshi is smaller and overall quieter than Arusha, we found that there was more happening on the streets. There are street vendors along all the roads. We didn’t notice this as much in Arusha.
For example, in Moshi there are sewing machines along many of the roads. You can watch sewists using them to make and mend clothing and other textiles.
Overall, we found Moshi more compact and nicer to walk around than Arusha.
5. Moshi vs. Arusha: Nightlife
Both Arusha and Moshi have a nightlife scene, but Arusha’s is known to be better. This makes sense given Arusha is a bigger city.
Some of the most popular nightlife spots in Arusha are Via Via, Maasai Camp, Lively Lady and Johnny’s Bar at TGT. It’s totally safe (and fun!) to enjoy nightlife in Arusha, the only caveat is that you should always take a tuk tuk or taxi home at night, don’t try to walk.
Moshi also has a nightlife scene, it’s just not as extensive as Arusha’s. Popular spots in Moshi include Red Stone and Pub Alberto.
If nightlife isn’t important to you, you won’t need to take this into consideration. We didn’t! We were always too tired by the evening to go out, but we met plenty of younger folks in our hostels who really enjoyed going out.
Moshi vs. Arusha: Which Should You Visit?
Picking between Arusha and Moshi is tough, because these two cities have some distinct differences. Having visited both, I think it is worth spending 1-3 days in each city.
In Arusha we really enjoyed going to the Maasai Cattle Market, and eating at Fifi’s Cafe. We found Central Market really fun to walk around, too. And of course, it makes sense to spend a night or two in Arusha after going on safari (which can be tiring!).
But in Moshi, you get to enjoy beautiful views of Mount Kilimanjaro, day trips to see gorgeous nature, and overall, we found Moshi nicer to walk around. Be sure to pop into Union Cafe and eat at Manjas BBQ!
If you only have time to visit one of these two cities, I would pick whichever is most convenient for the day trips and activities you would like to do. I would also pick based on your plans for onward travel.
If you are traveling onward to Stone Town by domestic flight, Arusha is more convenient. If you’re traveling onward internationally, both are convenient.
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