What to Do in Arusha, Tanzania: My 5 Favorite Things!

We landed at JRO, met our private guide from Pristine Trails outside the terminal, and were on the road within minutes.

Our destination was Gibb’s Farm near Karatu before heading to the beautiful Craters Edge in Ngorongoro Crater, but our guide built in one intentional stop along the way to break up the drive and ease into Tanzania.

We pulled into the Cultural Heritage Centre in Arusha and immediately felt the scale of it.

The modern building at the center is striking and grand, designed almost like a museum and said to house one of the largest collections of African art in the region.

Surrounding it are beautifully landscaped gardens dotted with plants and animal sculptures.

If you are planning a similar route into the crater, I share more planning tips in my Ngorongoro Crater Safari Guide.

I have heard that the main gallery spans multiple floors and is filled with significant works, but we did not have time to explore that portion.

Instead, we focused on the adjacent buildings that function more as a hub for local artisans and craftsmen.

This is where you will find traditional Maasai beadwork, carvings, paintings, fabrics, and a wide range of handmade souvenirs across price points.

It was a great way to get a sense of local artistry without bouncing between multiple shops around town.

There are several places in Arusha where you can shop for Tanzanite.

The Cultural Heritage Centre is widely considered one of the reputable options, so I gravitated straight toward the tanzanite counter when we arrived.

Tanzanite is found only in a small mining area near the Merelani Hills in northern Tanzania, which makes it incredibly rare.

We met Saif (who I later found out is the owner of the Cultural Heritage Center) who patiently walked us through how to evaluate this vibrantly beautiful stone. He explained color saturation, clarity, cut, and carat weight in a way that felt educational rather than pushy.

Pricing here is fixed. There is no negotiation, which in my opinion makes it a little more stress-free.

I hesitated because this was the first shop of the trip. But I fell in love with a pair of dainty tear drop tanzanite earrings.

Later in the trip, I compared similar pieces at Tanzanite Experience and felt reassured. Pricing was comparable, and the selection at Cultural Heritage was noticeably larger.

Credit cards are accepted, the environment is low pressure, and you can even customize jewelry if you have time.

If you prefer to compare multiple shops, there is also a Tanzanite Experience tour run by Africa Pathways Expeditions that visits three stores and can drop you at the airport.

From there, we continued on to Gibb’s Farm, which produces its own coffee, then stayed at Wilderness Collection Craters Edge before spending a full day inside Ngorongoro Crater.

We later flew to the Serengeti, staying at Dunia Camp and Namiri Plains.

On departure day from the Serengeti, we flew from Seronera back to Arusha on a little bush plane before our international flight home.

Well planned safari itineraries usually build in several buffer hours before long haul departures. Instead of sitting at the airport, we used that window intentionally.

There is something bittersweet about that final bush flight. You are still replaying lion sightings in your head while mentally preparing for security lines and boarding passes.

We headed to the rooftop at Gran Melia Arusha and sat outside with Mount Meru rising in the background.

It is the second highest mountain in Tanzania, and seeing it from above the city was pretty cool.

I ordered kuku na mchuzi wa nazi, which is chicken in a tomato coconut sauce with steamed rice and salad. We shared white sangrias and lingered longer than we expected. The service was friendly and relaxed.

Loved the comfortable outdoor seating with fresh air and an unhurried atmosphere. It was the perfect bridge between bush life and international travel mode. 

Before heading to JRO, we stopped at Sidai Designs in Arusha.

The space was filled with handcrafted beadwork that blends traditional Maasai techniques with modern design.

Maasai beadwork has long symbolized beauty and prosperity and is traditionally passed from mother to daughter. Economic pressures and changing lifestyles have made it harder for those traditions to continue.

Sidai works with more than 120 Maasai women artisans through flexible, small batch production.

I chose these turquoise drop earrings and a pair of mini black circle earrings, both finished with 14K gold-filled hypoallergenic studs. Love that beautiful handmade beadwork!

I intentionally picked pieces I knew I would wear at home rather than bold statement jewelry that would sit untouched. 

Each piece comes with a one-year warranty, which speaks to quality and craftsmanship.

If you have more time than we did, Sidai also offers beading workshops that provide a deeper cultural exchange.

Hubby and I are serious about coffee.

We once stayed on a working coffee plantation in Bali and still talk about those early morning walks through the coffee farm before breakfast.  At home, my husband roasts his own beans, which means we tend to notice when a cup is thoughtfully made. 

Because we stopped at Gibb’s Farm, which produces its own coffee, we did not schedule a dedicated coffee tour in Arusha. If we had not done that, a coffee experience here would have been non-negotiable.

Since coffee is a big deal in Tanzania, I wanted to share three pretty cool highly-rated Arusha coffee experiences in case you have more time than we did:

Kingstone Asilia Coffee Tour

One experience that stands out is the Kingstone Asilia coffee tour, set on a peaceful family farm on the outskirts of Arusha.

The experience is very hands on. You pick ripe cherries straight from the trees, use a traditional hand powered pulping machine to remove the fruit, and learn how the beans are dried, pounded, roasted, and ground before brewing your own cup.

Arusha Coffee and Waterfall Tour

Another option combines coffee and nature.

The Arusha Coffee and Waterfall tour visits a small family farm planted over 100 years ago that produces heirloom Meru Mountain coffee.

Guests harvest, roast over an open fire, grind, and brew their own cup. The experience includes local songs, banana wine tasting, a farm to table Meru lunch, and a visit to Mangalia Waterfall on the slopes of Mount Meru.

The Small Things Coffee Tour

The Small Things also runs a private Meru coffee tour that takes you from picking berries to brewing your own cup using Tanzanian peaberry beans.

You can take home freshly roasted coffee, and the experience supports vulnerable families in the Meru region.

For travelers who care about impact alongside flavor, this would be a meaningful addition.

We never spent the night in Arusha. Our priority was wildlife, open plains, and as much time on safari as possible. Still, those carefully chosen hours in the city added meaningful context to the entire trip.

We learned how to evaluate Tanzanite from someone deeply knowledgeable. Supporting Maasai women artisans creating modern beadwork rooted in tradition also added another thoughtful layer to the experience.

And lingering over a genuinely good meal with Mount Meru in the background before a long international flight felt like the right way to close the trip.

Those small moments in Arusha quietly complemented the safari experience and made it feel more complete.

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Questions about our time in Arusha? 

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