Ten days is enough for a real Kenya safari. It is not enough for every park. A classic first trip is the Masai Mara plus Amboseli, often with Lake Nakuru or Naivasha added. That is the circuit below, twice: one version flies, one version drives.
Both are sample routes, not packages for sale. Nights follow the park guides: two in Amboseli, at least three in the Mara, and the Rift because it is close to Nairobi. Times are figures those guides already publish. If a door-to-door time is missing, the day says so.
The month changes the trip more than the routing. Seasons and the July fee jump are in the best time to visit Kenya, and the reserve’s own calendar is the Masai Mara guide.
What ten days can hold
Count nine nights if you land on day 1 and fly home on day 10.
- Nairobi is a bookend. Nairobi National Park is the exception: 7 km from the centre, 20 minutes from the CBD, 30 to 40 minutes from the airport. Half a day, US$80. No elephants. Black rhino are the reliable reason to go.
- The Rift is Lake Nakuru or Naivasha and Hell’s Gate, not both. Nakuru is 2.5 to 3 hours from Nairobi. Hell’s Gate is 1.5 to 2 hours, and 14 km from Naivasha town.
- Amboseli wants two nights: a full day with the elephants, a dawn Kilimanjaro, and Observation Hill if you leave the vehicle.
- The Mara wants at least three nights, the reserve guide’s sweet spot. The fly-in has four. The road route has three.
The parks do not sit in a line
Amboseli is south of Nairobi, 3.5 to 4.5 hours via Emali. The Mara is southwest, 5 to 6 hours via Narok. Nakuru is northwest, 2.5 to 3 hours on the A104, with Naivasha and Hell’s Gate on the way. Every time published here starts from Nairobi, and they point three different ways.
A road trip of “Amboseli, then the Rift, then the Mara” returns toward Nairobi between the long legs. A fly-in uses Wilson as the hub. The scheduled flights are about 40 minutes from Wilson to Amboseli, and 45 minutes from Wilson to the Mara. This site publishes those Wilson flights, not a direct hop between the two parks.
Route A: fly-in
Who it suits. First safaris, families, and mid-range or premium trips where the flight is a small share of the camp bill. The cost guide puts Wilson to the Mara at roughly US$180 to US$280 per person return, Amboseli similar. The bag limit is 15 kg total, hand bag included, soft-sided: see the packing guide.
Who should drive. A group sharing one vehicle, because it is priced per vehicle, not per seat. Anyone who wants the country between the parks.
Day 1: Nairobi
Land and sleep in the city. Sort the eTA online before you fly, about US$32.50. A morning landing leaves time for Nairobi National Park: lion, rhino, buffalo and plains game. The skyline shot is a bonus. Weekday mornings are quieter.
Days 2 and 3: Nakuru or Naivasha
Lake Nakuru for rhino. It is 188 km² and fenced. White rhino on the lakeshore are near-certain on the park guide, with a chance of black rhino, Rothschild’s giraffe, and lions that often lie up in fever trees. Flamingos follow the algae; since 2013 the mega-flocks have mostly been at Lake Bogoria, 90 minutes north. Entry is US$90. Two nights buy the dawn. Lodges are on the Lake Nakuru guide. The drive is 2.5 to 3 hours, and the guides list no bush flight, so this leg stays on the road.
Naivasha and Hell’s Gate for a day on foot or a bike. No resident lions or elephants. Entry is US$50, plus bike hire of roughly KES 500 to 1,000. The gorge needs a guide, and rangers shut it when rain means a flash flood. Pair it with a Naivasha boat and Crescent Island, as the Hell’s Gate guide says most visitors do. The drive is 1.5 to 2 hours.
Days 4 and 5: Amboseli
Drive back to Nairobi (2.5 to 3 hours from Nakuru, 1.5 to 2 from Naivasha), then fly Wilson to Amboseli, about 40 minutes. That is a positioning day. The road from Nairobi would add another 3.5 to 4.5 hours, a second long drive before dark.
Nights 4 and 5 are in the park. Day 5 is elephants on the Enkongo Narok and Longinye swamps, and Kilimanjaro at dawn in the dry months (June to October, January and February). It is 392 km², which is why two nights is the guide’s number. No rhinos: you have already had Nakuru or Nairobi National Park if that mattered. Entry is US$90. Beds are on the Amboseli guide.
Days 6 to 9: the Masai Mara
Amboseli to Wilson, about 40 minutes, then Wilson to a Mara airstrip, 45 minutes. The link is in Nairobi. This site has no minimum connection time, so leave a gap. Airstrips named on the Mara guide: Musiara, Ol Kiombo, Keekorok.
Nights 6 to 9 are in the Mara. Four nights is what the flying buys.
For a first safari, and for July to October, stay inside the reserve: highest density, closest to the river. The 2026 fee is US$100 a day from January to June and US$200 from July to December, valid 6am to 6pm. At the luxury end of that choice, Tor’s Camp is in the riverine forest of the Olare Orok, one of the few luxury camps actually inside the reserve.
Night drives and walks mean a conservancy instead. Fees there are typically US$100 to US$150 per adult per night, inside the rate, and the reserve fee applies only on days you enter. Read conservancies versus the reserve, then the camp database.
Day 10: home, or the coast
Fly to Wilson in 45 minutes, then the international flight, with the bush hop in the morning. Confirm the gap with the airline. A beach needs extra nights. Watamu describes Mara, Nairobi, Malindi as an afternoon’s link, then 30 minutes to the marine park. That uses day 10 and leaves no sand. Add days, or drop a park.
Route B: by road
Same parks. The vehicle is the safari, which is how budget trips and many mid-range ones are built.
Who it suits. People sharing one pop-top. The cost guide prices a tour vehicle at about US$150 to US$250 per day plus fuel, split across the passengers. Self-drivers in a real 4x4, in the dry months, who have read the driving rules: keep left, 50 km/h in the parks, off-road banned, gates on a 6am to 6pm day, and no night driving if you can avoid it. Anyone whose bag will not make 15 kg.
Who should fly. Anyone with an international flight on the afternoon of day 10. The Mara-to-Nairobi road is 5 to 6 hours before an airport. And anyone who can avoid April and May, when black-cotton mud is the hazard the driving guide describes and some Mara camps are closed.
Day 1, Nairobi. As above. A late landing means you do not start for Amboseli in the dark.
Days 2 and 3, Amboseli. Drive 3.5 to 4.5 hours on day 2. Two nights at US$90, and keep day 3 inside the park.
Day 4, Nairobi. The same 3.5 to 4.5 hours back, then a city night. Stacking the Mara’s 5 to 6 hours via Narok on top is how the day ends in the dark. Split them.
Days 5 and 6, the Rift. Nakuru is 2.5 to 3 hours, Naivasha and Hell’s Gate 1.5 to 2. Day 6 is the lake or the bikes. One of them, as in Route A.
Days 7 to 9, the Mara. The published road time is Nairobi to the reserve, 5 to 6 hours via Narok. From Nakuru or Naivasha that is not the drive, so give it the whole day, ask the driver for the door-to-door figure, and clear the gate well before 6pm. Three nights follows. Reserve for a first trip and for the migration, a conservancy for night drives and walks, or the gates at Talek, Sekenani and Oloolaimutia if the budget leads. That belt starts around US$30 a night, with reserve tickets bought by the day, which is the cheapest week in the cost guide.
Day 10. Drive the 5 to 6 hours only if the flight home is late. Otherwise fly the 45 minutes to Wilson. The cost guide’s mid-range week already mixes road one way and flight the other.
The 2026 fees on these routes
Per non-resident adult, last verified July 2026. Mara children are US$50 from 9 to 17 and free under 9. KWS under-5s are free, on a different tariff. Pay KWS on eCitizen before the gate. The Mara is Narok County, and the Triangle gates are cashless.
| Stop | 2026 fee | From Nairobi, as published here |
|---|---|---|
| Nairobi National Park | US$80 / day | 20 minutes from the CBD; 30 to 40 minutes from the airport |
| Hell’s Gate | US$50 / day | 1.5 to 2 hours |
| Lake Nakuru | US$90 / day | 2.5 to 3 hours |
| Amboseli | US$90 / day | 3.5 to 4.5 hours, or about 40 minutes from Wilson |
| Masai Mara | US$100 (Jan to Jun) or US$200 (Jul to Dec) / day | 5 to 6 hours via Narok, or 45 minutes from Wilson |
Fees only, one adult. August fly-in, two Amboseli days and four Mara days: US$180 plus US$800. February by road, two Amboseli days and three Mara days: US$180 plus US$300. Add the Rift day. Camps, vehicles, flights, the eTA and tips are in the cost guide: one-week samples of about US$1,400, near US$3,800, and US$8,000 and up.
If one park is the wrong park
Samburu instead of the Rift, for animals the south does not have: Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, beisa oryx, Somali ostrich. Fly 60 to 75 minutes from Wilson, or drive 5 to 6 hours. Fee US$85 per 24 hours. Dry months are June to October and January to February. Swap it in. Do not add it on top of Amboseli, Nakuru and the Mara inside the same ten days.
Tsavo East instead of Amboseli, for space rather than a close elephant portrait. Four to five hours from Nairobi, or 2 to 3 from the coast at Bachuma, US$80. Tsavo West is about four hours from Nairobi, with Mzima Springs and the Ngulia rhinos on a separate US$80 ticket. Meru is the quiet swap: 5 to 6 hours by road or about 50 minutes from Wilson, US$70, with tracks that close after rain.
Frequently asked questions
Is 10 days enough for a Kenya safari?
Yes for two parks, a short Rift stop and a Nairobi night: two nights in Amboseli, at least three in the Mara. Samburu, Tsavo and a beach need something else to come out.
Should I fly or drive?
Fly Amboseli and the Mara if time is short: about 40 and 45 minutes from Wilson, against 3.5 to 4.5 hours and 5 to 6 hours, in different directions from Nairobi. Drive if you are sharing a vehicle or you want the journey. Nakuru and Hell’s Gate are road stops either way.
How many Mara nights on a 10 day trip?
Three minimum, which is Route B. Route A has four. For a crossing, stay near the river and keep the three. They cluster from mid-July to September, and no one can book you one.
Can I add the coast?
Only by dropping a park, or by travelling on day 10 and starting the beach after this itinerary ends. Watamu’s Mara, Nairobi, Malindi link is an afternoon, and Sala Gate is three hours from the coast to Tsavo East. Entry is US$25. Clear water is October to March. Use the country timing guide.
What does a 10 day Kenya safari cost?
The 2026 cost guide, plus the fee table above. A vehicle is about US$150 to US$250 a day. A return bush flight is about US$180 to US$280. July to October camp rates can sit 30 to 60% above April to May, and the Mara fee doubles on 1 July.
Can I self-drive this route?
In the dry months, in a real 4x4, keeping left and stopping overnight. The driving rules cover the licence, the 50 km/h park limit, the off-road ban and black cotton. Most first-timers do better with a driver-guide.
Seasons are the best time to visit Kenya. Mara beds are the camp database. Money is the cost guide. The AI safari planner will ask the questions and still send you back here to pick the camp.