Per person, land only. Park fees included where noted.
Day 1: Arusha, and the point of the day is that you see the city properly rather than passing through it. The Cultural Heritage Centre first — the gallery is much bigger than it looks and holds a serious collection of African art. Then the Tanzanite Experience, where you learn how a gemstone found in exactly one place on Earth was discovered in 1967 and how to tell a real stone from the glass sold on the roadside. Shanga for the glassblowing, where recycled bottles are turned into new pieces by artisans with disabilities, in the coffee gardens on the edge of town.
The Maasai Market last, when you have some idea what things are worth. Overnight in Arusha or Moshi depending on your onward plan.
Day 2: We transfer east towards Moshi, and the drive itself is the reason to do this trip in this direction — Kilimanjaro grows in the windscreen for an hour and a half, and on a clear morning the snow line is visible long before the town is.
We stop at Materuni on the way in. The 45-minute walk down to the falls, a swim if you want one, and then the coffee: picking, roasting in a clay pot over the fire, grinding in the wooden mortar with the song that keeps the rhythm, and drinking what you made. Chagga lunch in the village.
Into Moshi by late afternoon.
Who this is for: this trip exists for a specific and common situation — you are moving between Arusha and Moshi anyway, because your safari ended in one and your Kilimanjaro climb starts from the other. Most people do that transfer as dead time in a vehicle. This turns it into two days that are worth having, and you arrive where you were going regardless.
It also works in reverse. Tell us which direction you need and we will build it that way.