There is nothing else like it, and it is busy

What it is

A collapsed volcanic caldera roughly twenty kilometres across, with steep walls and a floor holding a largely resident population — lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo on the soda lake, and one of the few places in the region with a realistic chance of black rhino.

Because the population is largely resident rather than migratory, it does not have a season in the way the Serengeti does. It is good all year.

Why one day

The floor is finite and there is a limited network of tracks on it. A full day sees it. A second day sees it again.

It is also heavily visited, and that is structural: a confined space with roads down into it and every northern-circuit itinerary including it. Going early helps considerably — the descent at first light, before the day visitors arrive, is a different experience from the same drive at ten o'clock.

The rim is cold

This surprises almost everybody. The rim sits at well over 2,000 metres and the nights are genuinely cold — not "bring a jumper" cold, but fires-and-hot-water-bottles cold.

• Ask whether the lodge has heating, and whether the rooms have a fire
• That is the single biggest comfort difference between lodges up there
• Bring a proper warm layer regardless
• The descent in the morning is cold too, in an open vehicle

How it fits a honeymoon route

At seven nights we would genuinely drop it, and say so. The Crater is remarkable and it costs you a day of travel plus a cold night, and on a short honeymoon that day is better spent in the Serengeti or on a beach.

Ask whether it fits your length