Often overlooked for Zanzibar’s more famous beach destinations, Stone Town is worth at least one full day of exploration.

If you are at all interested in history, architecture, or food, Stone Town deserves to be put on your Tanzania itinerary.  While it is tempting to head straight to the beautiful white sand beaches Zanzibar is so famous for, reserve a day or two for Stone Town and its surrounding areas.  To experience the best of what Stone Town has to offer, follow our perfect 48 hour itinerary below:

DAY 1

Arrive at Zanzibar International Airport (ZNZ)

We arrived in the afternoon and our pre-booked driver picked us up.  Taxi drivers are known to overcharge tourists so instead of dealing with the hassle, we felt it was worth it to pre-arrange a driver to pick us up and be waiting for us with a sign.  We booked through Zanzitaxi.  They were on-time and had a large air-conditioned vehicle with cold water waiting for us.  All for only $10.

Daladalas (local buses) are a cheap alternative but they are not recommended if you have a lot of luggage.

 

Check into your hotel

We stayed at the DoubleTree Zanzibar – Stone Town.  Honestly, I love staying at the DoubleTree wherever we travel because of the delicious cookies they give you at check in.  Haha, but that’s not the only reason we chose the DoubleTree.  The hotel is in a wonderful location right in the heart of the city making it easy to explore all of Stone Town on foot.  While you are not on the waterfront, staying in the maze of alleyways of Stone Town makes for a more atmospheric and authentic-feeling stay.

 

Go on a walking tour

We booked a local guide (Jabir, who can be reached on WhatsApp at # +255 658 154 181) to take us on a walking tour of Stone Town.  Arriving in the narrow maze that is Stone Town, you will instantly feel like you will get lost in the winding alleyways.  It is worth it to walk around with a guide for a couple hours to get your bearings and get some local insight.

 

Visit Kelele Square

It may not look like much, but this very spot has a terrible history of being Zanzibar’s main slave market until the 1860s.

 

Explore the Slave Chambers

This is a very sad site to visit, but it is really worth going to in my opinion.  The cruelty you will learn about from your guide and the museum is appalling.  But it is important we don’t ignore or forget about this terrible past.

 

Check out the Anglican Cathedral

The slave chambers sit right next to the large Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ.  It may seem like quite the contrast, but they felt that replacing the cruelty of the slave trade with a place of God made perfect sense.

You will also find reminders of slavery inside the church, such as this circle by the altar marking the position of a post where slaves used to be tied and whipped.

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Looking for more things to do in Zanzibar?  Check out Things To Do in Zanzibar + Itinerary

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Watch the sunset from Africa House Hotel

Head upstairs to the beautiful outdoor bar and lounge area of the Africa House Hotel.  Enjoy a drink while watching the sun go down over the beautiful blue sea.

 

Eat dinner at Forodhani Gardens

Every night after sunset a wonderful street food market appears along the waterfront at Forodhani Gardens.  You will find rows and rows of vendors eager to sell you their best dish.  Don’t fall for the first one trying to drag you over to their table.  Look for the places with lots of locals, usually found furthest from the road and entrances. 

If you like seafood, this will be heaven for you – there is sooo much variety to choose from.  It is pretty cheap, too!  Make sure you ask before ordering if you don’t seen any prices so that you don’t get ripped off.  At the first place we stopped at Ryan and I ordered two full plates of all kinds of seafood and some sides with drinks.  It all came to about $15.

The other thing to try here is the Zanzibari pizza!  Make sure you wash it down with some sugar cane juice as well (2000 TSH).  I had to go back for more because it was so good!  The second time I tried it with ginger and lime.

 

Wander back to your hotel for a good sleep

Walking back through the dark alleyways may not feel the safest, but we didn’t encounter any problems nor feel unsafe.  It was very dark, the alleyways don’t have much light and there are not many people wandering about, but we did notice video cameras on every corner.  Our guide told us earlier that they are there for the safety of tourists and he told us we would be perfectly fine walking back to our hotel on our own.

 

DAY 2

Order room service for breakfast

I know, I know – not very cultural at all.  But with such a busy day ahead of exploring, and room service being so much more affordable than other countries, it is fun to indulge a bit!  There is a menu card on the desk on which you indicate what you want and at what time.  Then you just hang it on your door the evening before and it arrives promptly at the time you asked for.  So convenient!

The breakfast spread included way too much food, we could not eat it all.  It was only $12/person!  We saved a bunch of it for snacks later on.

 

Go on a Spice Tour

Zanzibar is known as the Spice Island so a tour of a local spice farm is something you should not miss!  Learning all about the spices was something we enjoyed way more than we were expecting to!  Our guide was absolutely fantastic.  He was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about teaching us all the benefits of every spice.

I honestly wish I had a notepad with me because he told us so much interesting and helpful information, I wish I could have wrote it all down!  If you want to buy spices, you can buy them straight from the farm here.

Eco & Culture Tours was the company we booked through and we highly recommend them!  We asked for a customized tour which included the spice tour, lunch with a local family, prison island, snorkelling and all the transportation.  It came to 310,000 TSH for the two of us.

 

Have lunch with a local family

After our spice tour our guide took us to the home of a local family where we enjoyed a traditional Zanzibari lunch.  We sat on the floor and ate local specialties of fish and vegetables all flavored with wonderful Zanzibari spices.

 

Take a Boat Ride to Prison Island

After lunch drive back to Stone Town and hop on a boat to Prison Island.  The ride takes about half an hour.  Your guide will show you around the small island and explain the history of how it was used during the slave trade.

 

Feed the giant tortoises

A large section of Prison Island is fenced in for a colony of over a hundred Aldabra giant tortoises!  When you enter, you are given some greens that you are free to feed the tortoises as you wander around.  It is amazing to see how huge these creatures are in person.  They will remind you of dinosaurs!  Every tortoise had a number on its shell which indicates how old it is.

 

Go snorkelling

After exploring Prison Island, hop back into the boat and have the driver take you to the nearby reef for some snorkelling!

 

Have dinner at the Tea House Restaurant

One of the most popular restaurants in Stone Town is the Tea House Restaurant located on the rooftop of the Emerson on Hurumzi Hotel.  Dinner here is a full on cultural and culinary experience not to be missed.  The views are stunning, the set menu is delicious and the service is attentive and educational.  For only $30/person, it is well-worth it!

Make sure you make reservations well in advance by emailing them before you even head to Zanzibar.

 

DAY 3

Have breakfast at Lukmaan

For your last morning in Stone Town, head out early and walk on over to Lukmaan which is a popular restaurant for locals.  They serve the food cafeteria-style and there is a separate area to order drinks.  My favorites here were the pastries and smoothies!  Very affordable as well.

 

Drink a traditional coffee at Jaws Corner

Stop by the popular Jaws Corner for a small cup of local coffee.  Sip it while sitting on one of the famous Zanzibari barazas and watch all the locals pass by.

 

Take a photo at Mercury House

If you are a Freddie Mercury fan, stop here to take a photo outside the house where he once lived.  Unfortunately the house is occupied so you can not explore inside.

 

Shop at Darajani Market

If you still have some time to spare, head over to the bustling local market!

 

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Visiting Zanzibar?  You may also be interested in:

Swimming with Dolphins in Zanzibar

Tanzanian Budget Airlines: Are they safe to fly?

Seasons Lodge: A piece of paradise in Zanzibar

Zanzibar Spice Tour

 

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