The best things to do in Moroni are the Old Friday Mosque on the dhow harbour, an hour in the medina behind it, a morning at Volo Volo market and the National Museum. Then hire a driver for the island: Ikoni and Itsandra to either side of town, the Singani lava flow to the south, Lac Salé in the north, and a day for the climb up Karthala. Three or four days covers it. June, September and October are the driest, quietest months.
Moroni is the capital of the Comoros and the largest town on Grande Comore: a low medina on a dhow harbour, under the slopes of Karthala, an active volcano. Its name means the place of fire. In July 2026 its medina became one of six that UNESCO inscribed as the country's first World Heritage site.
Moroni's emblem: a white mosque built in 1427, with a minaret added in 1921, facing the old dhow port. See it from the quay in the late afternoon, when the light comes off the sea.
Narrow lanes and carved wooden doors behind the harbour, now part of the UNESCO listing of 2026. Much of it is unrestored, so walk it slowly and look up at the doorways.
The biggest market on the island: vanilla, cloves and cinnamon, lychees and jackfruit, chiromani cloth and heaps of everything else. A covered section serves cooked Comorian food at lunchtime.
The newer Friday mosque stands by the port a few metres from the old one, and together they frame the dhow harbour. Stay for the evening call to prayer across the water.
Opened in 1989 inside the national research centre, the CNDRS, with four rooms on history, religion, the volcano and the sea. It is small and it is the best briefing on the islands before you head out.
The volcano behind the city rises to 2,361 metres and last erupted in 2007, and its summit caldera is about three kilometres by four. The walk is steep, muddy and long, through forest and then bare rock.
The old sultanate town a few kilometres south, one of the four inscribed medinas on Grande Comore, with a ruined palace and the tomb of Prince Said Ibrahim. Its sea cliffs carry a story of women who leapt rather than be enslaved.
Once the island's first sultanate and its first port, now an inscribed medina just north of the capital. A 17th-century fort sits above the town, reached by a walled path of about 130 metres, and the beach is below.
Karthala's last lava flow, in 1977, ran through Singani about 20 km south of Moroni and on to the sea. The village was rebuilt beside the black rock, and the flow shows how close the volcano lives to its people.
A saltwater crater lake in the north of the island, held sacred locally and said to be bottomless. The drive up the west coast passes Mitsamiouli and its beaches.
The nearest good beach to Moroni, below the old fort, with the hotel of the same name at one end.
Pale sand against dark volcanic rock and clear water, on the east coast across the island.
A sheltered swimming cove in the north, named for a local tradition of a refuge from pirates.
The usual footpath up, from the village just above Moroni. Ask there for a guide and start before dawn.
About three kilometres by four, with fumaroles. Camp on the rim for the dawn view.
The former sultanate town on the northwest coast, with white-sand beaches and good diving.
A ridge of volcanic rock running out into the ocean at the island's northeast tip, by Ivoini.
The fourth inscribed medina on Grande Comore, a short way north of Moroni and quieter than the capital.
Anjouan's port: covered alleys in a medina under a citadel built between 1782 and 1789.
The east-coast medina, and the water where the second known coelacanth was caught in 1952.
The country's first marine park: green turtles nest at Itsamia all year, humpbacks arrive from mid-July.
A well-reviewed grill in Itsandra, a short ride north, and the place to eat off the coals by the sea.
Spiced Comorian cooking and samosas, praised by diners. Parking is tight, so come by taxi.
The hotel's open dining room by the sea serves local dishes, and it is like other large hotels, it serves alcohol.
Spiced chicken wings off the skewer stands that the mamas brochettis run around the markets.
Meat kebabs from beachfront shacks, served with grilled cassava, banana and breadfruit.
A 55-room hotel in the centre with a pool above the sea and a garden. The business address in town.
The best-known resort on the island, north of town, with its own cove for swimming.
Fourteen simple bungalows of thatch and eucalyptus wood, a short walk from Itsandra beach.
The month of fasting reshapes the day: quiet afternoons, busy evenings after sunset.
The end of Ramadan, a public holiday of prayers and family meals.
The feast of the sacrifice, a public holiday kept across the island.
Marked with religious rites and community events in the medinas.
The Prophet's birthday, a public holiday with readings in the mosques.
The 1975 declaration of independence, with the main ceremonies in Moroni.
The diaspora flies home for the great weddings; streets fill with processions and dances.
The public holiday that restates the Union's claim to Mayotte.
At Hahaya, about 20 km north of the centre and roughly 30 minutes by taxi. Agree the fare before you get in; there is no meter.
Unmetered and cash only, in Comorian francs. Shared taxis run fixed fares around town; agree a private fare before you set off.
The practical way to see the island. Hotels arrange one for the day; avoid driving after dark.
Carriers to Anjouan and Mohéli come and go. Ask in Moroni which one is flying that week, and leave a spare day.
Lobster in a vanilla sauce, usually named the national dish.
Pounded cassava leaves cooked in coconut milk with fish or meat.
Spiced rice cooked with meat, a pilaf that came over from Zanzibar.
Green bananas in coconut milk with cloves and cardamom.
Grilled spiced chicken wings from the market skewer stands.
The table hot sauce of chilli, tomato, onion and lime.
Fried coconut-water bread topped with sesame.
Rice-flour and coconut cake for weddings and feast days.
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