--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Zanzibar, Tanzania | Wimup" description: "The 10 best things to do in Zanzibar, mapped, filmed and ranked. When to go, how many days you need, which coast suits the tide and how to reach the island." url: https://wimup.com/city/zanzibar type: City guide updated: 2026-10-07 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10 Things To Do in Zanzibar Zanzibar, Tanzania · Africa · By Wimup Editorial, 16 min read Zanzibar is an archipelago off the Tanzanian coast that traded with Arabia, Persia and India for a thousand years, and it shows in the doors, the food and the language. Below are the ten experiences worth your time (each mapped, with a Wimup video guide), plus the ferry, the festivals and the tide tables to plan around. ## Quick answer The best things to do in Zanzibar are walking Stone Town, eating at the Forodhani night market, snorkelling Mnemba Atoll and tracking red colobus in Jozani. Give the island 5 to 7 days, come between June and October, and split the trip: two nights in Stone Town, the rest on a beach. Which beach depends on the tide you want. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** Jun–Oct · Dec–Feb - **Ideal length:** 5–7 days - **Budget per day:** $80–160 - **Language:** Swahili, English - **Getting around:** Taxis & daladala - **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://zanzibartourism.go.tz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## The 10 best things to do in Zanzibar ### 1. Walk Stone Town at ground level Old town · Stone Town, Zanzibar City, Unguja Stone Town went on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000 as the best surviving example of a Swahili trading town, and it is still a working one. The lanes are too narrow for cars, which is the point: you find the carved doors, the coral-rag walls and the courtyards by getting lost. Start at the seafront and work inland before the afternoon heat. - **Time:** Half a day - **Cost:** Free to walk - **Best at:** Late afternoon - **Tip:** Take a licensed guide for the doors Links: [Website](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/173/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 2. Eat dinner at the Forodhani night market Street food · Forodhani Gardens, Mizingani Road, Stone Town The seafront gardens turn into a grill yard at dusk. Zanzibar pizza, mishkaki skewers, urojo and sugarcane juice pressed at the stall, all of it eaten standing up with the dhows behind you. Order what is cooked in front of you rather than the seafood platters that have been sitting out under a lamp. - **Time:** 1–2 hrs - **Cost:** Cash, small notes - **Best at:** After sunset - **Tip:** Order things cooked to order ### 3. Snorkel Mnemba Atoll Marine · Mnemba Atoll, off Matemwe, north-east Unguja The atoll is a marine conservation area, and the reef around it is the reason most people who dive in Zanzibar dive here: coral gardens, big visibility and resident bottlenose dolphins. Boats leave from Matemwe and Kiwengwa. The island itself is a private lodge, so you swim the reef rather than land on it. - **Time:** Half day - **Cost:** Boat plus conservation fee - **Best at:** Early morning - **Tip:** Book through a dive centre, not off the sand ### 4. Track red colobus in Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park Nature · Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park, Central Unguja The only national park on Unguja, and the only place on earth with wild Zanzibar red colobus. The troops near the road are used to people and let you stand close. Entry includes a park ranger, and the mangrove boardwalk on the far side of the road is the half of the visit most day tours skip. - **Time:** 2 hrs - **Cost:** Park fee, ranger included - **Best at:** Early morning - **Tip:** Walk the mangrove boardwalk too ### 5. Stand in the slave market memorial Heritage · Mkunazini Road, Stone Town Christ Church Cathedral went up from 1873 on the site of East Africa’s largest slave market, and it was built to make a point: the altar stands where the whipping post stood. Two holding chambers survive under the neighbouring building. It is the hardest hour in Stone Town and the one that explains the rest of it. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Ticket - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Take the guided explanation ### 6. Cross to Prison Island for the tortoises Island · Changuu Island, off Stone Town Changuu was bought as a prison and used as a quarantine station instead, so the cells never held anyone. What draws the boats now is the sanctuary of Aldabra giant tortoises, brought from the Seychelles a century ago, some of them well past 150 years old. Twenty minutes out by boat, with a reef to snorkel on the way back. - **Time:** Half day - **Cost:** Boat plus sanctuary fee - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Agree the boat price before you leave the jetty ### 7. Climb the ramparts of the Old Fort Landmark · Mizingani Road, Stone Town Built by Omani Arabs around 1700 against the Portuguese, the Old Fort has since been a garrison, a prison and a railway depot. The walls now hold an open-air amphitheatre, craft stalls and galleries, and it is free to walk in. In February the same courtyard becomes the main stage of Sauti za Busara. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Late afternoon - **Tip:** Check what is on at the amphitheatre ### 8. Tour a working spice farm Food & farm · Kizimbani, north-east of Stone Town Zanzibar was the world’s leading clove producer in the nineteenth century, and the farms inland from Stone Town still grow cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla and ylang-ylang. A good tour is a walk with someone who scrapes, crushes and hands you each one. Wear closed shoes, the ground is red mud after rain. - **Time:** 3 hrs - **Cost:** Tour fee - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Book through your hotel rather than at the roadside ### 9. Ride the lagoon at Paje Beach · Paje, south-east Unguja Paje is the kitesurfing capital of the island: a shallow lagoon inside the reef, flat water and a wind that runs reliably in two seasons. At low tide the sea walks out several hundred metres and the village goes out with it to farm seaweed. Both halves of that are worth watching. - **Time:** Full day - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Mid to high tide - **Tip:** Read the tide table before you book a lesson ### 10. Swim at Nungwi and Kendwa Beach · Nungwi, northern tip of Unguja The northern tip escapes most of the tidal swing that empties the east coast, so this is where you can swim at any hour. Nungwi is the busy one and still builds dhows on the sand at the far end of the beach. Kendwa, twenty minutes down the coast, is quieter and faces the sunset. - **Time:** Full day - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Any tide - **Tip:** Kendwa for sunset, Nungwi for the boatyards ## Best beaches in Zanzibar Eight beaches, sorted by the thing that actually decides it: the tide. 1. **Nungwi** (Deep water at all tides · North tip): The busiest beach on the island and the one that stays swimmable at every hour of the day. 2. **Kendwa** (Swimmable at all tides · North-west): Twenty minutes from Nungwi, wider, quieter and pointed at the sunset. Full-moon parties are its one loud night. 3. **Paje** (Kite lagoon · South-east): Kitesurfing headquarters. A shallow lagoon inside the reef, schools along the whole strip and seaweed farms at low water. 4. **Jambiani** (Big tidal range · South-east): The village beach south of Paje: fishing boats, guesthouses rather than resorts, and sand flats that run for kilometres at low tide. 5. **Matemwe** (Closest to Mnemba · North-east): The closest launch point for Mnemba Atoll, which is most of the reason to stay here. Reef walking at low tide. 6. **Kiwengwa** (Resort strip · North-east): The long resort strip on the north-east coast, and the easiest place to find a package hotel with a pool for the low-tide hours. 7. **Pongwe** (Sheltered bay · East): A sheltered bay with less of a tidal drop than its neighbours, which makes it the pick on the east coast for swimming. 8. **Michamvi Kae** (Faces west · Michamvi peninsula): The far side of the Michamvi peninsula faces west, so this is the one east-coast beach where the sun sets over water. ## Best restaurants in Zanzibar Six tables worth planning a day around, from a rooftop set menu to a canteen queue. 1. **Emerson Spice Tea House** (Set menu · $$$ · Stone Town): Rooftop set dinner in a restored nineteenth-century merchant house, four floors above the lanes. Reserve ahead. [Website](https://emersonzanzibar.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 2. **Lukmaan** (Swahili canteen · $ · Mkunazini): The Zanzibari canteen everyone eventually eats at. Point at the trays, order the octopus curry, pay very little. 3. **The Rock** (Seafood · $$$ · Michamvi): A dining room on a coral outcrop off Michamvi, reached on foot at low tide and by boat at high. Book well ahead. 4. **6 Degrees South** (Grill · $$ · Shangani): Shangani seafront terrace, grills and cocktails, and the most reliable sunset table in Stone Town. 5. **Zanzibar Coffee House** (Cafe · $ · Mkunazini): Tanzanian beans roasted on site in an 1885 house, and the breakfast to eat before a walking tour. 6. **Mercury’s** (Bar and grill · $$ · Mizingani): Waterfront bar and kitchen named for the singer born a few streets away. Pizza, a long drinks list and the dhow harbour in front of you. ## Best historic sites in Zanzibar Six buildings that carry the sultanate, the Persian influence and the clove money. 1. **Palace Museum (Beit el-Sahel)** (Sultanate history · Mizingani Road): The sultans’ town residence on the seafront, with the rooms of Princess Salme and the story of the 1896 war. 2. **Old Dispensary** (Free to enter · Mizingani Road): The most ornate facade on the waterfront: carved balconies, stained glass and a clock tower, built by an Ismaili merchant in the 1890s. 3. **Hamamni Persian Baths** (Guided visit · Hamamni): Sultan Barghash’s public baths from the 1870s, the only Persian-style hammam built in sub-Saharan Africa. Dry now, and still legible. 4. **House of Wonders (Beit el-Ajaib)** (Closed, exterior only · Mizingani Road): The sultan's ceremonial palace, first building in Zanzibar with electricity and a lift. Part of it collapsed in 2020, so this is an exterior for now. 5. **Maruhubi Palace ruins** (Ruins · Maruhubi): What the fire of 1899 left of Sultan Barghash’s harem palace: bath houses, columns and a lily pond, a few kilometres up the coast. 6. **Kizimkazi Dimbani Mosque** (Working mosque · Kizimkazi): A working mosque in the far south whose Kufic inscription dates the building to the twelfth century, among the oldest on the East African coast. ## Best diving and snorkelling in Zanzibar Five sites, from a first snorkel to a current dive for experienced divers only. 1. **Mnemba Atoll** (All levels · North-east): The flagship. Coral gardens inside a conservation area, big visibility and dolphins that turn up on their own schedule. 2. **Leven Bank** (Advanced · Pemba Channel): A seamount in the Pemba Channel north of Unguja, shallowest at about 14 metres. Strong current, big fish, experienced divers only. 3. **Tumbatu Island** (All levels · North-west): The best coral gardens off Unguja, hard and soft both, on the reefs around the island off the north-west coast. 4. **Chumbe Island Coral Park** (Snorkelling, guided · Off Stone Town): A privately managed reef sanctuary since 1994, snorkel-only and guided. Day visits are limited and booked in advance. 5. **Misali Island** (All levels · Pemba): Off western Pemba, and the reason divers make the trip north. Wall diving and reef in a conservation area with very little traffic. ## Best nature and wildlife in Zanzibar Five places inland, including two caves you can swim in. 1. **Zanzibar Butterfly Centre** (Community-run · Pete): A community project beside Jozani where local farmers rear native species. Small, well explained and genuinely a conservation income. 2. **Maalum Cave** (Pre-booked slots · Paje): A limestone sinkhole near Paje turned into a swimming pool, kept calm by pre-booked entry slots. Book before you go. [Website](https://maalumzanzibar.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 3. **Kuza Cave** (Culture centre · Jambiani): A freshwater cave at Jambiani run as a culture centre: swimming plus drumming, dancing and Swahili cooking classes. [Website](https://www.kuzacave.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 4. **Ngezi Forest Reserve** (Guide required · North Pemba): Pemba’s surviving indigenous forest. Visits go with a naturalist guide, and the Joshi trail takes about an hour past flying foxes and red colobus. 5. **Menai Bay Conservation Area** (Protected area · South-west): The protected bay off the south-west coast: sandbanks, reef, mangrove and the dolphins that most Safari Blue boats run out to find. ## Best markets and shopping in Zanzibar Four places to buy in Stone Town, from the produce market to the craft lanes. 1. **Darajani Market** (Opens early · Darajani): The main bazaar since the late nineteenth century. Spices, fish, fruit and everything else, at its best just after it opens in the morning. 2. **Gizenga Street** (Craft street · Baghani): The craft lane behind the Old Fort: carvings, kanga cloth, tinga tinga painting and spice packets, shop after shop. 3. **Kenyatta Road** (Shopping street · Shangani): Shangani’s shopping street, the more polished end of Stone Town retail: textiles, jewellery, books and coffee. 4. **Old Fort craft stalls** (Inside the fort · Mizingani Road): Inside the fort walls, a ring of stalls and small galleries. Fewer shops than Gizenga Street and considerably less pressure. ## Best day trips in Zanzibar Five trips off the beach, four of them on the water. 1. **Safari Blue** (Full day · Fumba): The island’s signature day at sea. A dhow out of Fumba into Menai Bay, snorkelling, a sandbank stop and grilled seafood on a beach. 2. **Nakupenda sandbank** (Half day · Off Stone Town): A bar of sand that surfaces at low tide off Stone Town, usually paired with Prison Island. Go for the first boat, not the fourth. 3. **Kizimkazi dolphins** (Half day, early · Kizimkazi): Bottlenose and humpback dolphins off the southern tip. Early boats do best. Pick an operator that keeps its distance rather than chasing. 4. **Mangapwani coral cave** (Half day · Mangapwani): A limestone cave and a walled slave chamber on the north-west coast, used after the trade was outlawed. Bleak and worth the drive. 5. **Pemba Island** (Overnight · Pemba): The green half of the archipelago, an hour by air or a few by ferry. Clove farms, forest and the diving at Misali, with almost no crowds. ## Festivals & annual events in Zanzibar (2026) - **Zanzibar Revolution Day** (12 Jan): A public holiday marking the 1964 revolution. Banks and government offices close; parades in Stone Town. - **Sauti za Busara** (Feb): Four days of live African music in the courtyard of the Old Fort, and the biggest date in the island’s calendar. - **Ramadan** (Feb–Mar): A month of daylight fasting. Many local kitchens close until sunset and Forodhani starts late. The dates move each year. - **Eid al-Fitr** (Mar): The end of Ramadan, and the biggest family holiday of the year. Expect closures, full ferries and packed beaches for several days. - **Union Day** (26 Apr): The national holiday marking the 1964 union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. A public holiday across the country. - **Eid al-Hajj** (May): Eid al-Adha, the second Eid. Another multi-day holiday with the same closures, moving earlier each year with the lunar calendar. - **Zanzibar International Film Festival** (Jun): The Festival of the Dhow Countries, screening film from across the Indian Ocean world, with the Old Fort as its main venue. - **Mwaka Kogwa** (Jul): The Shirazi new year at Makunduchi in the south: mock stick fights, a burning hut, singing and four days of feasting. ## Must-try dishes in Zanzibar, Tanzania - **Urojo**: The Zanzibar mix: a tangy mango-and-turmeric soup loaded with potato, bhajia, crisps and chilli. - **Pweza wa nazi**: Octopus slow-cooked in spiced coconut milk until it gives. The dish to order at Lukmaan. - **Zanzibar pizza**: Not a pizza. Thin dough folded around minced meat, egg, onion and cheese, then fried flat at Forodhani. - **Mishkaki**: Charcoal-grilled beef or chicken skewers, marinated hard and sold from street grills after dark. - **Pilau**: Rice cooked in broth with cloves, cardamom and cinnamon, usually with goat or beef. The celebration dish. - **Biryani**: The Indian-trader inheritance: layered spiced rice with goat or fish, served on Fridays and at weddings. - **Samaki wa kupaka**: Whole fish grilled, then painted with a thick coconut and tamarind sauce and returned to the fire. - **Mandazi**: Lightly sweet coconut doughnuts, eaten at breakfast with spiced tea. ## Zanzibar transport & airports - **Abeid Amani Karume International** (ZNZ): The island's international gateway, about 6 km south of Stone Town. Terminal 3 handles international flights and Terminal 2 domestic. No bus or rail link: taxi or hotel transfer. [Website](https://zaa.go.tz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Ferry from Dar es Salaam** (Ferry): Azam Marine and Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries run the crossing from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar’s Malindi port several times a day, in roughly two hours. Book ahead around Eid and school holidays. [Website](https://azammarine.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Daladala** (Local): Shared minibuses and converted trucks run fixed routes out of Darajani to every corner of Unguja. The cheapest way to cross the island, and the slowest. - **Taxis and transfers** (Taxi): No meters anywhere, so agree the fare before you get in. Most people reach the east coast on a hotel transfer, about an hour from Stone Town; the north tip takes a little longer. ## Zanzibar at a glance - **Country:** Tanzania - **Region:** Zanzibar Archipelago - **Population:** 1.9M (2022 census) - **Founded:** Stone Town, 1830s - **Nickname:** The Spice Islands - **Language:** Swahili, English - **Currency:** Tanzanian shilling (TZS) - **Time zone:** EAT · UTC+3 - **Calling code:** +255 24 - **Airports:** ZNZ - **Power:** 230V · Type D/G - **Emergency:** 112 ## Interesting facts - Zanzibar keeps its own president, parliament and immigration desk inside Tanzania, so arriving from the mainland means showing a passport. - Stone Town was inscribed by UNESCO in 2000 as the best surviving example of a Swahili trading town on the East African coast. - The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 27 August 1896 was over in under 45 minutes, and is the shortest war on record. - Zanzibar was the world’s leading clove producer in the nineteenth century, which is where the Spice Islands name comes from. - Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town in 1946, a few streets back from the seafront. ## Watch [Stone Town on Foot](https://wimup.com/watch/zanzibar.md), 1:29:40 ## Zanzibar travel FAQ ### How many days do you need in Zanzibar? Five to seven days is the useful minimum: two nights in Stone Town for the old town, the cathedral and Forodhani, then three or four on a beach with a day for Jozani and a day on the water. Three days covers Stone Town and one beach and nothing else. ### What is the best time of year to visit Zanzibar? June to October is the long dry season, cooler and the most reliable stretch of the year. December to February is hot, dry and busy over the holidays. The long rains run from mid-March to May, when many east-coast hotels close, and short rains fall in November. ### Which part of the island should you stay on? The north tip (Nungwi and Kendwa) if you want to swim at any hour, because it escapes most of the tidal swing. The south-east (Paje and Jambiani) for kitesurfing, lower prices and enormous sand flats at low tide. Stone Town for the history, and it is worth two nights wherever else you go. ### Do you need a visa for Zanzibar? Zanzibar uses Tanzania’s visa system, so the requirement is the same as for the mainland and most visitors need one. Check the current rules and apply through the official Tanzanian immigration service before you travel rather than assuming a visa on arrival. Arriving from a yellow fever country also means carrying the certificate. ### How should you dress in Zanzibar? The islands are overwhelmingly Muslim, and away from the resort beaches that matters. Cover shoulders and knees in Stone Town and in the villages, keep swimwear to the beach, and expect daytime kitchens to be closed during Ramadan. ## Nearby guides - [Arusha](https://wimup.com/city/arusha.md): Tanzania · 10 picks - [Nairobi](https://wimup.com/city/nairobi.md): Kenya · 10 picks - [Entebbe](https://wimup.com/city/entebbe.md): Uganda · 10 picks - [All of Africa →](https://wimup.com/africa): 54 cities Part of the [Tanzania guide](https://wimup.com/country/tanzania.md) · [Africa](https://wimup.com/africa.md) ## Sources - [Zanzibar tourism board](https://zanzibartourism.go.tz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Walk Stone Town at ground level (official site)](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/173/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Emerson Spice Tea House (official site)](https://emersonzanzibar.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Maalum Cave (official site)](https://maalumzanzibar.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Kuza Cave (official site)](https://www.kuzacave.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Abeid Amani Karume International (official site)](https://zaa.go.tz/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Ferry from Dar es Salaam (official site)](https://azammarine.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.