Stone Town Travel Guide

Updated October 2026

Overview and Things to Consider

Stone Town is the old quarter of Zanzibar City, about 96 hectares of coral-stone houses on a small promontory on the west coast of Unguja, the main island of Zanzibar. Roughly 16,000 people live inside it. The lanes are too narrow for cars in most places, many front doors are carved wood with big brass studs, and older houses have a baraza, a long stone bench along the outside wall that doubles as a raised sidewalk when the rain floods the street. UNESCO listed it in 2000 for the way Swahili, Arab, Persian, Indian and European building styles mixed here.

You'll love Stone Town if you like a city you can learn on foot in two days, if history with an ugly side interests you more than a spa menu, or if you want a few nights of good dinners between a safari and the beach. You'll hate it if you came for sand. The town's waterfront is a working port, the papasi (touts) on Kenyatta Road and the seafront offer taxis, spice tours and boat trips all day, and average highs from January to March sit at 91°F to 92°F (33°C). It's a conservative Muslim town, and clothes that pass on the beach at Nungwi draw stares here, and can draw fines.

The 2026 version is easier to fly to and more expensive to enter. Airlink started a weekly nonstop from Cape Town on October 3, 2026, while every visitor now buys $44 of compulsory insurance on top of a visa. Meanwhile the House of Wonders, the sultan's 1883 palace on the seafront and the town's best-known building, has been a closed ruin since part of it collapsed during restoration on Christmas Day 2020. About 80% of Stone Town's 1,709 buildings are in deteriorating condition. Come for the living town more than its museums.

Two things get more attention than they deserve. Forodhani's night food market is a fine setting with patchy food, and Prison Island turned into a short, pricey look at tortoises once the island went private. The Anglican cathedral built over the old slave market deserves more time than most visitors give it.

How Stone Town Got Here

The town began as Shangani, a minor Swahili fishing settlement founded around the 11th century. The Portuguese built a church there in the early 1500s. After locals and Pembans pushed them out in the 17th century, island patricians invited the Sultan of Oman in for protection, and the Omanis built the Old Fort in 1699, partly on the Portuguese church. In 1824 Sultan Said bin Sultan moved his seat from Muscat to Stone Town, and Omani migrants followed. Most of the stone houses you walk past went up in the 19th century, when Zanzibar grew rich on cloves and on the sale of enslaved people from the mainland, and Indian and Persian merchants settled to trade.

The slave market sat at Mkunazini, in the middle of town. A treaty with Britain in 1873 ended the import of enslaved people to the islands, and on Christmas Day that year the foundation stone of Christ Church was laid on the market site, with the altar said to stand where the whipping post was. Slavery itself didn't end in Zanzibar until 1909. Britain declared a protectorate in 1890, and on August 27, 1896, a succession dispute became the Anglo-Zanzibar War, 38 to 45 minutes of Royal Navy shelling that set the sultan's palace and harem on fire and left the House of Wonders almost undamaged.

The modern town was shaped by January 1964, when the Zanzibar Revolution overthrew the sultan. Thousands were killed, many Arab and Indian families fled, and the new Afro-Shirazi Party government took over many of their houses as public buildings. Freddie Mercury's family left for England around then. Zanzibar joined Tanganyika to form Tanzania the same year but stayed semi-autonomous with its own immigration service, which is why you show your passport again stepping off the ferry from the mainland.

Getting There and Around

Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ) is about 5 kilometers south of Stone Town. Nonstops arrive from Doha, Dubai, Muscat, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Paris and Johannesburg, plus small-plane hops from Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Kilimanjaro. Airlink added a Saturday flight from Cape Town on October 3, 2026, just over six hours. Taxis wait outside arrivals and their fares are negotiable. A pre-booked car from The Zanzibus costs a flat €10 between the airport and Stone Town, paid to the driver in cash. On a budget, dala dala 505, marked U/Ndege, runs between the airport gate and Creek Road, now officially Benjamin Mkapa Road.

From Dar es Salaam the ferry is the classic way in and still the best one. Azam Marine runs Kilimanjaro-class catamarans in about two hours, and non-resident adults pay $35 in economy, $40 in business, $60 in VIP and $100 in royal class, with 25 kilograms of luggage included. Book online or go straight to Azam's own window at the Dar terminal, because the touts there tell foreigners the office is closed, sell economy seats at first-class prices and push return tickets that turn out to be invalid. Zanzibar runs its own immigration, so you'll fill in an arrival card in Stone Town even coming from the mainland.

Plenty of visitors come the other way, from the beaches elsewhere on the island at the end of their trip. From Nungwi in the north, dala dala 116 takes about two hours to Darajani, and locals pay roughly TSh 2,000 (about $0.75), so pay what they pay and keep valuables in a small bag on your lap. The Zanzibus runs air-conditioned shared shuttles from Stone Town to Nungwi and Kendwa or to Paje and Jambiani in 70 to 80 minutes from €7, and its private taxis charge a flat €30 from any beach to town.

Citizens of the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia and the EU all need a visa. Apply online through Tanzania Immigration's official eVisa system, or buy a single-entry visa on arrival, carrying proof of onward travel. The single-entry fee is $50 for most nationalities and $100 for Americans. Your passport needs six months' validity and a blank page. On top of that, every non-resident visitor needs the government's inbound travel insurance, $44 per adult and $22 per child from the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation, and your own policy doesn't count. Bring a yellow fever certificate if you're coming from a country with transmission risk.

Inside the old town you walk. Most alleys are barely wide enough for a bike, and you can't go far before hitting the sea or Creek Road. Bolt lists Zanzibar among its cities, though street taxis still expect you to haggle. Dala dalas for the rest of the island leave from Creek Road by Darajani Market, numbered and signed by destination, and go when full.

What's Changed Since 2016

December 2020: the House of Wonders partly collapsed. The palace had been closed since sections of its veranda and roof fell in 2012 and 2015, and the government of Oman had put up TSh 10 billion for its restoration. On December 25, 2020, much of the front, including the clock tower, came down during the work. Two workers died and four were rescued. In 2026 the seafront's centerpiece is still off-limits, so plan on the Palace Museum, the Old Fort and the Old Dispensary instead.

October 2024: Zanzibar made inbound travel insurance compulsory for all foreign visitors from October 1, 2024. It costs $44 per adult and $22 per child, or $22 for travelers from SADC and EAC countries, and must be bought from the state-owned Zanzibar Insurance Corporation. By October 2026 the UK government's advice says the requirement covers mainland Tanzania as well, sold there by the National Insurance Corporation.

September 2025: Changuu, better known as Prison Island, got pricier. The government entry fee rose from $3 to $10, on top of a $12 charge from the private company that now runs the island, and visitors can no longer roam the island or sit on its beach. The boat costs extra.

October 2025: protests and a security crackdown after Tanzania's general election on October 29, 2025, left people dead and injured in many parts of the mainland, according to UK government advice. Check current advice around any future vote and stay away from rallies.

2026 to 2027: the island keeps adding flights and moving its calendar. Airlink's Cape Town service began on October 3, 2026, and British Airways and Air Tanzania have both announced London Gatwick routes for 2027. Sauti za Busara, the music festival at the Old Fort, is set for March 19 to 21 in 2027, after Ramadan ends.

What the Usual Advice Gets Wrong

"Stone Town is a half-day stop on the way to the beach." The half-day version is the seafront museums, a Forodhani dinner and a tout-heavy walk down Kenyatta Road. Stay two or three nights and you get the cathedral exhibit, Darajani Market in the morning, the inner lanes of Kiponda and Mkunazini where the touts thin out, and the evening music at the Old Fort. Most beaches are 70 to 80 minutes away by €7 shuttle, so there's no reason to rush.

"Forodhani night market is the best food in town." It's the most atmospheric dinner in town. Food quality is mixed, stalls compete for you loudly, and papasi work the crowd. Go for a Zanzibar pizza and a sugar cane juice at dusk, then eat properly at Lukmaan, a cheap restaurant on the same road as the old slave market, or at Passing Show by the Malindi police station for pilau and stews.

"Take a boat to Prison Island for a cheap afternoon on the beach." Since a private company took over Changuu you can't walk the island or relax on its sand. You pay a $10 government fee, a $12 company fee and the boat, all for a look at the old quarantine prison and the giant tortoises. If you want water and fish, a day at Chumbe Island's protected coral reef, 8 kilometers off the coast, is a much better use of the money.

"The man at the Dar ferry terminal will sort out your ticket." He'll sort out his commission. The Dar touts tell visitors the Azam kiosk is closed, sell economy tickets at first-class prices or sell return tickets that turn out to be invalid. Book on Azam Marine's own site, where non-resident economy is $35, or walk straight to the company window.

Ideas to Consider for Your Visit

Have you thought about giving the slave market site at Christ Church a whole morning? The Anglican cathedral on Mkunazini Road went up from 1873 to 1879 on the town's biggest slave market, with a barrel-vaulted roof designed by Bishop Edward Steere. Outside, a monument of chained figures stands in a pit, and the museum explains how the trade worked. It's the one stop in Stone Town that explains why the rest of it looks the way it does.

Eat breakfast at the market. Darajani, also called Estella Market, was built in 1904 and is still mainly a food market, with fish, meat, fruit, grain and spices, plus stalls selling everything from clothes to phones. Go early, before the heat. Then walk to Lukmaan, on the same road as the old slave market, for a cheap lunch. In the evening, Passing Show near the port does pilau and stews.

Spend a sunset on a rooftop. The rooftop Tea House at Emerson Spice, a restored merchant's house in Kiponda, serves a single eight-course seafood tasting menu at 7pm, and the call to prayer from the mosques below sets the pace of the evening. Book ahead. The hotel's Secret Garden courtyard has a seafood barbecue nightly and live Zanzibari music on Wednesdays and Fridays from 8pm.

Look for music. The Old Fort's courtyard has an open-air amphitheater where dance and music shows run most evenings, and it's the center of Sauti za Busara, set for March 19 to 21, 2027. The Zanzibar International Film Festival opened its June 24 to 28, 2026 edition with a parade from the fort. Taarab, Zanzibar's orchestral music, is the sound of the town, and its two big orchestras, Ikhwani Safaa and Culture Musical Club, go back to 1905 and 1958.

Visit the house where Freddie Mercury grew up. The Freddie Mercury Museum on Shangani Street, in the Bulsara family's former home, is open daily from 9am to 8pm and costs $8 for adults, $6 for children under 12, with photographs loaned by Queen Productions. Farrokh Bulsara was born in Stone Town in 1946, started school at St. Joseph's Convent at five, and left for England with his family in 1963.

Get out of town for a day. Jozani Chwaka Bay, the only national park on Zanzibar, protects forest and mangroves in the south of the island, home of Kirk's red colobus monkey, and The Zanzibus will quote for adding a Jozani stop to a taxi transfer. Chumbe Island Coral Reef Sanctuary, 8 kilometers west of Unguja, takes day visitors for snorkeling in its fully protected reef sanctuary.

The Part Most Guides Miss

Cross Creek Road. Ng'ambo, literally "the other side," is the much larger part of Zanzibar City, and few visitors ever walk into it. It grew from a small community of enslaved Africans into a town of 80,000 by 1964, twice the size of Stone Town by the 1920s. After the revolution, East Germany helped fund the Michenzani apartment blocks as part of a 1968 plan to rehouse the island in Soviet-style flats, and construction stopped after just 1,102 of nearly 10,000 planned apartments. They're quietly fascinating, and an hour there tells you more about how Zanzibar is governed than the Palace Museum does.

Where to Base Yourself

Shangani and the seafront. The pick if you want sea views, the Freddie Mercury Museum on your doorstep and an easy walk from the ferry port with your bags. The big seafront hotels are here, sunsets over the water are the draw, and Forodhani is five minutes away. The catch is the touting, which is heaviest on Shangani and Kenyatta roads, and prices that start in mid-range territory.

Kiponda and Hurumzi. Best for atmosphere. These inner lanes hold the restored mansions turned boutique hotels, Emerson Spice among them, with rooftop restaurants and the call to prayer coming in through carved shutters. Touts are fewer once you leave the seafront. Downsides are lanes that cars can't reach, so expect to walk your luggage the last stretch, and a dawn call to prayer from the mosques next door.

Mkunazini and the Darajani edge. The budget base. Guesthouses cluster near the cathedral and the market, Hostelworld lists just two Stone Town hostels, one on Mkunazini, with dorm beds from about US$16 to $24, and the dala dala stands on Creek Road are a short walk for beach trips. Wikivoyage puts cheap rooms at TSh 45,000 to 90,000 (about $17 to $34) in low season. It's noisier and less polished, and in high season some cheap places double-book rooms, so confirm directly before you arrive.

Realities to Be Aware Of

Budget roughly US$40 to $60 a day on a dorm bed (US$16 to $24), street food and canteen meals, walking and dala dalas at around TSh 2,000 a ride. A mid-range trip, with a small hotel room, sit-down dinners and a few taxis, lands around US$120 to $200 a day. Many tourist prices are quoted in dollars, so carry clean US notes alongside shillings. The Bank of Tanzania rate in early October 2026 was about TSh 2,640 to the dollar.

Stone Town isn't dangerous, but it isn't hassle-free. The UK government reports violent crime incidents in Stone Town and warns that bag snatchers work from cars and motorbikes, so carry a cross-body bag on the wall side and take a taxi late at night. Papasi offering spice tours, taxis and boat trips work Kenyatta Road, Shangani and the waterfront, and "no thanks" rarely ends the conversation. Keep walking into the residential lanes, where they don't follow. Agree taxi fares before you get in.

Dress for a Muslim town. Away from beach resorts, women in shorts or sleeveless tops cause offense, especially in Stone Town, and Zanzibari authorities can fine visitors $700 or more for clothing they consider inappropriate, so cover shoulders and knees, men included. Skip public affection. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal throughout Tanzania, and Zanzibar's law sets up to 14 years in prison for men and five for women. Be discreet.

During Ramadan, about February 8 to March 8 in 2027, visitors are expected not to eat or drink in public in daylight outside hotels and restaurants. The dry months from June to October are high season, when central rooms fill and some budget places double-book. April and May are the low season, with heavy rain, which is also when prices are most negotiable.

If Stone Town Is Part of a Longer Trip

Stone Town sits at the hinge of an East African trip. The Azam ferry puts you in Dar es Salaam in two hours, and from there Tanzania's new standard-gauge railway has run to Morogoro since June 2024 and on to the capital, Dodoma, since July 2024. The TAZARA line to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia restarted passenger service on February 10, 2026, with one train a week leaving Dar on Fridays, a slow overland route toward Lusaka. For the northern safari circuit, skip the mainland roads and fly. Air Tanzania, Auric Air, Coastal Aviation and others link Zanzibar with Arusha and Kilimanjaro directly.

Pemba, the archipelago's quieter northern island, is a short hop by small plane, with ZanAir, Coastal Aviation, Auric Air and others flying from ZNZ. Most people do Stone Town at the start or end of a beach stay. Coming off a safari, end with the beach rather than the town, since the heat and the touts land harder on a tired traveler.

Zanzibar is also a better long-haul gateway than people expect. Nonstop flights reach Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Muscat, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul and Johannesburg, and Airlink's weekly flight now links Cape Town directly. That lets you fly into Kilimanjaro or Nairobi for a safari and out of Zanzibar without doubling back, the kind of open-jaw routing AirTreks builds into multi-stop and round-the-world tickets. Muscat makes the historical match, since Stone Town was the Omani sultanate's capital.

Yearly Things to Consider

Two monsoons drive the year. The long rains peak in April, with 16.1 inches and rain on about 17 days, and May is still wet, so this is the low season. The short rains come in November and December. The dry, slightly cooler stretch from June to September, with highs around 84°F to 87°F (29°C to 30°C) and 1.2 to 2 inches of rain a month, is the high season, and the easiest time for walking.

The counterintuitive pick is late January and February. It's the hottest time of year, with average highs of 91°F to 92°F (33°C), but it's also the second dry window, rain falls on only four to six days a month, and the European summer crowd is gone. Check Ramadan dates before you book. In 2027 it runs from about February 8 to March 8, and Sauti za Busara follows from March 19 to 21.

Ideas for Itineraries

3 Days in Stone Town

Day one, arrive by the morning ferry from Dar es Salaam, drop your bags and walk the seafront from the Old Fort past the House of Wonders ruin and the Palace Museum to the Old Dispensary, then a Zanzibar pizza at Forodhani at dusk. Day two, Darajani Market early, Christ Church and the slave market exhibit, lunch at Lukmaan, the Hamamni baths in the afternoon heat, and a rooftop sunset in Kiponda. Day three, the Freddie Mercury Museum, an hour across Creek Road in Michenzani, and a show at the Old Fort before heading to the beach.

5 Days in Stone Town

Do the three-day plan at a slower pace, then add two day trips. Take a shuttle or taxi toward the east coast and stop at Jozani Chwaka Bay to see red colobus monkeys in the forest and mangroves. Give another day to Chumbe Island's reef sanctuary for snorkeling. Fill the evenings with the Emerson Spice Secret Garden on a Wednesday or Friday music night and a long dinner on a rooftop.

1 Week in Stone Town

Split it, three nights in Stone Town and four on the coast. Spend the town nights in Kiponda or Hurumzi, then take the €7 shuttle or dala dala 116 to Nungwi in the north or the Paje shuttle to the southeast coast's kitesurfing beach. Come back to Stone Town for your last night if you're leaving by ferry, since the morning boats leave at 7am and the beaches are 70 to 80 minutes away.

2 Weeks or More in Stone Town

Rent a room in a guesthouse around Mkunazini, learn the dala dala routes from Darajani, and time your stay for Sauti za Busara in March or the film festival in late June. Spend weekends on the coast or fly to Pemba for a few nights. Pick a room with air-conditioning if you're staying between December and March, when highs average 89°F to 92°F (32°C to 33°C).

Sources

What this guide is built on. Every page below was read for this guide; prices and rules were checked in October 2026.

• Stone Town, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Stone Town, Wikivoyage (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Zanzibar, Wikivoyage (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Zanzibar City (climate, NOAA 1991-2020 normals), Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Rates, Azam Marine and Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Inbound Travel Insurance, Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Visa Information: VISA and Permits Fees, Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania, Washington DC (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Tanzania travel advice: Entry requirements, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Tanzania travel advice: Safety and security, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Visa policy of Tanzania, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Abeid Amani Karume International Airport, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Cape Town to Zanzibar, Airlink (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Taxi prices, The Zanzibus (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Shuttles, The Zanzibus (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• How to Get Around Zanzibar, The Zanzibus (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Bolt in Zanzibar, Bolt (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Hostels in Stone Town, Hostelworld (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Plan Your Visit, Freddie Mercury Museum (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• The Museum, Freddie Mercury Museum (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Dining, Emerson Spice Hotel (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Chumbe Island Coral Reef Sanctuary, Chumbe Island (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Sauti za Busara 2027, Busara Promotions (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Zanzibar International Film Festival, ZIFF (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Zanzibar House of Wonders collapses, The Citizen (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• House of Wonders, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Christ Church, Zanzibar, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Slavery in Zanzibar, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Anglo-Zanzibar War, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Ng'ambo, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• LGBTQ rights in Tanzania, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• TAZARA Railway, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Exchange rates, Bank of Tanzania (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Ramadan, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
• Darajani Market, Wikipedia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)