Zanzibar: Stone Town and the North Coast

1. Day 1: Arrive in Stone Town

   Zanzibar airport (ZNZ) to your hotel in Stone Town

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Stone Town
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ), from Arusha or the Serengeti if you are coming off a safari, or through Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Doha or Dubai from further away. Your See Sight Tours guide meets you in arrivals for the drive of about 20 minutes to your hotel inside Stone Town, the old trading quarter of Zanzibar City and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. Rest, or step out into the lanes on your own. In the late afternoon your guide walks the group to Forodhani Gardens on the seafront, which faces west across the harbour, for a short briefing as the light drops: how the days run, what to wear in town and what to bring on the boat. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Swahili dishes, coconut curries and grilled fish at a restaurant in the old town.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Zanzibar airport (ZNZ)
   • Sunset walk to Forodhani Gardens and welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in Stone Town

   Free time: Free until the late-afternoon briefing

   Activity: Land by about 3 pm to join the briefing; later arrivals are met and brought straight to dinner.

   

2. Day 2: Stone Town on foot, a dhow at sunset

   A morning walk through Stone Town, then a sunset sail from the seafront

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Stone Town
   Day 2 details

   We start at about 7:30, while the lanes are cool and the day visitors are still at breakfast. A licensed local guide leads the group through alleys too narrow for cars, past carved wooden doors, some studded with brass, to the Old Fort, built by Omani Arabs at the end of the 17th century, and the House of Wonders, the sultan's palace of 1883, now under restoration after part of it collapsed in 2020. Beside it is the walled cemetery of Sultan Said bin Sultan, who moved his court here from Muscat. At the Anglican cathedral, built on the site of the last open slave market, closed in 1873, your guide tells the harder history of the island. We end in Darajani market among the fish, fruit and spice stalls, then sit down to lunch. The afternoon is free. At about five we board a wooden dhow for two hours on the water as the sun sets behind the harbour.

   Included

   • Early Stone Town walk with a licensed local guide: the Old Fort, the House of Wonders, the royal cemetery and Darajani market
   • The Anglican cathedral and the slave market memorial
   • Sit-down lunch in Stone Town
   • Sunset dhow sail of about 2 hours, with soft drinks and fruit

   Easier option: Join the walk for the first hour and a half, then go back to the hotel before the market.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free; dinner is your choice, at the Forodhani food stalls or in the old town

   Activity: About 2 to 3 hours on foot on narrow, uneven lanes. Cover shoulders and knees.

   

3. Day 3: A spice farm, Mangapwani and the north coast

   Stone Town to a spice farm, then the Mangapwani slave chamber and Nungwi

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Nungwi
   Day 3 details

   We leave Stone Town after breakfast for a spice farm about half an hour inland, in the Kizimbani and Kidichi area where the sultans planted cloves in the 19th century. A farmer walks you through the trees to rub, sniff and try what grows here: cloves, nutmeg with its red mace, cinnamon bark, vanilla vines, pepper, lemongrass and turmeric, with fruit cut fresh to try. Lunch is cooked at the farm, usually a pilau or a coconut curry with the same spices. On the way north we stop at Mangapwani on the west coast, where a chamber cut into the coral rock was used to hide enslaved people after the trade was banned in 1873; your guide explains how. From there it is about an hour to Nungwi, at the northern tip of the island. You reach the beach by mid-afternoon, with time to swim before the sun sets over the water.

   Included

   • Guided spice farm visit with lunch cooked at the farm
   • The Mangapwani slave chamber with your guide
   • Transfer to Nungwi

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free on the beach

   Activity: About 2 hours of driving in three short legs.

   

4. Day 4: Mnemba Atoll by boat, a beach afternoon

   Nungwi to Mnemba Atoll by boat and back

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Nungwi
   Day 4 details

   We go out early, when the sea is usually calmest and the water clearest. The boat runs down the north-east coast to Mnemba Atoll, a protected marine conservation area around a small private island where guests cannot land. Our licensed snorkel guide gets into the water with you over coral gardens a few metres deep, where you can expect parrotfish, angelfish, starfish and, on some days, green turtles. Dolphins are sometimes seen on the crossing, but we do not chase them or promise them. Life jackets and masks are on board, and you can stay on the boat and watch if you prefer. We have lunch on a beach or on board, then head back to Nungwi by early afternoon. The rest of the day is yours: swim, sleep under the palms, or walk along the sand to Kendwa. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner by the sea.

   Included

   • Morning boat trip to Mnemba Atoll with a licensed snorkel guide, equipment and the marine conservation fee
   • Lunch on the boat trip
   • Farewell dinner

   Easier option: Stay on the boat and watch from deck, or skip the trip for a full beach day at the hotel.

   More active option: A second snorkel stop, or a try-dive with a licensed dive centre, booked locally.

   Free time: Afternoon free on the beach

   Activity: About an hour each way on the boat; the crossing can be bumpy when the wind is up. Bring reef-safe sunscreen and a top to snorkel in.

   

5. Day 5: A last swim, then the airport

   Nungwi to Zanzibar airport (ZNZ)

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 5 details

   A slow last morning. Take an early swim while the beach is empty, or walk to the end of the Nungwi peninsula where the fishermen pull up their boats and the dhow builders work on the sand. We drive about an hour and a half down the island to Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ). Your guide comes with you and sees the group to check-in. If you are flying home, most long-haul connections run through Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Doha, Dubai or Istanbul, so leave enough time to connect. Book a flight leaving after about 2 pm; if yours leaves in the evening, we ask the hotel for a late check-out. If you would like to stay on, we can add more nights on the north coast or back in Stone Town.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Zanzibar airport (ZNZ)

   Free time: Morning free

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 2 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: June to October is dry and a little cooler with a steady breeze; December to February is hot and mostly dry. The long rains fall from about March to May, when many beach hotels close, and the short rains come in November.

• Stone Town2 nights
• Nungwi2 nights