Hotels and lodges in Zanzibar

Things to do in Zanzibar

Places and experiences rather than companies. Each one carries the thing you would otherwise find out by turning up.

• Stone Town

  History

  The old trading quarter, a UNESCO site of coral-rag houses and carved doors.

  Getting lost is the intended experience — the lanes are too narrow for cars and every route eventually reaches the seafront. Go late afternoon, when the heat drops and the food market sets up at Forodhani.

  4 hoursFree

• Jozani Forest

  Wildlife

  The last stand of the Zanzibar red colobus, found nowhere else on earth.

  The troops are habituated and close to the path, so this is the rare wildlife stop that works with small children and needs no luck.

  2 hoursPaid

• Spice farm tour

  Culture

  Clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla, in the ground rather than in a jar.

  The islands’ whole colonial history runs through these crops, and a good guide tells that rather than just naming plants. Ask before booking which farm you are actually visiting.

  3 hoursPaid

• Prison Island

  History

  A short boat from Stone Town, with giant Aldabra tortoises and a quarantine ruin.

  The prison was never used as one. The oldest tortoises are on record as over a century old, and the snorkelling off the sandbank is better than the island itself.

  3 hoursPaid