Zanzibar City, TZ

A bustling canteen on Mkunazini Street where locals and travelers queue for cafeteria-style Zanzibari and Swahili dishes, from spiced pilau and biryani to coconut fish curry and fresh juices. The best-value authentic local meal in Stone Town.

A rooftop restaurant atop one of Stone Town's grandest restored houses, serving a set Swahili tasting dinner on cushions under the stars with live taarab music. The island's most atmospheric special-occasion meal, as much an evening as a dinner.

A rooftop restaurant in a restored Stone Town house pairing Zanzibari spice-driven dishes with Italian touches, served amid lanterns and old-town views. A relaxed, romantic dinner that leans into the island's clove-and-cinnamon palette.

A stylish waterfront grill and lounge on the Stone Town seafront with a breezy terrace over the water, good for fresh seafood, grills, and a sundowner. The polished option for a relaxed dinner with a sea view and a drink.

A waterfront seafood restaurant by Forodhani serving everything from grilled prawns to whole fish with a local spice touch, right on the Stone Town shore. A dependable, sea-view fish dinner in the heart of the old town.

A long-running pure-vegetarian Indian restaurant in Stone Town, a reminder of the island's deep Indian heritage, serving thalis, dosas, and curries to a loyal crowd. A welcome, well-priced meat-free option among all the seafood.

A cafe in a restored old Stone Town building roasting and pouring local Tanzanian coffee, with a rooftop terrace and good cakes and breakfasts. The reliable morning caffeine-and-pastry stop with an old-town view.

A boutique-hotel rooftop in the heart of Stone Town with a pool-deck terrace and one of the best wide views over the old town's rooftops to the sea. A relaxed spot for Swahili and international dishes with a sundowner above the lanes.

A casual seafront cafe on a breezy first-floor balcony over the Stone Town shore, popular for fresh seafood, Swahili dishes, and big breakfasts at fair prices. The easygoing, all-day spot with a sea view that isn't a splurge.

A no-frills local eatery on Malindi Road dishing out cheap, generous plates of Zanzibari pilau, biryani, and curries to a steady local crowd. Bare-bones and brilliant value, it is where Stone Town actually eats.

The island's last major tract of indigenous forest, a protected reserve of shaded trails and a mangrove boardwalk, home to the endangered Zanzibar red colobus monkey found nowhere else on earth. The one place on Zanzibar to see real interior nature.

A self-guided wander through the tangle of Stone Town's coral-stone lanes, past carved doors, tiny mosques, hidden courtyards, and workshops, with the sea always somewhere near. The single best 'activity' in the old town is simply walking it.

A flat stroll along the Stone Town seafront from the Old Fort past the gardens and grand old buildings to the harbor, with the Indian Ocean and dhows on one side and the historic facades on the other. The easy, breezy waterfront walk for sunset.

The atmospheric coastal ruins of a sultan's harem palace just north of Stone Town, its toppled columns and old bathing pools set among palms by the shore. A quiet, little-visited walk through faded grandeur away from the old-town crowds.

The nightly street-food market that takes over Forodhani Gardens at sunset, dozens of stalls grilling fresh seafood, fruit, and the local 'Zanzibar pizza' to a buzzing crowd. The island's most famous and most local evening out, eaten standing by the sea.

A small island a short boat ride off Stone Town, never actually used as a prison, now home to a sanctuary of giant Aldabra tortoises, some over a century old, plus a quiet beach and snorkeling. An easy, rewarding half-day on the water.

A guided walk through one of the island's spice farms, tasting and smelling the cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla that earned Zanzibar the name 'Spice Island', usually ending with a tropical-fruit tasting. A hands-on, sensory, family-friendly half-day.

A pristine sandbank that emerges from turquoise shallows off Stone Town at low tide, reached by boat for a few hours of swimming, sunbathing, and a fresh seafood picnic on the sand with nothing but sea and sky around. A blissful, fleeting beach day.

A sail aboard a traditional wooden dhow off the Stone Town seafront as the sun drops into the Indian Ocean, the old town's skyline silhouetted behind. The classic, romantic Zanzibar evening, often with snacks and a drink aboard.

A small, lovingly assembled museum telling the remarkable story of Princess Salme, a 19th-century Zanzibari royal who eloped to Europe and wrote the first known memoir by an Arab woman. An intimate, well-told slice of the island's history.

A beautifully restored 19th-century building on the seafront with ornate carved-wood balconies, stained glass, and stucco, once a charitable dispensary and now a cultural center. One of the most photogenic facades on the Stone Town waterfront.

A music school in the Old Fort dedicated to preserving taarab and the traditional music of the Indian Ocean region, offering concerts, classes, and the chance to hear the island's signature sound live. The place to experience real Zanzibari music.

The UNESCO-listed old city, a labyrinth of coral-stone buildings leaning over narrow alleys, carved wooden doors, and Swahili-Arab-Indian history at every turn. It is a place to wander and get lost in rather than tick off, best absorbed slowly on foot.

The grand 1883 sultan's palace on the seafront, the tallest building in Stone Town and the first on the island to have electricity and an elevator. Partly collapsed and under long restoration, it remains the defining landmark of the waterfront skyline.

A squat coral-stone Omani fortress from around 1700 next to the House of Wonders, its battlements now enclosing a small amphitheater, craft stalls, and a cafe. The easygoing cultural heart of the seafront and a venue for festivals and music.

The waterfront park at the heart of Stone Town's seafront, a daytime spot of lawns and sea breeze that transforms each evening into the island's famous street-food market. The natural gathering point for sunset and the evening crowd.

An Anglican cathedral built on the site of the former slave market, its altar standing where the whipping post once stood, with a sobering memorial and museum to the East African slave trade. The island's most important and most affecting historical site.

Stone Town's chaotic main bazaar, a sensory assault of spice mounds, fish, fruit, and household goods where the town actually shops. Loud, pungent, and unpolished, it is the most authentic slice of daily Zanzibari life in the old city.

A plaque-marked building near the seafront flagged as a childhood home of the Queen frontman, born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar. More a quick photo stop and a fun footnote than a major attraction, but a beloved one for music fans.

The former sultan's residence on the seafront, the Beit el-Sahel, preserved as a museum of the Omani royal family who ruled Zanzibar, with period furniture and the story of Princess Salme. A faded, atmospheric window into the island's sultanate era.

The island's first public bathhouse, built in the 1880s in Persian style, a quiet warren of empty bathing chambers, cooling rooms, and aqueduct channels tucked in the old town. A small, atmospheric oddity off the main tourist track.