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Zanzibar
Region · Tanzania

Zanzibar

An island that traded with Gujarat before Europe knew it existed — carved doors and spice markets in Stone Town, then a coast of white sand, dhows and water the colour of a swimming pool.

Best timeJun–Oct · Dec–Feb
Ideal stay4–6 nights
Main hubStone Town
GatewayZanzibar (ZNZ)
Overview

Zanzibar

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous archipelago off the Tanzanian coast, and for most visitors it means Unguja, the main island: Stone Town on its western shore, spice farms in the green interior, and beaches on the north and east coasts that are the reason most people fly in. Its history is Indian Ocean history — Omani sultans, Swahili traders and Gujarati merchants built the old town together, and the food, the doors and the dhows still show it. For Indian travellers it is the easiest beach in Africa: only two and a half hours behind IST, one flight from the Serengeti, and a place where chapati, bhajia and pilau are everyday food.

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Highlights

What Zanzibar Is Known For

Four things carry almost every Zanzibar itinerary, and the island is small enough to do all of them in five nights without a long drive.

Stone TownA UNESCO World Heritage Site of coral-stone merchant houses, carved doors and narrow lanes. The Old Fort, the Darajani market, the Anglican cathedral on the site of the old slave market, and the Forodhani Gardens night market on the seafront.
Spice farmsCloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom and black pepper growing in the interior, a short drive from Stone Town. A half-day walk with a guide who has you smelling and tasting as you go.
The beachesNungwi and Kendwa in the north for swimming at every tide; Paje, Jambiani and Bwejuu on the east for wide sand, kitesurfing and the Rock restaurant standing in the sea at Michamvi.
Forest and seaThe Zanzibar red colobus in Jozani forest, found nowhere else on earth; giant tortoises on Prison Island; snorkelling off Mnemba; a dhow day out to a sandbank from Fumba.
When to Go

The Best Time to Visit Zanzibar

June to October is the safe answer and December to February the hot one. The month to avoid is April, when the long rains close a good part of the island.

June – OctoberThe cool dry season. Sunny days, lower humidity, a steady south-easterly breeze and the clearest water of the year for snorkelling. This is also the safari high season on the mainland, so combined trips are busiest now.
November – early DecemberThe short rains — brief afternoon showers rather than washed-out days. Green, quiet and better value, until the Christmas fortnight, which is peak again on the north coast.
December – FebruaryHot, dry and still. The sea is at its warmest and the north-easterly wind brings the second kitesurfing season to Paje. Indian school holidays in late December fall inside this window, so book early.
March – MayThe long rains, heaviest in April. Many hotels close for a few weeks, roads flood and the sea turns cloudy. Late May is often fine again and very quiet.
Getting Around

Reaching & Crossing Zanzibar

There is no non-stop flight from India, but the connections are easy and the island itself is small. Most transfers are an hour to ninety minutes, and a private car with driver is the normal way to do them.

Getting there

  • Zanzibar (ZNZ), Abeid Amani Karume International Airport — the gateway. From Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru connect once through a Gulf hub such as Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Muscat, or through Nairobi or Addis Ababa.
  • From a safari: scheduled light aircraft fly from the Serengeti airstrips and Arusha to Zanzibar in an afternoon, which is how most safari-and-beach trips are built.
  • From Dar es Salaam: a flight of about twenty minutes, or the fast ferry to Stone Town harbour.
  • Zanzibar runs on East Africa Time, UTC+3 — two and a half hours behind IST, so there is no jet lag to recover from.

Getting around

  • A private car with driver for every transfer — Stone Town to Nungwi is about an hour and a half, to Paje about an hour. Your hotel or travel designer arranges it; there are no meters, so agree fares before you set off elsewhere.
  • Stone Town itself is walked. The lanes are too narrow for cars, and getting lost in them is the point; keep the seafront as your bearing.
  • Boats do the rest: dhows to the sandbanks and Mnemba, a short launch to Prison Island from the Stone Town waterfront, and small planes or the ferry if you add Pemba.
  • On the east coast the tide goes out a long way twice a day. Plan swimming and snorkelling around high tide, or stay in the north where the water stays deep.
Suggested Itinerary

Five Nights in Zanzibar

Day 1

Stone Town

Arrive and settle into the old town. Walk the lanes before the heat builds, sunset from a rooftop or the seafront, then dinner at the Forodhani Gardens night market — grilled seafood, Zanzibar pizza and sugar-cane juice.

Day 2

Spice farm & Prison Island

A morning spice-farm walk in the interior, then a boat from the waterfront to Prison Island for the giant tortoises and a swim. Back in town for the Darajani market and the Anglican cathedral.

Days 3–4

Nungwi or Kendwa

Drive north to the tip of the island. Two days of swimming at any hour, dhows pulled up on the sand, a sunset cruise, and — for those who want it — a boat out to snorkel at Mnemba.

Day 5

The east coast

Cross to Paje or Jambiani, stopping at Jozani forest for the red colobus on the way. A quieter, wider beach; kitesurfers at Paje when the wind is up; lunch or a drink at the Rock at Michamvi.

Day 6

Home

The east coast is about an hour from the airport. An evening departure leaves room for one last morning on the beach, or for a final walk in Stone Town on the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Zanzibar Travel FAQ

Four to six nights is the comfortable answer — one or two in Stone Town and the rest on a beach. As the finish to a Tanzanian safari, three to four nights on the coast is enough. A Zanzibar-only holiday can happily run to seven, splitting the north and east coasts.
June to October — dry, breezy and with the clearest water — and December to February, which is hotter and stiller with a warmer sea. Late December is busy and sells out early. March to May is the long rains: many hotels close in April, so it is the one window to avoid.
Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, and one Tanzanian visa covers both the mainland and the islands — the fee, the online application and the processing time are set out on our Tanzania page. Separately, Zanzibar has its own entry requirement: the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation publishes a mandatory inbound travel insurance as a compulsory cover for all visitors entering Zanzibar, required even if you already hold travel or medical insurance from another provider. As published by ZIC it costs 44 US dollars per adult and 22 US dollars per child, is bought online before you travel, and ZIC notes that the fee and coverage are subject to change — so check the official Zanzibar portal before you fly. Final decisions rest with the relevant authorities.
Better than almost any beach destination outside India. Gujarati and Khoja merchants have lived in Stone Town for generations, so chapati, bhajia, pilau, dal and coconut-based vegetable curries are ordinary Zanzibari food rather than a special request. Urojo — the "Zanzibar mix" soup of bhajia, potato and tamarind — tastes of Gujarat and the Indian Ocean at once. Beach hotels cook for vegetarian and Jain diets when told in advance; tell your travel designer at booking.
Nungwi and Kendwa, at the northern tip, have deep water at every tide, calm swimming and the liveliest sunsets — the right choice for a first visit, for families and for anyone who wants to swim whenever they feel like it. Paje, Jambiani and Bwejuu on the east coast are wider, quieter and cheaper to reach from the airport, with kitesurfing when the wind blows, but the tide goes out a long way twice a day. Many travellers do two or three nights on each.
Both. For couples it is the safari-and-beach honeymoon done in one country — a Serengeti camp, then one flight to a beach villa — with Stone Town for a night of old-world atmosphere. For families the north coast is calm and shallow, the tortoises, monkeys and dhow trips are an easy sell to children, and the time difference is small. Zanzibar is a conservative Muslim society: cover shoulders and knees away from the beach and expect a quieter island during Ramadan.
Yes, and it is the most common way to do it. Light aircraft fly from the Serengeti airstrips and Arusha to Zanzibar in an afternoon, so the day you leave the bush you are on the beach. The usual shape is Kilimanjaro Airport in, the northern safari circuit by road, a flight to Zanzibar, and home from Zanzibar itself. Malaria is present on the island as on the mainland, so see a travel doctor before you go.
Plan Your Trip

Design Your Zanzibar Journey

Tell us your dates, how long you have and whether a safari comes first. We will place you on the right coast for the season and the tide — and say honestly when one beach would make a better trip than two.

Plan My Zanzibar Trip →