THE STONE
TOWN
STONE TOWN OF ZANZIBAR
According to UNESCO, the Stone town of Zanzibar is an outstanding material manifestation of cultural fusion and harmonization. It has also been honored with the designation of UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. This town will offer a lot of activities that a 1 day trip might not be enough. Some of the famous things you can try in Stone Town are the foods in Forodhani Gardens Food Market, and wandering the Old Fort. Touch the tortoise in Prison Island and visit the Palace Museum. As the town is famous for its ancient ambience brought by its design and architecture and street food culture, the town is safe for tourists be it group or solo traveler, as the locals here are also accommodating.
Speaking of things to do in Stone Town, we created itinerary you may like when you visit this place.
10 Best Things To Do in Stone Town
Source: https://www.bucketlistly.blog/posts/stone-town-zanzibar-things-to-do-backpacking
Explore the Old Streets of Stone Town
Exploring the crisscrossing streets of Stone Town surrounded by colonial buildings is probably one of the highlights of visiting Zanzibar. Due to its strategic importance as the capital of spice and slave trade back in the days, Stone town has been through many rulers from the Portuguese Empire to the Sultanate of Oman to the British Empire and eventually independence.
It was because of these juggling of power throughout its existence that allowed Stone Town to be built and developed in a way that is unlike any place you have seen before.
From one corner, you might find a little of Arab/Persian influence and from another, a bit of Portuguese/British influences, as well as some Indian elements all scattered throughout Stone Town, waiting for you to explore.
The narrow streets can be a little hard to keep track and you will likely get lost at some point but don’t sweat it. Getting lost in Stone Town is inevitable and it is part of what makes Stone Town such a beautiful place to explore on foot.
One minute, you might be walking through a bustling market, another you might be standing in front of the beautiful 19th Century Old Dispensary building adorned with European and Indian architectural style. There are so many hidden gems within the maze that is Stone Town, and all you have to do is discover them, get lost in it and go with the flow.
Check out Old Fort
One of the most popular landmarks in Stone Town that you must visit is the Old Fort, a 17th Century stone fortress built by the t Arabs who ruled the island after expelling the Portuguese and it is considered to be the oldest structure in Zanzibar.
The Old Fort was originally built as a fortification for the Sultanate but later on, it was converted multiple times into all sorts of functions from a prison to was added, and it was given to Zanzibar international film festival to be used as a headquarter.
Within the Old Fort’s courtyard, you will find a large stone amphitheater right at the center and a row of souvenir shops along the fortress wall. There is not much else to see inside but since it is free to enter, I think it is worth a look around if you are in Stone Town. The Old Fort opens between 8 AM to 6 PM every day.
Admire The Beauty of St Joseph's Cathedral
As a city with more than 95% Muslim majority, I find it very surprising that one of the most impressive structures in Stone Town is not a mosque but a Roman Catholic church built in the late 19th Century towering most of Stone Town’s skyline.
St. Joseph’s Cathedral is a historical church built by French missionaries between 1893 and 1898 and it is said that the design was based on a cathedral in France with 2 prominent twin spires that resemble those pf Marseille Cathedral.
You can also attend one of the scheduled masses every moring at 6 AM and 6:30 AM on weekdays and 3 times at 7 AM, 9 AM and 11 AM on Sunday if you want to see the interior. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there when it was open so I can only admire its beauty from the outside.
Spot The Stunning Century-Old Zanzibar Wooden Doors In Stone Town
One of the things that make Stone Town such an interesting and unique please to explore is its doors. Yes, you read that right. Many of the old wooden doors you find here are more than a century old and all of them have unique features and elements that you won’t find anywhere else in the world.
Zanzibari doors, a name given to these articulately designed wooden doors in Stone Town, are often carved out of a strong wood from either a jackfruit or mango tree which is abundant on the island.
What makes these doors so special is their unique carvings and patterns that are often bases on Swahili traditional design but they also borrow many elements from the Arab, Indian, and European style, giving the doors a unique look, unlike any wooden doors you see before.
For example, you will often find these doors decorated with vine and flower patterns, a staple Swahili design, as well as Arabic scriptures and brass studs, an element borrowed directly from Indian fortress gate design which added these studs to prevent war elephants from battering down fortress doors.
There are a ton more of these beautiful wooden doors all hidden away in the crisscrossing streets of Stone Town waiting for you to discover so make sure you keep an eye out for some of these awesome designs when you are in Stone Town.
Hang out with the Locals at Jaws Corner
While you are exploring the narrow streets of Stone Town, you may stumble upon a small square where the locals congregate more than usual. Congratulation, you have stumbled upon Jaws Corner, one of the best places in Zanzibar to go people-watching, make new friends, and socialize with the locals.
Due to its location being converged by four small alleyways from all directions, a smart elderly man decided to open up a coffee stall for the by-passers, and ever since then, the place has become a popular meeting point for everyone on the island to gather, share life updates, gossips and bond over a cup of coffee.
You will find all kinds of interesting people here that you can interact with from Arabs to Indians, from old to young, and from tourists to locals, all waiting to share their life stories or you can just sit at the coffee stall, enjoy a 100 TSZ cup of coffee, and watch as the lives of the local people go by.
I highly recommend you visit Jaws Corner in the early morning around 8 AM when the square is most congested and you will be able to see and interact with some really interesting people here over a nice cup of joe.
Learn More About the Terrible History of Slave Trade in Zanzibar
If you are in Stone Town, you also shouldn’t miss the East Africa Slave Trade Exhibition, a museum dedicated to telling the terrible stories of the slave trade and the long hard road to freedom.
As I mentioned earlier, back in the days, Stone Town used to be the capital of the spice and slave trade in the region. A lot of bad things went down here and in order for you to really understand Zanzibar, how the people came to be, why its culture is so diverse, you are going to have to start from its dark past.
The exhibition is laid out in chronological order and each board tells a series of stories of how the slave trade began all the way to how it ended. The descriptions are in both English and Swahili and they are extremely detailed to the point that it made me a little unsettling sometimes to learn how terrible humans treat each other back then.
If you want to learn more about the history of Zanzibar, East Africa Slave Trade Exhibition is the place to be. Within the vicinity of the museum, you will also find Anglican Cathedral, a real nice church made out of stone, and the unsettling slave monument.
East Africa Slave Trade Exhibition opens from 8:30 AM to 6 PM every day and the entrance fee is 15,000 TZS per person. The exhibition can be done without a guide, all you have to do is ignore the people who said you need a guide at the entrance, walk to the ticket booth and buy a ticket, and just enter the exhibition.
Spend A Night In A Colonial-Style Hotel
If you are planning to spend a night in Stone Town, I highly recommend you take this opportunity and stay at a hotel that is located inside a colonial building where you will be able to experience what it was like to be a sultanate in Zanzibar back in the days.
There are several hotels in Stone Town that are inside an old colonial building but I highly recommend Mizingani Seafront Hotel or Dhow Palace if you have the budget. Both hotels are elaborately designed with wooden furniture, oversized wooden doors, and provide a nice and quiet space away from the bustling city of Stone Town.
If money is no object, then the best hotel in Stone Town is Emerson Spice Hotel, one of the most beautiful hotels in Stone Town. They also have a nice roof top bar you can sit and enjoy a stunning view over Stone Town. You just can’t go wrong with the Emerson Spice Hotel.
Attend A Local Youth Music Group Concert
While you are in Stone Town, if you are looking for a nice thing to do at night, I highly recommend you drop by Dhow Counties Music Academy and see what kind of shows and performances they have that evening.
Dhow Countries Music Academy often has shows performed by local youth music groups and the shows often involve a lot of traditional dancing and dramatic traditional acts to heart- pounding music that will get your adrenaline flowing.
The shows often take place at around 8 – 8:30 PM and it goes on until 10 PM almost every day. There will be a sign right in front of the building advertising the show that day and more often than not, the ticket should cost around 15,000 TSZ per person.
If you are interested in African & Arab music and would like to experience local musicians and dancers performing in person, I highly recommend you drop by Dhow Countries Music Academy and see what type of shows are in store for you that day.
Try Zanzibar Street Food At Forodhani Market
Another thing you should definitely not miss in Zanzibar is to try Swahili street food, which is a mixture of the Bantu, Arab and Indian tastes, unlike anything you have tried before, at Forodhani Market.
Every night at Forodhani Park, the locals will gather along the seaside promenade at sunset and start setting up their food stalls selling all kinds of food to tourists and locals until late at night.
It is a great and cheap place to try all the unique street foods in Zanzibar like the famous Zanzibar Pizza that has nothing to do with pizza except its form factor and its name.
Zanzibar Pizza uses sizzling chapati, fried to order with any topping of your choice (chicken or Nutella, whichever you want), all folded up into a packet and then cut in a chessboard pattern for you to eat with a toothpick.
Skews beef sticks or Mishkaki is also someting you should try if you are looking for a more filling option. Urojo, a Swahili- style Indian- based stew mixed with potatoes, chickpeas, and all kinds of spice giving it a unique taste, is another dish I highly recommend you try.
WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T TRY IS the seafood stalls with all the hawkers and touters trying to grab your attention and pressure you to buy their seafood with overly friendly gestures that will ultimately scam you at the end.
These seafood stalls often employ many “cheerleaders” and they will go around the park in fake chef hats and lure you into their seafood stalls with overly friendly gestures that scream “I’m gonna scam you!” and when you ask how much it is, they will often say something like “you can sit my friend, and we will cook for you. We can talk price later”.
Once you start eating the bait (seafood sticks in this case), they will come up to you and ask you to pay a whopping 50 USD for seafood sticks, an outrageous price that even the most expensive restaurant in Zanzibar wouldn’t dare charge you.
DO NOT EAT AT THESE SEAFOOD STALLS, period. If you want to be sure you aren’t scammed, look for food stalls that have menus and prices clearly labeled and just point what you want from there. You can easily find these stalls by looking at where the locals are queuing. More often than not, these stalls are legit and are very delicious.
Other than that, Forodhani Market is one of my favorite places to try out Zanzibar street food and you shouldn’t miss it. The market runs from 6 PM to 11 PM every day.
Visit Prison Island
Prison Island is a nice half- day boat trip you can take from Stone Town which will get you to an island known for its tortoise population as well as the history behind its ominous name.
Prison Island, a tiny island located just off the west coast of Zanzibar is in fact, not an island with a prison on it, although it was not for the lack of trying.
Back then, the island was supposed to be used as a slave prison complex but no prisoners were ever housed there so it was converted into a quarantine island for yellow fever patients, for a short period of time.
After using it as a quarantine island for only a few years, it was converted into a state- run hotel and it became a popular tourist attraction since then. On the island, you will find a pretty run- down hotel which isn’t very exciting but what they breed around it will excite many of you.
Around the hotel on Prison Island, you will find hundreds and hundreds of giant tortoises, some as old as 200 years old, and you can get up close and interact with them. A fun experience for those who have never seen these magnificent creatures up close.
The boat trip from Stone Town to Prison Island often costs about 30 USD if you are one person, 15 US each if you are more than one. The ticket to enter Prison Island has to be paid separately and it costs about 4 USD per person.
The tour includes a guide who will accompany you throughout your time on the island explaining the history behind the tortoise conservation and the previous prison complex.
It should take you about 2-3 hours to complete the tour. There is a nice beach of you wish to swim but it was a little crowded and lots of people were just there, waiting for boats, all watching you swim. It was definitely not the highlight of the island.