Zanzibar
Tanzania
Spice island beaches and a Swahili stone city
Photos by Humphrey M, Crispin Jones, Humphrey M and Camilla Frederiksen on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Tanzania
June to October, December to February
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 360mm in Apr
Where it is
6.16°S, 39.20°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A long weekend- Get lost in Stone Town’s alleys
- Take a spice farm tour
- Snorkel or dive at Mnemba Atoll
- See red colobus monkeys in Jozani Forest
- Sail a traditional dhow at sunset
- Visit the former slave market memorial
Zanzibar travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Tanzania
Good valueUS dollars are widely accepted for hotels and tours, but bring notes issued after 2013 — older bills are frequently refused. Exchange bureaus in Stone Town beat the airport. Small shilling notes are essential for markets and dala-dalas.
ATMs & cards
CRDB, NMB and Exim machines in Stone Town are the reliable ones, but ATMs are sparse outside town and beach villages often have none. Withdraw before heading to the east coast. Decline conversion.
Avoid these
- standalone machines outside Stone Town
Use these instead
- CRDB
- NMB
- Exim Bank
ATMs are sparse on the east coast and beach villages often have none — withdraw in Stone Town before heading out.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Tanzania
SafeGenerally safe but Zanzibar is conservative and predominantly Muslim — cover shoulders and knees away from beach resorts, and swimwear stays on the beach. Malaria prophylaxis is advised; use repellent at dusk. Yellow fever certificate may be required depending on your route.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Stone Town — by day
- Nungwi
- Kendwa
- Matemwe
Worth more attention
- Stone Town — the alleys after dark
- Nungwi — the beach at night
- Dressing as if on a resort beach when you are not — Zanzibar is conservative and Muslim-majority
- The tide on the east coast, which goes out a kilometre and comes back fast
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Tanzania visa rules
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days$50 ($100 for US passports)
Available on arrival too, but the queue at Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro is long and the e-visa avoids it. Compulsory travel insurance is now sold on arrival in Zanzibar (~$44) unless you hold a qualifying policy.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Apply at visa.immigration.go.tz, allowing up to ten working days. Yellow fever certificates are checked if you are arriving from an endemic country, including via a long layover.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Tanzania
Evacuation likelyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate if arriving from a country where yellow fever is present — including via a layover of more than 12 hours in one
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Malaria prophylaxis — Zanzibar is a genuine malaria area
- Rabies for longer stays
- Cholera for extended rural stays
Getting treated
The weakest on this list. Zanzibar has clinics that handle minor problems and a private hospital in Stone Town, but anything serious means an evacuation flight to Dar es Salaam or Nairobi. Travel insurance with air-evacuation cover is genuinely essential here, not a formality.
Malaria is the real risk and prophylaxis is strongly advised — take it as prescribed and use repellent and nets. Do not drink the tap water. Watch the yellow-fever transit rule closely, because it catches people connecting through Nairobi or Addis.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodForodhani Gardens night market in Stone Town for grilled seafood and Zanzibar pizza — agree prices before ordering. Try urojo soup and fresh spice-infused curries.
Nightlife
Stone Town is quiet and largely dry; the north coast at Nungwi and Kendwa has full-moon beach parties.
- Kendwa Rocks — the full-moon party, on the sand
- Nungwi — the beach bars, and the sunset dhows
- Forodhani Gardens — Stone Town's night food market
Closing: 04:00 on the north beaches, 23:00 in Stone Town.
A beer in a bar: TZS 4,000–10,000
Zanzibar is conservative and Muslim-majority: swimwear and drinking belong on the resort beaches, not in Stone Town.
Getting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- inDriveWorks here
Uber Dar es Salaam
- From the airport
- Zanzibar’s own airport is 15 minutes from Stone Town, $15–20 by taxi
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper in the cities. On safari the vehicle is the operator’s and none of this applies.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Dar es Salaam — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Tanzania
Why these are Tanzania's numbers and not Zanzibar's
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 32% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 30% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Zanzibar, so these are medians for all of Tanzania. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Tanzania, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Swahili
- HelloHabariha-BA-ree
- PleaseTafadhalita-fa-DHA-lee
- Thank youAsantea-SAN-teh
- Yes / NoNdiyo / Hapanan-DEE-yo / ha-PA-na
4 more phrases
- Excuse meSamahanisa-ma-HA-nee
- How much is it?Bei gani?bay GA-nee
- The bill, pleaseBili tafadhaliBEE-lee
- No problemHakuna matataha-KOO-na ma-TA-ta
Jambo is the tourist greeting; habari is what locals actually say to each other. Using it changes how you are received.
Religion
Muslim on Zanzibar, split on the mainland
The mainland is roughly half Christian and half Muslim; Zanzibar is around 99% Muslim and noticeably more conservative. Cover shoulders and knees in Stone Town, and swimwear stays on the resort beach.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Cover shoulders and knees away from beach resorts — Zanzibar is conservative and predominantly Muslim
- Greet with habari and take the time for it; greetings are extended here
- Use the right hand to eat, give and receive
- Ask before photographing anyone
Don't
- Do not wear swimwear off the beach, including walking through Stone Town
- Do not show public affection, including between couples
- Do not eat or drink publicly during daylight in Ramadan
- Do not use the left hand for anything social; it is the toilet hand
Where to stay in Zanzibar
No Holistay rentals in Zanzibar yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Zanzibar on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Abeid Amani Karume ZNZ
15 minfrom the airport· 7 km as the crow flies
15 min to Stone Town.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
