Three days is short for Zanzibar, but it is enough to see the old town, get onto the water and watch a sunset from the north coast if you plan the order sensibly. The key is geography: Stone Town is in the west, the best sea trips and sunsets are in the north and south-west, and the road between town and the north coast takes about an hour and a half. This plan keeps backtracking to a minimum and leaves room for lunch and a swim.
Before you start
Every foreign visitor must buy Zanzibar’s inbound travel insurance before arrival, so keep the certificate on your phone. Book your sea trip and your evening food walk a few days ahead, especially in the busy months from late December to February and from July to September. Pack modest clothes for town, swimwear for the water and a hat, reef-safe sunscreen and a dry bag.
Day one: Stone Town
Start early, when the lanes are cool and quiet, with a small-group walk through the old town. The guided tour covers the Old Fort, the palace quarter, the carved doors and the site of the former slave market, and gives you the background that makes the rest of the day meaningful. Go back afterwards to the Old Slave Market and the Anglican cathedral for a longer, quieter visit, because it is the most moving place in Zanzibar. Have a late lunch somewhere with a view, then spend the afternoon at the Freddie Mercury Museum in Shangani, which tells the story of the Queen singer’s birthplace and childhood. Browse the Darajani Bazaar if you have energy left. At dusk, walk down to the Forodhani Gardens for the open-air food market, where grilled seafood, skewers and Zanzibar pizza are cooked in front of you. If you would like a guide to explain the dishes, the evening food walk is the easier way to eat well.
Day two: out on the water
Choose one big sea day and do it properly. For snorkelling and dolphins, the Mnemba Atoll trip from the north coast has the best reef. For a sandbank and a lagoon lunch, the Safari Blue day in Menai Bay is the classic, leaving from Fumba to the south of town. If you would rather stay close to Stone Town, the Prison Island trip with its giant tortoises is a relaxed half-day, and you can add the Nakupenda sandbank for swimming. Whichever you choose, take a rash vest, a hat and a dry bag. If you chose Mnemba, move your bags to the north coast in the morning, because the departures leave from there and you will save a long transfer.
Day three: spices, the forest or the sunset coast
The spice farm tour is the best three hours you can spend if you like food, because you smell, taste and touch the cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla that made the island rich. The Jozani Forest is a good alternative if you prefer wildlife, with red colobus monkeys that live nowhere else. Both are an easy drive from Stone Town, and each fits in a morning. In the afternoon, drive to Nungwi or Kendwa and finish with a sunset dhow cruise, a quiet sail along the coast with the sun going down over the Indian Ocean.
Where to sleep
Two nights in Stone Town and one on the coast is the neatest split if your flights allow it, but if you are tight on time, base yourself in town and join the sea trip by day. Park Hyatt Zanzibar and the Zanzibar Serena Hotel are the two seafront options, and Turaco Spice Tree is a good central moderate choice. On the north coast, Turaco Nungwi Resort suits couples.
If it rains or the sea is rough
Keep the plan flexible. Swap the sea day for the spice farm and Jozani Forest, which work in any weather, and move the boat trip to the next clear morning. Stone Town’s covered bazaar and museums are good for a shower, and the rain often passes within an hour or two. Trips on the water are most likely to change in the wetter months, so book them early in your stay.
Practical tips
Walk in Stone Town, because the lanes are too narrow for cars. Use pre-booked taxis or hotel transfers for longer journeys, and agree prices in advance. Carry small notes of the Tanzanian shilling and of US dollars for tips and market purchases. Zanzibar is a mainly Muslim island, so cover your shoulders and knees in town and in villages, and keep swimwear for the beach. If you have a fourth day, spend it at the beach doing nothing, which is what most people end up wishing they had done more of.
