Zanzibar Travel Guide: Where to Stay, Beaches and Transpor

Zanzibar rewards travellers who choose their base carefully. The north and east coasts may appear similar in photographs, but their tides, atmosphere and transport demands are different. Stone Town adds history, food and ferry connections, while a beach stay supplies the slower part of the trip.

This guide focuses on Unguja, the main island most visitors mean when they say Zanzibar. Pemba and Mafia Island deserve separate trips rather than being squeezed into an already busy week. For most first visits, five to seven nights provide enough time for Stone Town, one beach area and one or two excursions without spending every day in transit.

Before You Choose a Zanzibar Base

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous archipelago within the United Republic of Tanzania. Unguja contains Zanzibar City, its historic Stone Town quarter, Abeid Amani Karume International Airport and the island’s largest concentration of beach accommodation. Pemba lies farther north and is not a casual road extension from Unguja.

Stone Town occupies Unguja’s west coast. Nungwi and Kendwa sit in the north, Matemwe and Kiwengwa face northeast, and Paje, Bwejuu and Jambiani line the southeast. Crossing between Stone Town and the main beach districts takes a meaningful part of a day once hotel pickups, traffic and check-in are included. That is why changing hotels every night rarely improves a Zanzibar trip.

The island is suited to couples, families, independent travellers, divers, kitesurfers and safari travellers wanting a coastal extension. It is less suitable for anyone expecting an all-inclusive resort experience to represent the whole destination. Zanzibar is also a living, predominantly Muslim society with fishing, farming, commerce and family life continuing beside tourism.

Where to Stay in Zanzibar

The best area is determined by what you want to do each morning not by a single ranking of resorts.

Stone Town for history and food