Most one-week Zanzibar plans try to see everything and end up seeing the inside of a taxi. The island is only about 85 km long, but the drive from the far north to the south-east takes around two hours, and every hotel change costs half a day. This route keeps you in two places and puts the one longer drive on a day with a proper stop in the middle.
We spent 15 days on the island in September and October 2026. This is the week we would plan for a first visit.
The route at a glance
| Nights | Base | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Stone Town | History, rooftops, the night food market, Prison Island |
| 4 | Paje or Jambiani | Lagoon, cafés and restaurants, beach clubs, Jozani and Michamvi close by |
Hotel changes: one. Longest drive: about 1 h 15, broken at Jozani Forest.
Before you lock it in
- Check a tide table for your dates. On the south-east coast the sea retreats for hundreds of metres at low tide. You swim in the two hours either side of high water and do something else the rest of the time.
- Book a place with a pool on the coast, or plan a beach club day. It takes the tide out of the equation.
- Arriving late? Stone Town is 15–25 minutes from the airport, which is exactly why it comes first.
Day 1 — Arrive in Stone Town
Stay inside the old town so you can walk everywhere; cars cannot enter most lanes. Drop your bags, walk to the seafront for sunset and wander through the Forodhani Gardens night food market. Choose stalls that cook to order and agree prices before you eat.
Day 2 — Stone Town on foot, Prison Island by boat
Start by nine while it is cooler. A good loop runs from Forodhani past the Old Fort and the House of Wonders, through Shangani and the lanes around Gizenga Street and Hurumzi with their carved doors, to the Anglican Cathedral on the site of the former slave market, and on to Darajani Market. Give the cathedral visit time; it is the most important stop.
In the afternoon take a wooden boat to Prison Island, about 30 minutes each way, for the giant tortoises. We rated it 7 out of 10: worth doing once, and best in calm morning or early-afternoon water. Agree with the captain what the price includes before you leave. Finish with a rooftop dinner, booked earlier in the day.
Day 3 — To the coast via Jozani Forest
Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park lies on the road to Paje, which makes transfer day the natural moment to see the Zanzibar red colobus, a monkey found nowhere else. A visit is a guided walk of an hour or so plus a mangrove boardwalk. Fee information is inconsistent online, so ask your driver for the current gate price and carry cash. You will be on the coast in time for lunch and the afternoon tide.
Day 4 — Lagoon day
At low water, walk out over the flats in water shoes or book a visit with one of the women's seaweed-farming cooperatives. At high water, swim. In between, Paje has the best café scene outside Stone Town.
Day 5 — Beach club day
Spend a full day at a beach club with a pool. Day passes ranged from free to US$50 per person when we visited, and at some clubs most of that is credit for food and drinks. Our favourite day of the trip was exactly this, in Jambiani. For dinner, Al Casbah in Paje was the best meal we had on the island.
Day 6 — Michamvi and The Rock
Drive 20–30 minutes up the Michamvi peninsula. The Rock, the restaurant on a coral outcrop in the lagoon, needs a reservation; you walk out at low tide and take a short boat at high tide. Then cross to Michamvi Kae on the west-facing side for the best sunset on this coast.
Day 7 — Slow morning, then fly
One last swim if the tide agrees. Paje to the airport takes about 1 h 15; leave a generous margin.
If it rains or blows
Swap Stone Town's museums and cafés forward, use a rainy morning for Jozani, and keep the Michamvi day for wind: the west-facing side is sheltered when Paje is gusty.
Five or ten days instead?
With five days, stay on one coast and see Stone Town on the way to the airport. With ten, add three nights in Kendwa or Nungwi between Stone Town and the south-east. Both are in the field guide.
This is one chapter of the picture.
The Zanzibar Field Guide has all three routes day by day, five bases compared, 18 places with our ratings and what we paid, a worked budget, entry rules and checklists. Read the free sample or see what is inside.
By Giada & Serdar. Based on our stay in September–October 2026; facts checked 12 November 2026. Fees and rules change — confirm anything critical with official sources.