Five days in Zanzibar
A tight five-day Zanzibar itinerary: Stone Town, the north coast and one big day trip, built for short trips and safari combos.
Updated
Five days is enough for the essential Zanzibar if you accept that one thing gets cut. This plan keeps Stone Town and the north coast, drops the east-coast move, and puts every boat trip in the morning when the water is calmest.
It suits a long weekend plus a day or two, a safari-and-beach combination, or anyone who would rather see two places properly than four in a rush. If you can stretch to a week, the seven-day plan adds the east coast and Safari Blue.
Day 1
Arrive, land in Stone Town
The airport is about 20 minutes from town. Settle in, walk the seafront, and make the Forodhani night market your first evening: grilled seafood, Zanzibar pizza and sugarcane juice under the arches.
Day 2
Stone Town and the water
Morning for the anchors: the Old Fort, the slave market exhibit and cathedral, and the carved-door lanes around Jaws Corner. Afternoon on the water: Prison Island's giant tortoises or the Nakupenda sandbank, then sunset from a dhow or the Africa House terrace.
Day 3
North to Nungwi
A private transfer takes about an hour and a quarter. Check in, swim (the north stays swimmable at any tide), and visit the Mnarani turtle sanctuary before the light goes golden. Sunset from the beach.
Day 4
Reef morning, beach afternoon
Morning snorkelling trip to Mnemba Atoll's reef (the island itself is private: you snorkel, you do not land). Afternoon is for the sand: Kendwa's wide beach is ten minutes south, and its beach bars carry the evening.
Day 5
Spices or forest, then fly
If the flight allows, take the half-day spice tour in the Kizimbani area, or stop at Jozani Forest for the red colobus monkeys on the drive back from the north. Last souvenirs in Stone Town, then the airport.
Practical notes
- What gets cut versus a week: the east coast (Paje, Jambiani), Safari Blue, and a second beach base. Choose this plan when time, not budget, is the limit.
- Book the Mnemba trip for Day 4 a day ahead in high season; mornings are calmer on the water.
- Jozani sits on the main road between the north-east coast and town, so it slots into a transfer day without a detour.
- Private transfers run roughly US$35-50 per car one-way; agree the price before boarding.
- Carry small US dollar notes and some Tanzanian shillings for tips, stalls and dala dalas.
- East-coast swimming follows the tide table; the north coast does not. On five days, the north is the safer swim.