Attraction
National Museum and House of Culture
Tanzania's first modern museum, on Shaaban Robert Street beside the Botanical Gardens, covering human origins, ethnography, colonial history, art and natural history.
Tanzania's largest city and main port is easy to treat as a stopover, but the things to do in Dar es Salaam reward a few days of exploring. The old centre around Kivukoni Front and Sokoine Drive keeps its German-era churches, the Askari Monument and the National Museum, where the Zinjanthropus skull from Olduvai Gorge is on display, while the morning fish auction and the crowded streets of Kariakoo show the city at work.
North of the centre, the Msasani Peninsula, with Oyster Bay, Masaki and the Slipway, is where most visitors eat, drink and watch the sunset, and where boats leave for the uninhabited islands of Bongoyo and Mbudya. The food scene mixes Swahili, Indian and Arab influences, from street-side mishkaki and grilled chicken to seafood restaurants and hotel dining rooms with harbour views. Across the channel, Kigamboni has quieter beaches, and the historic town of Bagamoyo is a day trip to the north. Two or three days covers the city sights, an island trip and an evening on the peninsula, and many travellers add Dar es Salaam to a safari or a trip to Zanzibar.
Attraction
Tanzania's first modern museum, on Shaaban Robert Street beside the Botanical Gardens, covering human origins, ethnography, colonial history, art and natural history.
Attraction
An open-air museum founded in 1967 north of the centre, with more than 30 traditional Tanzanian houses, craft stalls, music and dance, and a restaurant.
Attraction
A 1927 bronze statue of an African soldier on a roundabout at the centre of downtown Dar es Salaam, honouring the askari and carriers of the…
Attraction
A Gothic-style Catholic cathedral built by German missionaries between 1897 and 1902 on Sokoine Drive, facing the harbour, and seat of the Archdiocese of Dar es…
Attraction
A Bavarian-style Lutheran church built by German missionaries in 1898 on the Kivukoni waterfront, with a red-tiled roof and belfry, now the diocese's cathedral.
Attraction
Shady colonial-era gardens on Samora Avenue, laid out in 1893 by Franz Stuhlmann, with indigenous and exotic plants including the Seychelles coco-de-mer palm.
Café
An all-day café and restaurant on the rocks at the Sea Cliff Hotel, at the northern tip of the Msasani Peninsula, with ocean views, seafood and…
Café
A Lebanese-style café and bakery on Samora Avenue in the city centre, serving breads, pastries and cakes alongside breakfasts, salads, houmous and baba ghanoush.
Café
The lounge café, grill and bar of the Southern Sun on Garden Avenue, beside the Botanical Gardens, serving Tanzanian dishes with Arabic, African and Western influences.
Café
The all-day lobby lounge of the five-star Johari Rotana on Sokoine Drive, serving coffee, tea, pastries, desserts and light meals by day and cocktails later on.
Hotel
A 180-room harbourfront hotel on Kivukoni Front with an infinity pool, the Level 8 rooftop bar, an Anantara spa and views over the port and the…
Hotel
A five-star garden hotel on Ohio Street with 230 rooms and suites, a large outdoor pool, the Jahazi seafood restaurant, a spa and views over gardens…
Hotel
A five-star harbourside hotel on Sokoine Drive with 193 rooms, 60 serviced apartments, an eighth-floor infinity pool and five restaurants and lounges.
Hotel
A 174-room, four-star hotel at Azikiwe Street and Sokoine Drive, on the site of the city's oldest hotel, with harbour views, an outdoor pool and a…
Hotel
A business hotel on tree-lined Garden Avenue next to the Botanical Gardens, with a pool, gym, free Wi-Fi and the Baraza café, grill and bar.
Hotel
A good-value hotel in the Slipway waterfront complex on the Msasani Peninsula, overlooking Msasani Bay, with restaurants, shops and boats to Bongoyo and Mbudya.
Bar
The Hyatt Regency's rooftop bar on Kivukoni Front, with 360-degree views over the harbour and city, cocktails and live DJs from Wednesday to Sunday.
Bar
A seafood restaurant on Haile Selassie Road that becomes one of the Msasani Peninsula's liveliest bars at night, with live music, salsa Thursdays and happy hours.
Bar
A gastropub and microbrewery on Chole Road, set up by Chintu Patel, pouring its own pilsners and ales, including the award-winning Dee's Gold.
Restaurant
A revolving restaurant and bar high above Ohio Street in the city centre, known for its views, weekday lunch buffet, Sunday brunch and Friday live music.
Restaurant
An open-air Mediterranean restaurant by the ocean in Kawe, north of the centre, serving wood-oven pizzas, homemade pasta and seafood, with a lounge bar for sunsets.
Restaurant
The Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel's signature seafood restaurant, named after the Swahili dhow, serving Indian Ocean catch in an Arabic-influenced dining room.
Restaurant
A waterside restaurant and bar at the Slipway on the Msasani Peninsula, serving seafood, pizzas and grills under thatched umbrellas with sunset views over Msasani Bay.
Restaurant
A long-standing Ethiopian restaurant on Ursino Street in Regent Estate, serving stews on injera, plenty of vegetarian dishes, Ethiopian coffee and tej honey wine.
Restaurant
An evening street-side barbecue at Morogoro Road and Libya Street, known for spicy charcoal-grilled chicken, nyama choma and fresh sugarcane juice with ginger.
Thing to do
The Oyster Bay home of Tingatinga painting, where a cooperative gallery sells work and artists paint in studios lining the road near Morogoro Stores.
Thing to do
A large harbourside fish market on Kivukoni Front where the morning catch is auctioned to restaurants and residents, with stalls frying fish to eat on the…
Thing to do
Dar es Salaam's main trading district, with a rebuilt multi-storey central market and surrounding streets selling fabrics, spices, produce and household goods.
Thing to do
A day trip to the historic coastal town 75 km north, once a caravan port and the first capital of German East Africa, with the Kaole…
Tour operator
A locally owned operator based in Kigamboni running bicycle and walking tours of everyday Dar es Salaam, a Dar by Night music tour and safaris.
Tour operator
A family-owned safari company founded in Dar es Salaam in 2010, offering city tours, day trips such as Bagamoyo and safaris across southern and eastern Tanzania.
Tour operator
A PADI dive centre at the Msasani Slipway offering courses from Discover Scuba Diving to Divemaster, daily boat dives along the Dar es Salaam coast and…
Two or three days is enough for the city centre sights, a market visit, a boat trip to Bongoyo or Mbudya island and an evening on the Msasani Peninsula. Add a day for Bagamoyo or a beach stay in Kigamboni.
The city centre around Kivukoni Front, Sokoine Drive and Ohio Street suits business travellers and anyone catching the Zanzibar ferry, while the Msasani Peninsula is better for restaurants, nightlife and island trips. Kigamboni and the north coast suit a beach stay.
Most visitors take a taxi, a ride-hailing car or a hotel transfer from Julius Nyerere International Airport, about 12 km from the centre. The journey can take anything from under half an hour to around 90 minutes depending on traffic.
Street food, local restaurants and public transport are inexpensive, while international hotels, hotel restaurants, island boat trips and park fees cost much more. Prices for museums and marine reserves are usually lower for Tanzanians than for foreign visitors.
Most visits are trouble-free with sensible precautions: keep valuables out of sight in markets and crowds, use licensed taxis or ride-hailing apps after dark, and check your government's latest travel advice before you go.