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 is one of Africa's great safari destinations and also offers some of the Indian Ocean's best-known islands. On the mainland, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater are famous for wildlife, Mount Kilimanjaro draws climbers from around the world, and Arusha is the gateway to the northern parks. Dar es Salaam is the largest city and main port. Offshore, the Zanzibar archipelago combines the historic streets of Stone Town in Zanzibar City with white-sand beaches, spice farms and coral reefs. Many visitors pair a safari in the north with a few days on Zanzibar, linked by short flights or the ferry from Dar es Salaam. Swahili culture, a long coastal trading history and warm hospitality shape the country's food, music and daily life.
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
Zanzibar's historic Swahili trading town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000, packed into 96 hectares of coral-stone houses, carved doors and winding lanes.
Attraction
A square, battlemented Omani fort on the Stone Town seafront, now a cultural centre with craft shops, an open-air amphitheatre and the main festival venue.
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
Anglican cathedral built on the site of Zanzibar's last slave market, with a heritage centre and exhibition on the East African slave trade beside it.
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
Coffee shop in a historic merchant's house, serving Tanzanian coffee roasted on site with cakes and smoothies, with a small guesthouse on the floors above.
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
Shangani coffee shop run by a Brazilian couple, serving specialty coffee, homemade pastries and Brazilian cheese bread, with occasional coffee workshops.
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
All-day café on Kenyatta Road serving breakfasts, local dishes and desserts, in a family-owned merchant's house with guest rooms upstairs.
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
Luxury seafront hotel in Shangani combining the 19th-century Mambo Msiige mansion with a modern wing, with 67 rooms, an infinity pool, spa and beachfront.
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
Seafront hotel created from an 18th-century residence and the 19th-century Extelcoms House, with 51 rooms and suites, a pool, spa and rooftop seafood restaurant.
Hotel
Boutique hotel in a restored aristocratic home on a pedestrian lane in Kiponda, with antique-filled rooms, a courtyard restaurant and a rooftop tea house.
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.
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
Fifth-floor rooftop bar and restaurant at Upendo House on Hurumzi Street, with an infinity pool, sunset cocktails, DJ evenings and a weekend brunch.
Bar
Beachfront bar and restaurant on Shangani beach in a former British consulate building, with live music every day, salsa nights and sunset drinks.
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.
Bar
Relaxed waterfront bar and restaurant on Mizingani Road near the ferry port, named after Freddie Mercury, with a sea-facing deck, pizzas and live music.
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
Set-menu dinners of Persian, Omani and East African dishes on one of Stone Town's highest rooftops, with cushion seating, sunset views and live music.
Restaurant
Single-seating rooftop restaurant at the Emerson Spice hotel, serving a sundowner at 18:00 followed by a multi-course Swahili seafood tasting menu.
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
Waterfront restaurant and rooftop bar in Shangani known for open-flame grilled steaks, seafood and Zanzibari dishes, with sunset cocktails upstairs.
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.
Thing to do
Seafront park in front of the Old Fort that fills with grills and food stalls after sunset, serving Zanzibar pizza, urojo, seafood skewers and fresh sugarcane…
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
Zanzibar City's main food market, built in 1904, with spice, fruit, fish and meat sections plus nearby streets selling kanga cloth and household goods.
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
Small island about 5.6 km off Stone Town, reached by a short boat ride, known for its Aldabra giant tortoises and an unused 1890s prison.
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
Large Zanzibar tour operator running Stone Town walks, spice farm visits, Prison Island boat trips, Jozani forest tours and sunset dhow cruises with certified guides.
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
Zanzibar tour company operating since 1992, offering spice farm tours, Stone Town walks, Prison Island boat trips and Jozani Forest visits, often combined into day trips.
Tour operator
Zanzibar tour operator based at Mbweni offering spice farm, Stone Town, Prison Island and Jozani tours, dhow trips and cooking courses with multilingual guides.
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…
Domestic flights link the main cities, safari parks and Zanzibar, while organised safari vehicles are the usual way to explore the national parks; ferries run between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.
The long dry season from about June to October is best for safaris and beaches, and December to February is also popular; the long rains fall roughly from March to May.
The Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, Mount Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Dar es Salaam and the beaches of northern and eastern Zanzibar.