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Stone Town Heritage Walk (Half Day Tour)

Walk with us along the narrowest streets in the world during this half day tour. Within three well-invested hours you will gain a good understanding of the fascinating history of Zanzibar’s capital city and its significant areas, buildings and historical sites. You will soon notice how Zanzibar’s cosmopolitan roots (Arabs, Indians, Yemenis, Persians, Portuguese, British, Chinese and others) blend with African traditions to shape its unique culture.

We start with the site of the former slave market and the Anglican cathedral built in 1873. The tour continues with a visit to Stone Town’s colourful main market in Darajani, which is bustling with locals selling fresh vegetables and baskets of tropical fruits. From there we’ll visit with you the palace of the former Sultan of Zanzibar, the 'Hamamni Persian Bath', the Old Fort which is next to the 'House of Wonders' and many other buildings that reflect the variety of cultural influences.

There are distinctive features of Arab and Indian urban architecture to discover at every turn, such as the famous Zanzibar doors, elaborately carved with ornaments and verses from the Q’ran (Arab) or plants and animals (Indian) and decorated with brass studs, quaint balconies and verandas, small hidden gardens, saint’s graves, and much more.

This tour is very flexible and can be adapted to suit your interests and time frame.

BE WELL PREPARED:

* We suggest to pick you up that early, because we love walking through Stone Town in the morning, when local people just awake and start their daily routine, while there are less tourists around. It’s a “must” to start early in hot / humid summer months, such as February and March. But of course we can also pick you up later than 08.00 am if you rather like to have time in the morning.

*  Regarding your Stone Town Heritage Walk with us please note that the Beit al Ajab Museum (House of Wonders) will be not accessible as it is a building in danger of imminent collapse since quite some time. Finally the Omani government decided to repair the most important monument of East Africa, so that it is closed for urgent renovation.

* Wearing shoulder and knee covering clothes in Stone Town will be much appreciated, but on the beaches people also accept shorter clothes.