One week, day by day: two nights in Stone Town, four on the beach, and the big day trips that fit around them.
7 days in Zanzibar is the sweet spot. It is long enough for two nights in Stone Town and a proper unhurried stretch on the beach, with room for the big day trips that a shorter trip forces you to choose between. Here is the week, day by day, with where to base yourself and the honest transfer times.
A week lets you slow down, which is the whole point of Zanzibar. You are not chasing a checklist. You get the culture and the food up front, then settle into a beach long enough to fall into its rhythm, with a couple of standout days on the water or in the forest to break it up. Below is the plan we would book, plus two variations depending on whether you want one beach or two.
The default here bases on the southeast coast, because it puts Jozani Forest on the drive out and keeps the dolphins and The Rock within reach. If you would rather swim at any tide, the north-coast version further down swaps in Nungwi or Kendwa.
| Day | Base | The day in short |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stone Town | Land, transfer into town, sunset and Forodhani night market |
| 2 | Stone Town | Old town on foot, spice farm, optional Prison Island tortoises |
| 3 | Southeast beach | Jozani Forest en route, settle into Paje or Jambiani, first swim |
| 4 | Southeast beach | Low-tide reef walk, kite lesson or lagoon time |
| 5 | Southeast beach | Early Kizimkazi dolphin trip, or lunch at The Rock |
| 6 | Southeast beach | Full beach day, or a Safari Blue dhow day |
| 7 | Home | Slow morning, last swim, transfer to the airport |
That is six nights: two in Stone Town, four on the beach. If your flights give you a seventh night, add it to the beach.
Fly into Abeid Amani Karume International (ZNZ), five kilometres south of the city, and transfer into Stone Town in about 15 minutes for roughly US$10 to 15 (2026, verify). Two nights here is the right amount: enough to see it properly and eat well, not so long that you are itching for the beach.
Day 1 is for arriving gently. Drop your bags and wander. Stone Town is a UNESCO-listed tangle of coral-stone alleys, carved doors and old merchant houses, and getting mildly lost is how you see it. Catch sunset from a rooftop or the seafront, then graze the Forodhani Gardens night market, where stalls grill seafood, fold Zanzibar pizza and press sugarcane juice each evening.
Day 2 starts with a guided morning walk, which earns its small fee here because the history hides in plain sight. Take in the Old Fort, the former slave market and the Anglican cathedral built on its site, the markets, and the house marking Freddie Mercury’s birthplace. You will pass the House of Wonders on the seafront; it partly collapsed in 2020 and is under long-term reconstruction, so you view it from outside. In the afternoon, add a spice farm in the countryside 20 to 30 minutes away, two to three hours of crushing clove leaves and tasting raw cinnamon, vanilla and strange fruit for about US$15 to 25 per person (2026, verify). Our spice tour guide has more.
If you would rather swap in a boat trip, the giant Aldabra tortoises on Prison Island are a short hop from Stone Town, some of them over a century old. Reckon on boat hire of about US$20 to 40 plus an island entry fee of about US$12 to 15 (2026, verify the current gate price, which keeps creeping up).
One admin note before you fly: most visitors need a Tanzania eVisa in advance, and every non-resident must also buy the mandatory Zanzibar inbound insurance (ZIC, about US$44 per adult in 2026, verify before travel), which is a separate entry requirement from your own travel cover. Sort both online to skip the airport queues; our Zanzibar visa guide explains it.
Transfer to the southeast coast, and time it to stop at Jozani Forest on the way, since it sits on the road south. It is Zanzibar’s only national park and the one place on Earth to see the endemic red colobus monkey, which is used enough to people that you get close. A short guided loop through the trees and a mangrove boardwalk takes an hour or two, for about US$10 to 12 including a ranger (2026, verify). Go and you have ticked the island’s easiest wildlife win before you even reach the sand.
Carry on to Paje or Jambiani. Paje is the busier, kite-friendly hub on a wide, shallow lagoon; Jambiani just south is a quieter fishing and seaweed-farming village with a slower feel. The airport to this coast is about an hour and US$35 to 45 (2026, verify). Settle in and get your first swim, timed to the tide. Our Paje guide and Jambiani guide cover where to stay.
One honest thing about the east and southeast coast: the tide swings hard. At low tide the sea withdraws hundreds of metres, exposing reef flats and the seaweed plots that local women farm. It is beautiful and worth walking, but if you want to swim on demand, book a place with a pool and check a tide table. The beaches overview explains the coast-by-coast tide picture.
Take a day to do very little. Swim on the tide, read, eat well. When the water is out, walk the reef flat: it turns into a world of tide pools, starfish and seaweed farms, and it is one of the quiet pleasures of the east coast that no one photographs.
If you are in Paje and there is wind, book a kitesurfing lesson. This is the island’s kite capital for a reason, with steady trade winds in two windows, roughly June to September and mid-December to March. Beginners do well on the flat, shallow lagoon. If kiting is not your thing, the same lagoon is fine for lazy floating at high tide and long walks at low.
Pick your standout. Option one is an early Kizimkazi dolphin trip on the south coast, about 45 minutes to an hour from Paje. Wild bottlenose dolphins live in Menai Bay year-round, and the humpback dolphins are shyer. Go at dawn when the pods feed in the bay, and, this matters, choose an operator that keeps its distance and moves parallel rather than chasing the animals. Done badly it is a scrum of boats around a stressed pod. Shared trips run about US$15 to 30 per person (2026, verify). Our dolphin tour guide explains how to choose well.
Option two, if you would rather a long lunch than an early start, is The Rock, the restaurant built on a coral outcrop in the sea off Pingwe, about 30 to 45 minutes north of Paje on the Michamvi peninsula. You reach it on foot at low tide or by boat when the water is up. You are paying for the setting and the photos more than the plate, a full meal runs about US$60 to 90 per person (2026, verify), and reservations plus a small deposit are essential. Book it days ahead in low season, a week or two in high.
Whichever you choose, keep the afternoon for the beach.
If you have relaxed into the beach, spend the day there: it is your last full one, so do not overload it. If you want one more adventure, Safari Blue is the island’s best all-day dhow trip, a long day of sailing, snorkeling, a sandbank stop, a mangrove lagoon swim and a seafood lunch, for about US$80 to 120 per person (2026, verify). Note that it launches from Fumba in the southwest, so from the southeast it is a longer drive, up to about two hours each way. If a boat day matters more than an easy one, it is worth it; our Safari Blue guide has the details.
Breakfast, one last swim, and leave real margin for the transfer. The southeast coast to the airport is about an hour, but the road can be slower than the map suggests. For a morning flight, plan the drive the night before.
Prefer to swim whenever you like? Keep the two Stone Town nights, then base on the north coast at Nungwi or Kendwa for four nights instead. The far north has almost no tidal swing, so the sea is deep and swimmable at any hour, and it has the liveliest sunset scene. From here the natural day trips are Mnemba snorkeling off the northeast, some of the clearest reef on the island (about US$40 to 90 per person plus a US$10 reef fee, 2026, verify), a sunset dhow cruise, and the turtle sanctuaries near Nungwi. The trade-off: Jozani and the Kizimkazi dolphins are far from the north, so you skip those or accept a long drive. Read the Nungwi and Kendwa guides for where to stay.
A week is long enough to do two coasts if you want the contrast. A common split is two nights in Stone Town, two or three on the southeast at Paje for the lagoon and the dolphins, then two or three on the north at Nungwi for swim-anytime water and the sunset bars. The honest cost is one cross-island transfer, about two hours and US$60 to 90 (2026, verify), and packing twice. If variety is the point of the trip, it is a fair trade. If you would rather unpack once, stick to one beach.
Leaving international flights aside, a mid-range week runs about US$100 to 250 per person per day in 2026, so roughly US$700 to 1,750 per person for seven days. That buys a boutique or three to four star room, private transfers, several tours and meals out. Budget travellers on guesthouses, dala-dalas and local food manage US$40 to 70 a day; a five-star or private-island week runs well past US$350 a day. Carry enough cash, since the island runs largely on it and ATMs can be unreliable; US dollars are widely accepted if the notes are crisp and dated 2009 or later. The full breakdown is in our money and costs guide.
Distances are short but the driving is slow, which is why the plans above cluster activities near each base. Most hotels arrange fixed-price transfers, the easiest option; taxis have no meters, so agree the fare first; and there is no reliable Uber or Bolt on the island. Our getting around Zanzibar guide covers transfers, taxis and dala-dalas, and getting to Zanzibar covers flights and the ferry from Dar es Salaam.
On timing, June to October is dry, breezy and cooler, and December to February is hot with the calmest, clearest sea. April and May bring the long rains and the lowest prices. The best time to visit guide has the month-by-month detail.
Short on time instead? Our 5-day Zanzibar itinerary trims this to one beach and the essentials. Adding a mainland safari? The safari and Zanzibar itinerary pairs the Serengeti with a beach finish. Both link from the Zanzibar itineraries hub.
Seven days is arguably the ideal length for Zanzibar. It gives you two nights in Stone Town for the history and the food, four or five nights on the beach, and time for the big day trips like Jozani Forest, a dolphin tour or a Safari Blue dhow day, without feeling rushed. You can even split the week between two beaches if you want variety, though that costs you a half-day transfer. Only add more days if you are combining the island with a mainland safari.
Land and spend two nights in Stone Town while you are near the airport, doing the old town on foot, a spice farm, and optionally the tortoises on Prison Island. Then transfer to one beach for the rest of the week. The southeast coast around Paje works well because Jozani Forest is on the way and the Kizimkazi dolphins and The Rock restaurant are within reach. For swim-at-any-tide water, base on the north coast at Nungwi or Kendwa instead. Keep the last morning free for a final swim before the airport run.
For 2026, a mid-range week runs about US$100 to 250 per person per day once you are on the island, so roughly US$700 to 1,750 per person for seven days, not counting international flights. That covers a boutique or three to four star room, private transfers, several tours and meals out. Budget travellers using guesthouses and shared transport spend far less, around US$40 to 70 a day; luxury resorts run well over US$350 a day. Verify current prices before you book.
You can, and a week is long enough to make it worthwhile, but be honest about the cost. Moving from the southeast to the north coast is about a two-hour cross-island transfer, which eats most of a day. If you want the variety of a kite lagoon and swim-anytime water, do it: two or three nights on each. If you would rather not pack twice, pick one beach and use day trips to see the rest.
Landmark
Jozani Forest is Zanzibar's only national park and the one place on Earth to see the endemic red colobus monkey. Entry is about US$10 to 12 per adult (2026, verify), a park ranger is included, and a guided visit takes one to two hours across a forest loop and a mangrove boardwalk. It sits in the centre-south of Unguja, on the main road to the east coast beaches.
Landmark
The Rock is Zanzibar's most photographed restaurant, a table-topped coral rock in the sea off Pingwe beach on the Michamvi peninsula. Reach it on foot at low tide, by boat at high tide. Booking is essential, with a non-refundable US$10 per person deposit (2026, verify) taken off your bill, and a full seafood meal runs roughly US$60 to 90 per person. You pay for the setting, not the cooking.
