Mombasa or Stone Town?

In Mombasa the beach is right outside the hotel. Nyali, Bamburi and Shanzu form one long strip of coral sand just north of the island, with calm lagoons inside the reef, and Diani lies about an hour south. Stone Town's own shore is a working waterfront of dhows and jetties. To swim, you take a boat out to Nakupenda sandbank or the islets of Changuu and Bawe.

Zanzibar's famous beaches at Nungwi, Kendwa and Paje are an hour or more away by road, which is why most visitors move on rather than stay in town. On both coasts the tide goes a long way out, so plan your swims for high water.

Both cook from the same Swahili tradition of coconut fish, pilau and biryani, so the real difference is where and how you eat. Mombasa's food is spread through the Old Town and the market streets, with a strong Indian side of thalis and sweet shops, and charcoal grills selling cassava and maize at the roadside after dark. Stone Town brings it all together at the Forodhani Gardens evening grill on the seafront and adds octopus, morning urojo and tiny cups of street-corner coffee, though alcohol is found mostly in hotels.

Stone Town has the richer old town of the two. It is a UNESCO-listed maze of coral-stone houses and brass-studded doors, and the Old Fort, the Palace Museum, the Hamamni baths and the cathedral built over East Africa's last open slave market are all a short walk apart. Simply wandering its lanes is the heart of a visit.

Mombasa has the more dramatic single monument in Fort Jesus, the Portuguese fortress at the harbour mouth. Its Old Town has the same carved doors and old mosques but is smaller and more weathered, and beyond it the city is a working port.

Mombasa has a real night out, though not on the island itself. There are beach bars and clubs playing Afrobeats and bongo flava in Nyali and Bamburi, and further north Mtwapa's loud strip keeps going until dawn at weekends. Taxis between venues are the sensible choice.

Evenings in Stone Town end early. The usual pattern is a sundowner on a rooftop or hotel terrace, then dinner at the night market. In this conservative Muslim town the lanes are quiet by late evening, and anyone wanting a party goes north to Nungwi or Kendwa.

Mombasa reaches much further. Mombasa Marine National Park lies just off the north-coast beaches, Kisite-Mpunguti offers dolphins and reef diving, the Shimba Hills have elephants and sable antelope an hour inland, and Tsavo East puts a real safari within a long day's reach.

Zanzibar's outdoors is gentler and almost all coastal: sunset dhow sailing, snorkelling around the offshore islets, the red colobus monkeys of Jozani Forest and the reefs of Mnemba atoll. In both places the heat pushes activity into the mornings and late afternoons.

Day trips from Mombasa go to other places along the coast: the medieval Swahili ruins of Jumba la Mtwana and Gede, the creek at Kilifi, Malindi, and a dhow day out to Wasini. The roads are slow, but there is more variety. Stone Town's outings stay on one small island: a spice farm walk, the tortoises of Changuu, the sultans' ruined palaces and the Mangapwani slave chambers, with no second town worth the drive.

Mombasa is easier with children because families stay in the big resorts of Nyali, Bamburi and Diani, with pools, kids' clubs and calm lagoons. Haller Park's giraffes and hippos are close by, and Tsavo is a highlight for older children.

Stone Town's narrow lanes, passing motorbikes and uneven paving are hard going with a pushchair, so families tend to enjoy it as a short stop before a beach hotel. Its treats are the Changuu tortoises and Jozani's monkeys. In both, malaria and food hygiene need care.

Stone Town is the easier place to get around, because most of what you come for sits in an old town you can cross on foot in about twenty minutes, maze though it is. Taxis or hired drivers cover the beaches and spice farms, and the airport is close.

Mombasa is spread out. The island, the north-coast resorts and Diani are linked by a congested bridge and the Likoni ferry, so tuk-tuks, ride-hailing and hotel taxis become part of every day. In both places the shared minibuses are hard for newcomers to use.

Neither is a shopping destination, and both sell kanga and kikoi cloth and carved chests, with bargaining expected. Mombasa's strengths are the cloth merchants of Biashara Street, Akamba woodcarving and modern Nyali malls for everyday needs. Stone Town offers island spices from Darajani market, Tingatinga paintings, and a few boutiques around Gizenga Street with better textiles and natural soaps.

Both are cheap at street level and expensive wherever they cater to foreigners, so the cost of a stay depends mostly on how you travel. Mombasa comes out a little cheaper: from a guesthouse in town, street food and tuk-tuks are easy to rely on, and the big costs are resort stays and park fees for safaris. In Stone Town, boutique hotels in old merchant houses, rooftop dining and sandbank and spice tours add up quickly.

Both coasts share taarab, but Stone Town gives you a better chance of hearing it, through its long-established music clubs and the waterfront music academy. Its Sauti za Busara and film festivals also bring the town to life for their weeks. In Mombasa taarab is mostly heard at weddings, and live music means weekend benga and reggae bands in north-coast bars plus resort dance shows. Neither has a theatre or concert scene.

Mombasa makes rest easier, because its calm is on the beach strips. There, resort spas set treatment pavilions facing the sea and yoga is easy to find around Diani. Stone Town's spas are in boutique hotels and use clove, coconut oil and local spices, and the Hamamni baths are a building to visit rather than a working bath. With the heat, motorbikes and touts in the lanes, real rest on Zanzibar usually means moving out to the coast.