Zanzibar

Beaches are the reason most people come. The sand is powder-white coral, the Indian Ocean stays around 26°C to 29°C all year, and a stay here means mornings in the water and long afternoons under the palms. The best swimming is in the north, at Kendwa and Nungwi, where the water stays deep enough at all tides and sunsets fall over the sea. Matemwe and Pongwe on the northeast coast are quieter, facing the reef.

The east coast, from Paje and Bwejuu down to Jambiani, is beautiful but tidal: at low tide the sea pulls back hundreds of metres across seagrass and seaweed farms, so swimming follows the tide table. Seaweed can wash up at times of year. The long rains of April and May bring grey days; the dry months from June to October and December to February are the best time to come.

Zanzibari cooking is Swahili coastal food shaped by centuries of Omani, Indian and Persian trade: pilau and biryani fragrant with clove and cardamom, coconut fish curries, octopus, grilled lobster and fresh tuna. In Stone Town the evening food market in Forodhani Gardens is the classic first night, with seafood skewers, sugarcane juice and Zanzibar pizza, a stuffed, griddled pancake. Look also for urojo, a tangy soup sold from street stalls, and strong spiced coffee poured in the old town's squares.

Beyond Stone Town the range narrows. Beach towns run on grilled fish, resort buffets and international menus of varying quality. As a mostly Muslim island, alcohol is sold in hotels, tourist restaurants and some shops rather than everywhere, and during Ramadan daytime eating in Stone Town is discreet.

Stone Town is the heart of it: a UNESCO-listed maze of coral-stone houses, carved and brass-studded doors, mosques, Hindu temples and merchant mansions, the clearest surviving example of a Swahili trading town. The waterfront holds the Old Fort and the Palace Museum of the Omani sultans, and the Anglican cathedral stands on the site of the last open slave market in East Africa, with a sober memorial and underground holding chambers beside it. Freddie Mercury's birthplace draws a steady trickle of fans.

Outside town are ruins of Omani palaces at Maruhubi and Mtoni, the Persian baths at Kidichi, and the slave chambers at Mangapwani. Museums are small and many buildings are weathered, so the value lies in walking the old town rather than in a list of collections.

Going out is relaxed and beach-based. Nungwi and Kendwa in the north have the liveliest evenings, with beach bars, bonfires and a well-known full-moon party that draws travellers from across the island. Paje has a laid-back kitesurfer bar scene, and Stone Town offers sundowners on rooftop terraces over the harbour. Clubs as such barely exist, and most places are quiet by midnight outside the party nights. The island is conservative, so drinking stays within hotels and tourist bars, and Ramadan quietens everything.

Zanzibar is a flat coral island, so the outdoors here means reef, lagoon and forest rather than mountains. Jozani Forest in the south is home to the rare Zanzibar red colobus monkey, seen at close range, with a mangrove boardwalk alongside. Offshore, the protected reef around Mnemba atoll gives clear-water snorkelling and diving with turtles and reef fish, and boats from Kizimkazi go out to find dolphins.

The east coast at Paje and Jambiani is one of the better kitesurfing spots in the region, with a shallow lagoon and steady trade winds from about June to September and December to February. Dhow sailing at sunset, sandbank trips and stand-up paddling fill out the rest. Inland is farmland, villages and spice plantations, pleasant rather than spectacular.

Outings are mostly short and small in scale. From Stone Town, boats run to Changuu, the old prison island, with its giant tortoises, and to sandbanks for a swim. Spice farm tours in the countryside show clove, vanilla and nutmeg growing and end with a local lunch. In the south, the fishing village of Kizimkazi has one of the oldest mosques on the coast. From the beach towns, Stone Town itself is the main day out, about an hour by road.

Beyond the island, the fast ferry reaches Dar es Salaam in about two hours, and short flights go to Pemba Island, though both work better as overnight trips.

Families come for an easy beach stay rather than attractions. Resorts on the north coast have pools and calm, warm water that suits children, and Kendwa's beach is swimmable at all tides. Outings that children enjoy are the giant tortoises on Changuu, the monkeys in Jozani Forest and spotting turtles while snorkelling. There is little else made for them: no zoos, theme parks or science museums.

Malaria precautions are needed, medical care is limited, and Stone Town's narrow alleys and the long road transfers can be tiring with small children. Tidal east coast beaches are less practical for swimming with toddlers, though rock pools at low tide amuse them.

Stone Town is best on foot, though its alleys are a maze and getting lost is part of the experience. Beyond it, most visitors rely on taxis and hotel transfers: the main roads are paved, and Nungwi in the north and Paje in the east are each about an hour or more from town. Dala-dala minibuses run between villages and are cheap but crowded and slow. Car and scooter hire are possible but require a local permit and police checkpoints are common. Beach villages themselves are small and easy to walk along the sand.

Shopping centres on Stone Town's lanes and Darajani market, where spice stalls sell clove, cinnamon, vanilla and cardamom by the bag alongside fruit, fish and household goods. Craft shops carry kanga and kikoi cloth, carved chests and doors, brightly painted Tingatinga pictures, silver jewellery and tanzanite. Much of it repeats from stall to stall, haggling is expected, and the beach villages offer little beyond souvenir stands and Maasai beadwork. There are no fashion streets or department stores of note.

Costs depend heavily on where you stay. Stone Town guesthouses, the Forodhani food stalls and dala-dalas are cheap, and the east coast villages around Paje and Jambiani have simple bungalows at modest cost. Beach resorts in the north, imported drinks, diving, boat trips and taxis are priced for visitors and add up quickly, and much accommodation on the island is mid-range to upmarket. The peak months around Christmas and July to August cost the most.

Zanzibar's own music is taarab, an orchestral blend of Swahili poetry, Arabic and Indian melody, with its home in Stone Town. Rehearsals and small performances at the old town's music school and in cultural halls let visitors hear it, and drumming and ngoma dance turn up at hotel evenings and village celebrations. Stone Town's dry-season calendar includes festivals of East African music and film. Beyond that there is no theatre, opera or concert season, and most live music elsewhere is hotel entertainment and beach bands.

The pace is the point. Life on the island runs slowly, and a stay in the beach villages, with long days set by the tide and the call to prayer, is genuinely restful. Resorts along the north and east coasts have spas offering massage with coconut oil and local spices, and yoga is easy to find around Paje and Jambiani. There is no living bathing culture: the Persian baths built for the sultans survive only as historic sites. Stone Town is calmer than most port towns but crowded in the day, so those who want to unwind stay on the coast.