Zanzibar · Tanzania
Coral-stone lanes in Stone Town, a spice farm, supper at the Forodhani night market and lagoons you can walk at low tide. Our Zanzibar tour packages from India keep the pace easy.
Why Zanzibar, the IKOU way
The beaches carry the trip, so we pick the coast by the pace you want: Nungwi's lively north tip or the quiet tidal lagoons of Paje and Jambiani. Then we fold in the island itself: Stone Town's coral-stone lanes, a working spice farm, and supper at the Forodhani night market. It pairs well with a Tanzania safari before it.
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Zanzibar, the IKOU way
An old spice-trade town, a night food market and the lagoon, planned side by side.
Where you'll go
Coral-stone lanes, carved doors.
Ferry from Dar, about 2 hours
Giant tortoises, white sandbanks.
Boat from Stone Town
Dhow builders, turtles, sunsets.
By road, 1.5 to 2 hours
Walkable lagoons, a rare monkey.
By road across the island
The IKOU route
One island, four ways to spend it.
One island.
Four moods.
A more meaningful way
to see it.
Map: derivative of Zanzibar Archipelago location map.svg by Sémhur and Wikig'anki (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).
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Old town · Gateway
Coral-stone lanes lead past carved wooden doors to the Old Fort and Christ Church, the site of the old slave market: every Zanzibar journey starts here.
1-2 nights, ferry from Dar es Salaam about 2 hours
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Boat days · Day trips
A short boat ride from Stone Town reaches Prison Island's giant tortoises and its 1894 quarantine station, then a swim off a white sandbank at low tide.
Half a day, boat from Stone Town
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North tip · Dhows
The island's northern tip: a working dhow-building yard at Nungwi, turtles at the Mnarani conservation pond, and sunsets over Kendwa's beach.
1-2 nights, 1.5 to 2 hours by road
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Tidal lagoons · Forest
Jozani Forest's red colobus monkeys, then Paje's walkable low-tide lagoon and the quiet village beach at Jambiani: the slowest days of the island.
1-2 nights, across the island by road
Explore this partA journey through different moods
A sample journey
Fly or ferry in, settle into Stone Town, then Zanzibar pizza and urojo at Forodhani.
A guided walk: the Old Fort, Christ Church on the old slave market, then a spice farm.
Boat out to Prison Island's giant tortoises, then barefoot time on a sandbank at low tide.
Road north to Nungwi: the dhow yard, the turtle pools, a Mnemba snorkel, sunset sails.
Jozani's red colobus on the way, then low-tide lagoon walks and a plate of pilau in Paje.
A slow breakfast by the lagoon, then the drive back across to the airport near Stone Town.
A sample to show the rhythm, not a fixed package. Every IKOU journey is shaped around you.
Good to know
Yes to both. Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, so a Tanzanian visa covers it: apply online through the Immigration Department's e-Visa portal. Tanzania's High Commission in New Delhi asks for a passport valid for six months with an unused page, and says to allow up to ten days.
Zanzibar also requires its own inbound travel insurance, bought from the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation before you arrive. Your own international policy is not accepted in its place, and you show the QR code at entry. We sort both with you before you fly, as the rules change.
June to October and December to February are the driest, sunniest stretches. The long rains fall from March to May, with shorter rains around November: greener and quieter, with more showers to plan around.
Start at Forodhani Gardens in Stone Town, where the waterfront turns into a food market every evening. Order a Zanzibar pizza, a thin dough folded round minced meat, vegetables and egg, then fried (sweet banana versions too), and a bowl of urojo, the tangy 'Zanzibar mix' soup with mango, tamarind and crisp bhajias.
At other meals look for pilau, the spiced rice the Arab traders brought, and the biryani, curries and samosas of the island's Indian kitchen, which will feel familiar.
Zanzibar is about 98% Muslim: cover shoulders and knees in Stone Town and the villages, and take extra care during Ramadan. Most flights from India connect through the Gulf or East Africa. If you route via Nairobi or Addis Ababa, check India's yellow-fever rule before you book. From Dar es Salaam there is also a fast ferry of about two hours.
