Stone Town & Spice Farm Tour: Walk Alleys, Taste Cloves

Swahili alleys, spice farm tour, coconut climbing, and a meal from local harvests

A private guided tour of Stone Town, Zanzibar's historic coastal center, combined with a working spice farm where you walk among clove, cinnamon, vanilla and ginger plantations. The day includes a live cooking demonstration using freshly harvested spices, lunch made from local ingredients, a visit to the slave museum, and a drive through Stone Town's key landmarks—the Darajani Market, Freddie Mercury's childhood house, the old fort, and the House of Wonder. Pickup from your hotel and an air-conditioned vehicle are included; you choose whether to add slave museum entry at checkout.

Step-by-step itinerary

Spice farm and Stone Town tour

• Visit spice farm and see plants
• Watch butterfly man climb coconut tree
• Enjoy local lunch with spices
• Shop at spice store
• Drive to Stone Town
• Walk Darajani Market and old slave market
• See Zanzibar door and Jaws Corner
• Pass old Catholic church and Freddie Mercury house
• Visit old fort and Forodhani park
• Pass House of Wonder and Palace Museum
• Driver returns guests to hotel

The Experience

The spice farm comes first. You'll walk through 3 to 4 hectares of planted plots, each one grouped by crop—cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, lemongrass, coffee—alongside mango, orange and banana trees. A local farmer explains how each spice grows and what it's used for. Then comes a 30-minute stop at what locals call the butterfly man: he climbs a coconut tree, sings while he works, cuts down a young coconut and hands you the water to drink straight from the shell.

Lunch happens next, a spread of pilau (spiced rice), cooked banana, spinach, fried chicken, sauce and kachumbari (tomato salad)—all made with spices from the farm you just left. You'll have time to browse the spice shop if you want to buy cloves, vanilla or cinnamon to take home. Then a 35-minute drive takes you into Stone Town itself.

The walking tour of Stone Town runs two to three hours depending on what interests you. You'll start at the Darajani Market, then move through the old slave memorial (entry included if you chose that option at checkout), past the carved Zanzibar door and the architecture around Jaws Corner, by the old Catholic church and Freddie Mercury's house, down to the old fort which you enter free, through Forodhani Gardens along the seawall, past the House of Wonder and the palace museum. Your driver picks you up when you're ready to return to your hotel.

What’s included

• Bottled water throughout the day.
• lunch of pilau, cooked banana, spinach, fried chicken, sauce and kachumbari.
• air-conditioned vehicle and driver.
• live guide in English, Spanish or French.
• entry to the old fort.
• time to browse the spice shop.
• pickup from your hotel.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelInfant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by Yazan Tours And Travel

Is this one for you?Choose this tour if you want to see how the spices you cook with actually grow and taste them in a meal the same day—the farm walk and the lunch together are what make that possible. The private guide and fixed itinerary mean you move at your own pace through Stone Town's alleys without joining a group or building the day yourself.

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Top questions

What spices will I see growing on the farm?

The spice farm grows cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, lemongrass and coffee across separate planted plots, plus tropical fruit trees like mango, orange and banana. You walk through the plantations and learn how each crop is harvested.

Is the slave museum entrance included in the tour price?

The old slave memorial museum is included only if you select one of the options with entrance at checkout. Without it, you'll pass the site but won't enter. The choice is yours when you book.

How long does the whole tour take?

The tour runs about 7 hours total: roughly 90 minutes on the spice farm, 30 minutes at the coconut tree stop, 30 minutes for lunch, 30 minutes in the spice shop, 35 minutes driving to Stone Town, and 2 to 3 hours walking through the historic center.

What's included in the lunch?

Lunch is a local meal of pilau, cooked banana, spinach, fried chicken, sauce and kachumbari, all prepared with spices grown on the farm you visited that morning. Bottled water is also included throughout the day.

Will I have a guide who speaks English?

Yes. The tour includes a live guide in English, Spanish or French, depending on which language you need when you book.

Does pickup from my hotel come with every option?

Pickup is included in all four options. You choose at checkout whether you want pickup from anywhere in Zanzibar or from Stone Town specifically, and whether to add slave museum entry. An air-conditioned vehicle takes you the whole day.