Private Zanzibar Tour: Stone Town, Spice Farms, Jozani Forest

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.76 (17 reviews)

Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/27

Duration7h–8h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Three sides of Zanzibar in one day: the alleys, the spices, the forest

A private full-day guided tour of Zanzibar covers Stone Town's UNESCO heritage architecture and markets, working spice farms where locals grow and use the island's signature crops, and Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park to see red colobus monkeys found nowhere else. The guide is English-speaking, pickup is included, and the day runs seven to eight hours with air-conditioned transport, bottled water and tropical fruit stops built in.

7h–8h

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Stone Town, Spice Farms, and Jozani Forest

Visit Stone Town historic sites
Tour Darajani Fish Market and Old Dispensary
See Former Slave Market and Freddy Mercury’s House
Explore Zanzibar Doors
Discover spices at Spice Farm
Learn about local spice uses
Visit Jozani Forest
See Red Colobus Monkeys and mangroves

The Experience

The day starts in Stone Town, where the guide walks you through the UNESCO World Heritage site's maze of alleys lined with African, Persian, Arab, Indian and European architecture. You'll see the Darajani Fish Market, the Old Dispensary, the former Slave Market, Freddy Mercury's House and the carved Zanzibar Doors — each one a layer of the island's layered history. The stone itself tells the story: narrow streets, carved balconies, the weight of centuries in the walls.

From there you move to the spice farms, where a guide explains how Zanzibar families grow and use cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and other crops that earned the island its name. You're not watching a demonstration — you're walking through working land, seeing how the spices are cultivated and learning their role in daily life and trade. This is why Zanzibar became a tourist destination in the first place, and the farms show you why the reputation stuck.

The final stop is Jozani Forest, the largest area of indigenous forest on the island, a two-hour drive south of Chwaka Bay. The swamp-like terrain — prone to flooding, thick with moisture-loving trees and ferns — is home to red colobus monkeys that live nowhere else on earth. You'll also see mangrove and other forest trees, and the guide can point out traditional plant treatments still used locally. The air-conditioned vehicle and bottled water are there for the heat; coconut and tropical fruit stops are built into the route.

What’s included

English-speaking guide for the full day.
air-conditioned vehicle with hotel pickup.
bottled water and coconut and tropical fruit tastings.
entry to all three sites (Stone Town, spice farms, Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park).
all fees and taxes.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Viva Ocean Tours & Safaris

Is this one for you?Book this private tour if you want a guide who can answer questions and move at your group's pace through all three stops, rather than following a fixed schedule with other travelers. The arrangement means you control the timing at each site — longer in the forest if the monkeys hold your attention, or moving through Stone Town's alleys at your own speed.