My husband and I went on a guided walking tour of Stone Town. We took in the markets, the maze of streets, and street vendors, historical buildings, and of course the site of the old slave market. This was a slow paced tour suitable for any level of fitness and so interesting. It was a half day tour and we were the only two with our guide so felt that we had a more personal experience. Stone Town is run down and dirty but has so much history and we felt reasonably safe when we returned again without our guide. We were ripped off in the street markets as we are not good at bargining and ended up paying double what things cost in the actual tourist stores and at the Hotel, it left a bad taste in our mouth when one of the street vendors laughed at us as we walked away. Never again will we attempt to bargin. Appart from that we really enjoyed our stay in Stone Town, would we return yes.

A huge bewildering confusing maze of filthy beyond comparelanes with hundreds of zooming motorcycles mixed with pedestrains shuffling ankle deep in trash, garbage and debris thrown down from the last 100 years of occupation. Nothing is picked up...everything is discarded on the spot!
Flies, rotting fruit, smoke, traffic, fish markets, vegetable tables, filthy citizens, snotty- nosed children, shifty eyed hanger on's all comprise the Stone Town scene. Just another African town which are mostly open air septic tanks, but with a stunning view of the Indian Ocean. Don't buy anything, just take photos. The Curio Shop is a huge building of cheap Indian exports of everything from yesteryear without prices so that the haggleing can begin.
Stone Town is wonderful!!!!!!!

How to describe Stone Town? Colourful, noisy, eclectic population, faded glamour. A town you will either love or hate. I visited here with my husband as part 3 of our honeymoon in Tanzania and we loved it. Its not a place I would want to stay for more than 2-3 days but its worth a visit. It is a small town of narrow streets. We were told that we would need a guide to find our way around. Not true. The main area of the town is very small and once you have a map and your bearings is easy to explore and you would miss a lot with a guide who charge inflated prices.The streets nearest to the beach are mostly lined with the usual shops of goods aimed at tourists. Mostly quite tacky and we suspected probably not made in Zanzibar or even Tanzania! There are a few exceptions. One being a womens co-operative that make patchwork cushion covers and throws and a few clothes. Another being a small carpenters two streets in towards the town from the Big Tree. It is a tree and is marked on the map as such. As you wander the streets away from this area it turns into streets of shops for the local Muslim population ending with the colourful, noisy, bustling daily market. Well worth a wander. A short walk from the market and worth a visit is the site of the slave market and chambers. A very moving experience. If you want to relax and people watch. Get a cold drink and sit on the beach in front of the Tembo Hotel watch a ferry either being loaded or unloaded. It has to be seen to be believed! At night visit the roof bar at Africa House for a cocktail and watch the sunset. Get there early. Enjoy!

Spent 3-1/2 days in Stone Town and very glad we spent this long. Often people only drop in for a day but it deserves more. It's not that you can't walk around the town (it's a World Heritage Site) and see its unique architectural styles with influences from Arabs, Indians, Portugues and modern Tanzanian in a day, but it takes a day or two to be able to find your way around, drop into the many good eating establishments, enjoy the multitude of shops with goods from all over Tanzania. Also the people of Stone Town are so friendly, welcoming, happy and helpful that it's a joy to be there for a while. Then the ambience can be truly enjoyed.