Arab Fort
Built in 1780 by the Omanis (not by the Portuguese, as is commonly thought), the large stone structure next to the House of Wonders (Beit-el-Ajaib) was used to protect people from at least one attack from the mainland. It was later used as a prison and a barracks. Within its walls are leftover structures from a Portuguese church and a previous fortification built by the Omanis in the beginning of the same century. The modern-day fort is a great place to stop for lunch and at night there are often Taarab, Ngoma (local styles of music and dance) or movie nights. Also inside the Fort are shops and a beauty salon that does henna painting.

Kelele Square
Quickly becoming a posh neighbourhood with the opening of the Zanzibar Serena Inn and a new full service beauty salon, Dia Beauty Centre, Kelele Square was once the site of a slave market. The square was presumably named during the time of the slave trade and it must have been a source of considerable noise as its name suggests: 'kelele' is the Swahili word for noise.

High Court
Zanzibar's High Court of Justice building is a combination of Arabic design and Portuguese influence and was designed by J. H .Sinclair, an architect and former British resident. It is on Kaunda Road near Victoria Gardens and the President's House.

Hamamni Persian Baths
The Hamamni Persian Baths were commissioned by Sultan Barghash bin Said (son of Said the Great) and were built for public use. Hamamni translates into "place of the baths" and is now the name of the neighbourhood where these baths once were. (The tubs are still there, but the water is gone).

The baths are an interesting place to visit, but depending on how much time you have, how well you deal with heat, and how interested you are in history, you may want to skip the guide and have a look on your own. There's a nominal fee for entering and it's payable in US or local currency.

The front rooms were used for changing, barbering, paying dues and socializing. The long hall leads to the warm room that was heated by underground hot-water aqueducts. Remaining rooms include hot baths, cold baths, toilets and private shaving areas. The original building was larger and featured an arcade and restaurant but that part has since been turned into private residences. Although they were public, only the wealthy classes frequented the baths.

It was (and still is) customary for married Muslim men and women to rid themselves of all body hair; shaving vestibules were provided within the bathhouse.

Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ
The Anglican Church is located on Mkunazini Road and was started in 1873. It is said that the altar stands on the exact location of the whipping post from the island's largest slave market. There is a small museum just before the church where tourists can crawl into a space that was allegedly used to hold slaves before they were sold (the space was originally built by missionaries who created it for cold storage). It's a horrifyingly small space and gives the visitor a glimpse into the terror of the trade even if it wasn't actually used to store slaves. Visitors pay a fee to enter the museum and this usually includes a guide for the museum and the Church.

St. Joseph's Catholic Cathedral
Built between 1893 and 1897 by French missionaries, St. Joseph's Cathedral was designed by the same architect who designed the cathedral at Marseilles, France. Its spires can be seen from any elevated point in town and it serves as a handy landmark for those in search of Chit Chat restaurant although the spires are hard to see from the narrow streets of Stone Town.

The Old Dispensary
The recently restored Old Dispensary, also known as the Aga Khan Cultural Centre is worth a visit for the small museum on the upper level that describes and depicts the restoration process. Old photos of the waterfront are also on display. The first stone of the Old Dispensary was laid in 1887 and the building was finished in 1894. It was built by Tharia Topan, one of Zanzibar's richest men in order to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

Shakti Temple
The Shakti Temple had a sizable congregation before the revolution, but after a large number of Hindus departed from Zanzibar in 1964, this temple is now rarely full. Its chimes and bells, rung every day around sunrise and just before sunset, can be heard from the rooftop restaurant of Emerson's & Green, just across the street (as the crow flies).

Aga Khan Mosque
Another place of worship that was built for a larger congregation than it now services is the Aga Khan Mosque. It is a large and beautifully detailed building with an airy courtyard in the front. The façade shows European influence in its gothic windows.

Malindi Mosque
One of Stone Town's oldest mosques and was built by the Sunni sect in a typical simple style. This mosque is unusual because its minaret is conical, one of only three in East Africa. Another unusual trait is that the minaret sits on a square platform instead of starting from the ground as most minarets do. To see the minaret you'll need to stand on a baraza (stone or cement benches on the outside of Swahili style buildings) of a neighboring building that is down an alley and across the road from the mosque itself. Across from the mosque entrance is an old mausoleum, one of the few left in Stone Town.

Palace Museum
The Palace Museum has a room dedicated to the life of Princess Salme of Zanzibar, daughter of Sultan Said. It contains family photographs and excerpts from her book titled, "Memoirs of an Arabian Princess," as well as a sample of her typical wardrobe. The Palace also has other rooms on display showing a mix of various types of furniture acquired by the sultans over the years that provide a good idea about the quality of life for the sultan's family toward the end of their reign. Standing on one of the balconies and looking out toward the harbour, one might get a similar view to what the Sultans saw from the same spot.

‘Memoirs of an Arabian Princess’, by Princess Salme, is an account of her life in the royal court of Zanzibar in the 1800's. It is considered to be a very important work because it is the only one of its kind. Women in the royal court of Oman and Zanzibar were not taught to read or write (outside of basic Koran lessons) and therefore there are no written legacies that describe what life was like for them, except for Salme's. The book is available at some shops in town and it is highly recommended reading for those visiting Zanzibar.

The Peace Memorial Museum
Located on Creek Road near the intersection of Kuanda Road and designed by the same architect who designed the High Court, J. H. Sinclair, the National Museum is home to many of Zanzibar's memorabilia including, most notably, Livingstone's medical chest. Also on display are a piece of Zanzibar's (and East Africa's first) railroad, and an old, palm oil-powered bicycle lamp. For history buffs it's a great place to read up on Zanzibar's history as it relates to everything from slavery, the royal families, coins, stamps, local crafts, trade and the many and varied colonial years. Next door to the museum is a small Natural History museum that includes some stuffed and jarred specimens along with a few bones, including those of a dodo. The only live specimens are the large land tortoises that live outside in a large cage.

Beit-el-Ajaib (House of Wonders)
Sultan Barghash built Beit-el-Ajaib (Arabic for 'House of Wonders') in 1883 on the site of former Zanzibar Queen Fatuma's residence of the 16th century. It got its name by being the first house in Stone Town with electric lights. It was also the first building in East Africa to have an electric elevator. It is easily found because it's the largest building on the island; it's white, has a clock tower, and faces the ocean and fronts on Mizingani Road.

In 1977 the CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi, Swahili for 'the Party of the Revolution') made the House of Wonders their party school and museum. There are still CCM signs up around the ground-floor veranda and some larger signs closer to the clock tower. Some of President Karume's old cars, including a Zephyr and an Austin are inside.

Darajani Bazaar and Dala-dala Station
Zanzibar's 'mall' is across Creek Road near the main market on Darajani Road. Also known as Darajani Bazaar, this shopping strip is a fun walk. Things available in the Darajani bazaar are mostly Chinese and Iranian imports such as sheets, synthetic fabrics, metal pans, plastic shoes, radios and other products of the modern world. For people planning a long stay in Zanzibar, Darajani is a great place to stock up on items like portable mosquito nets, thermoses and flip-flops. It's also a good place to pick up fabric.

Matwani or Basi, the giant wooden-sided trucks, are the long-haul public transport vehicles. They stop on the Stone Town side of Creek Road near the market. They travel to village destinations beyond the reach of the dala-dalas but they travel slowly and usually there is only one trip to a village per day.

A Dala-dala is a small pickup truck whose bed has had benches installed around the edges and a roof placed on top. Dala-dalas got their name from the Swahili pronunciation of 'dollar'; the original fare was a five-shilling coin the size of a silver dollar. The tailgate has been removed and in its place steps have been installed making the dala-dalas easy to board. Passengers sit on the benches in the trunk-bed as well as whatever available seats are in the cab. Plastic tarps are rolled down from the roof on the outside when it's raining. The roof has a rack where parcels are placed.