College of Arts

Moshi

　　Located about 500m southeast of Bagamoyo along the road to Dar es Salaam is this renowned theatre and arts college, home of the national dance company. When school is in session there are occasional performances, and it’s usually possible to arrange drumming or dancing lessons. 　　The annual highlight is the...

Selous Game Reserve

Moshi

　　The Selous is Africa's largest wildlife reserve, and Tanzania’s most extensive protected area. It’s home to large herds of elephants, plus buffaloes, crocodiles, hippos, wild dogs, many bird species and some of Tanzania’s last remaining black rhinos. The Rufiji River is a major feature, and offers the chance for boat...

Gombe National Park

Moshi

　　With an area of only 56 sq km, this is Tanzania’s smallest national park, but its famous primate inhabitants and its connection to Jane Goodall have given it worldwide renown. Many of Gombe’s 100-plus chimps are well habituated, and though it can be difficult, sweaty work traversing steep hills and...

Ruaha National Park

Moshi

　　At approximately 22,000 sq km, Ruaha National Park is Tanzania’s largest. It forms the core of a wild and extended ecosystem covering about 40,000 sq km and providing a home to Tanzania’s largest elephant population. In addition to the elephants, which are estimated to number about 12,000, the park hosts...

Tarangire National Park

Moshi

　　Welcome to one of Africa's most underrated parks. Thanks to its proximity to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro, Tarangire is usually assigned only a day visit as part of a larger northern-circuit itinerary. But it deserves a whole lot more, at least in the dry season. This is a place where...

Mahale Mountains National Park

Moshi

　　It’s difficult to imagine a more idyllic combination: clear, blue waters and white-sand beaches backed by lushly forested mountains soaring straight out of Lake Tanganyika, and some of the continent’s most intriguing wildlife watching. Mahale Mountains park (1613 sq km) is most notable as a chimpanzee sanctuary – there are...

Mt Kilimanjaro National Park

Moshi

　　Since its official opening in 1977, Mt Kilimanjaro National Park has become one of Tanzania’s most visited parks. Unlike the other northern parks, this isn’t a place to come for the wildlife, although it’s there. Rather, you come here to gaze in awe at a snowcapped mountain on the equator,...

Serengeti National Park

Moshi

　　Few people forget their first encounter with the Serengeti. Perhaps it's the view from the summit of Naabi Hill at the park's entrance, from where the Serengeti's grasslands stretch out like a vision of eternity. Or maybe it's a coalition of male lions stalking across open plains. Or it could...

Katavi National Park

Moshi

　　Katavi National Park, 35km southwest of Mpanda, is Tanzania’s third-largest national park (together with two contiguous game reserves the conservation area encompasses 12,500 sq km) and one of its most unspoiled wilderness areas. Though it’s an isolated alternative to more popular destinations elsewhere in Tanzania, the lodges are just as...

Darajani Market

Zanzibar Town

　　Zanzibar's main market is a hive of activity, with everything – from spices, fresh fish, slabs of meat and huge baskets full of live chickens to sandals, plastic buckets and mobile phones – all set out in a series of covered halls and overflowing into the surrounding streets. If you're...

Old Fort

Zanzibar Town

　　With its pale-orange ramparts overlooking Forodhani Gardens and the ocean beyond, the fort was built by Omani Arabs when they seized the island from the Portuguese in 1698, and over the centuries it's had various uses, from prison to tennis club. Today the scale of the fortifications is still impressive,...

Palace Museum

Zanzibar Town

　　Occupying several large buildings along the waterfront, this was the palace of Sultan Seyyid Said from 1828 until it was largely destroyed by the British bombardment of 1896. It was then rebuilt and used until the 1964 revolution when the last sultan was overthrown. Remarkably, much of the royal paraphernalia...

Anglican Cathedral

Zanzibar Town

　　The tall spire and grey-yellow walls of the Anglican cathedral dominate the surrounding streets in this part of Stone Town, while the dark-wood pews and stained-glass windows will remind British visitors of churches back home. This was the first Anglican cathedral in East Africa, constructed in the 1870s by the...

Princess Salme Museum

Zanzibar Town

　　Carefully curated by the renowned historian Said al Gheithy, this delightful little museum tells the story of Princess Salme, a sultan's daughter who eloped with a German merchant in the late 19th century and later wrote Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar. If Said is on duty, his guided...

Old Dispensary

Zanzibar Town

　　With its peppermint-green latticework balconies and sculpted clock tower, this 19th-century charitable dispensary is one of the most attractive landmarks on the waterfront. It was built by Tharia Topan, a prominent Ismaili Indian merchant who also acted as financial adviser to the sultan and as banker to Tippu Tip, Zanzibar’s...

Forodhani Gardens

Zanzibar Town

　　One of the best ways to ease into Zanzibar life is to stop by this waterfront public space. It's a social hub for tourists and locals alike; there's a large restaurant jutting into the sea, two small cafes with outside seating, benches under shady trees, a children's play park, and...

House of Wonders

Zanzibar Town

　　An icon of Stone Town, the House of Wonders rises in impressive tiers of slender steel pillars and balconies overlooking the waterfront. Its enormous carved doors are said to be the largest in East Africa, fronted by two bronze cannon with Portuguese inscriptions dating them to the 16th century. Inside,...

Meserani Snake Park

Arusha

　　The collection of snakes and other reptiles here is the main draw, but there’s also a corny yet informative Maasai cultural museum with mock-ups of home and bush life, which you’ll visit with a Maasai warrior. You can also take a 30-minute camel ride (per person Tsh15,000) to a Maasai...

Arusha Declaration Museum

Arusha

　　Despite the promising subject matter – the museum celebrates the groundbreaking 1967 declaration by then-president Julius Nyerere calling for African self-reliance, socialism and ujamaa (familyhood) – you'd have to be pretty bored to come to this unfocused little museum. Half the space is filled with photos of government officials. It...

Natural History Museum

Arusha

　　This museum inside the old German boma (fortified compound), completed in 1900, has three parts. The best is the wing dedicated to human evolution, since much of what we know about the topic came from fossils unearthed in Tanzania. There are also displays on insects, the history of Arusha during...

Azania Front Lutheran Church

Dar es Salaam

　　A striking edifice, with a red-roofed belfry overlooking the water, a rather stern Gothic interior and a marvellous, new handmade organ, this is one of the city’s major landmarks. The church was built in 1898 by German missionaries and was the centre of the German mission in Tanzania; now it...

State House

Dar es Salaam

　　An imposing complex set amid large grounds, the State House was originally built by the Germans and rebuilt after WWI by the British. ...

St Joseph Cathedral

Dar es Salaam

　　This spired, Gothic-style, Roman Catholic cathedral was built at the turn of the 19th century by German missionaries. In addition to the striking stained-glass windows behind the main altar (best viewed late in the afternoon), it still contains many of the original German inscriptions and artwork, including the carved relief...

Fish Market

Dar es Salaam

　　Head down to the Kivukoni fish market in the early morning to see fishers flog their catch to restauranteurs and homemakers with all the zeal of Wall St stockbrokers. The market is divided into two main sections, comprising eight zones, one of which is the auction. In other sections fish...

Dar es Salaam Marine Reserve System

Dar es Salaam

　　The uninhabited islands of Bongoyo, Mbudya, Pangavini and Fungu Yasini, just off the coastline north of Dar es Salaam, form this marine reserve system. Bongoyo and Mbudya – the two most visited islands, and the only ones with tourist facilities, offer attractive beaches backed by dense vegetation. Swimming is possible...

Village Museum

Dar es Salaam

　　This open-air museum features a collection of authentically constructed dwellings illustrating traditional life in various parts of Tanzania. Each house is furnished with typical items and surrounded by small plots of crops, while 'villagers' demonstrate traditional skills such as weaving, pottery and carving. Traditional tribal dance performances also take place...

National Museum & House of Culture

Dar es Salaam

　　The National Museum houses a copy of the famous fossil discoveries of zinjanthropus ('nutcracker man') from Olduvai Gorge, plus other archaeological finds. Wander through the History Room and ethnographic collection for insights into Tanzania's past and its mosaic of cultures, including the Shirazi civilisation of Kilwa, the Zanzibar slave trade,...

Nafasi Art Space

Dar es Salaam

　　Aiming to be the leading contemporary art centre in Tanzania, Nafasi is a complex of studios housed in an old industrial warehouse in Mikocheni. Many local member artists work there alongside regional and international residencies, all of whom exhibit in the on-site gallery. The centre provides a platform for training...