Stone Town and Prison Island from Zanzibar
Description
A great combination of the two activities that formed a unique full Stone Town’s History and Nature tours
Tour Options
Itinerary
Visit Prison Island, a former prison for slaves and a quarantine station for Zanzibar and Mainland. Visit the giant tortoises and enjoy the fantastic white sandy beach and spectacular natural forest teeming with variety of birds and snorkeling near the Island.
Visit Portuguese Old Fort. It was built by Omani Arabs after expelling the Portuguese in 1699. It was used as a garrison and prison in the 19th century, and as a terminal of the Zanzibar railways 1945-28. A new guardhouse was built in 1947 and used as the ladies' club, and an amphitheatre was added in the 1990s.
Sightseeing
Visit The Roman Catholic cathedral of St. Joseph. One of the most important historical buildings in Stone Town. The church is regularly used by the local Catholic community, with several masses being held each Sunday and occasionally on weekdays.
Visit Freddy Mercury House, the former lead singer of Queen, was born in Zanzibar in 1946 where his name was Farrokh Bulsara. The museum is set in the actual house that Freddie and his family lived, prior to their move to the UK. It covers Freddie's birth and early childhood in Zanzibar.
Discover the ancient life of the city, culture and their folklore. The discovery of ancient buildings the doors owe their distinctive brass studs to India.Countless shops to buy various goods (antiques, pictures, traditional clothes, valuable handcrafts
Visit The Anglican cathedral Church and the old Slave Market. The Church is one of the most prominent examples of early Christian architecture in East Africa.The church is located in the center of the old town, and occupies a large area where the biggest slave market of Zanzibar used to be; the construction of the cathedral was in fact intended to celebrate the end of slavery.
Visit the Old Market of Fish Vegetables & Fruits. Spices and various things...
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Please let us know where are you staying?
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
- A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
Reviews(50)
We had a good day from the cruise terminal, (Better signage would help though). Prison Island turtles especially interesting. Note to board the speed boat, it is from the stony beach, and you must remove shoes and roll up trousers. Not suitable for older or disabled passengers. Walking tour of the alleys and markets was excellent with our own guide. The ship’s group tours were all straggling along and heard nothing. I’m glad we booked with Viator.
It was an amazing experience getting to know and see more of Zanzibar. The tour operator were very helpful and professional.
When we booked we thought we were having an opportunity to snorkel on Prison Island. This did not happen as there was no chance to do it. That was disappointment number one. The tour of the island was good however it appeared that our guide was reading the facts off his phone. Where ever we walked it was single file and he only spoke to me leaving me to tell my friend what the information was being said. He was a nice young man but it was obvious that he was in training and not an experienced guide. When we reached shore we discovered that our tour was to be a walking tour of 3 hours and there was no air conditioned vehicle. At 31 degrees we would never have booked this tour to walk especially with the high humidity. While we were walking he ran into a store and bought us a 1.5 litre of water. Rather large to carry but there was no place to sit down and have a drink. Also, there was no washroom break - we are saying that the opportunity was not presented to us as it was to be a 3 hour walk. Our guide tried to meet our needs but fell short on the walking tour.
Impressive, Guide was completely responsive to us and had a great knowledge. First visited Prison Island as it doesn't have that many visitors in the morning. Prima organizes everything!
Have a wonderful tour with Mau the nice driver and Alex the excellent guide, recommend it warmly to anyone.
Interesting history but not a whole lot to see on the island besides reading the history and seeing a building but was neat to see the tortoises. Stonetown tour was interesting… would have liked to have gone into freddie mercury museum. Our guide was great and knowledgable but at times was hard to hear and understand.
We paid 250€ for two for the visit to Stone Town, the spice market and Prison Island with Dertour. Unfortunately we were very disappointed. Prison Island is not worth visiting because there is not much to see. We imagine a prison, but not at all. Spice market we were only shown a stand. And Stone Town we had to go to a souvenir store that was his guide. Freddy Mercuri Museum only from the outside. So too expensive for everything. Conclusion We took a taxi and we went back to Stone Town and we quietly visited all of us and harmlessly for $120 taxis for two.
Fantastic boat ride and tour guide Mohamed was so knowledgeable and friendly, we really enjoyed our trip around Stone Town and Prison Island. The tortoises and peacocks were fascinating as were the stops around town. I just wish we had more time at each of the major sites. This was a true life-changing experience.
An Incredible and beautifu Island with an incredible culture and historical background. The prison Island and the old building. Make it a Stanning Destination.
We had a great time in this tour. Prison island was good, it was very nice to see giant turtles. In Stone island part, we can see historical places and Zanzibar streets. Tour guide Muhammed was very nice and explain very well
