Budget: Stone Town and minibuses
Dorm beds, street food and daladalas keep the daily spend low.
- Stone Town dorm beds from US$14
- Zanzibar pizza at Forodhani: TSh 3,000–5,000
- Daladala towards Nungwi: about TSh 2,000
Is Zanzibar expensive? Hotel, food and tour prices compared
Tour
Zanzibar: The Swahili Spice Experience – Spice Tour + Culinary Journey
fromUS$32
If you book on GetYourGuide from here, we may earn a commission; you pay nothing extra. Affiliate disclosure
See dates on GetYourGuideBudget or beach, compared
Side by side: Stone Town on a budget or a beach hotel
Where you sleep decides most of the bill. Zanzibar doesn’t offer much cheap accommodation, and rooms at the beaches are often more expensive2 than in town.
Stone Town dorm beds from US$141
All prices on this page are for Unguja, the main island, which sits in the Indian Ocean3 with Pemba and many smaller islands. There’s more on Zanzibar and its islands if you’re still working out the map.
Comfort: beach hotels and taxis
Rooms at the beaches are often more expensive, and so is eating at the hotel.
- Cheapest beach rooms from TSh 50,000
- Soda at a Jambiani hotel restaurant: TSh 3,000
- Taxi from Stone Town to Paje: from TSh 50,000
Prices item by item
How much do things cost in Zanzibar?
The table puts the cheaper and the pricier way to do the same thing side by side. Beach hotels and taxis sit at the top end; Stone Town and minibuses at the bottom.
Beach rooms from TSh 50,0002
| What you pay for | Cheaper way | Pricier way |
|---|---|---|
| Room for two | Stone Town budget double from TSh 25,000 | Beach room from TSh 50,000 |
| Dinner | Zanzibar pizza at Forodhani: TSh 3,000–5,000 | Seafood platter at a Jambiani hotel: TSh 150,000 |
| Sit-down main | House of Spices, Stone Town: US$8–15 | Grilled catch of the day, Jambiani hotel: TSh 45,000 |
| Stone Town to Nungwi | Daladala: about TSh 2,000 | Taxi: TSh 62,810–69,789 return |
| Stone Town to the south-east coast | Dala dala to Jambiani: TSh 2,000 (2018) | Taxi to Paje: from TSh 50,000 |
| Safari Blue boat trip | Full day from US$50 | Private boat, one person: US$150 |
| Spice farm and Jozani Forest tour | Group of 3–6: US$40 each | 1–2 people: US$50 each |
Wikivoyage; Duma Explorer (tour company); sharazadzanzibar.com (resort); Go Smart Zanzibar Tours (operator); Blue-Green Zanzibar Tours (operator)
Prices come from different sources and years, so treat them as a guide. Wikivoyage’s Forodhani figure, for example, is TSh 3,000 for a beef pizza, dated October 20142.
Where you sleep
Rooms are where a Zanzibar trip gets expensive fast. Normal budget hotels charge TSh 45,000–90,000, and that’s in the low season2.
Those figures are prices after bargaining, and low season is a good time to bargain2. Here are real stays across the range, from a Stone Town guesthouse to a south-east coast resort:
Stone Town, Unguja (Zanzibar Island)
Bottoms Up
- Children of all ages welcome
- Continental breakfast included
From US$28 a night (KAYAK, late Oct search)
Airport shuttle extra (US$20 per room, return). No cribs or extra beds.
KAYAK (booking agent) · Trip.com (booking agent)
Nungwi Beach, Unguja (Zanzibar Island)
Rafiki Hotel Nungwi Beach
- Breakfast included (rooftop terrace)
- Airport shuttle: book 24h ahead
US$61–90 per room per night (no dates given)
Adults only (18+). Diving and snorkelling cost extra.
Rafiki Hotel (resort)
Michamvi Kae, Unguja (Zanzibar Island)
Michamvi Sunset Bay Resort
- Family rooms for up to 4, plus a kids' pool
- Honeymoon package for newlyweds (5+ nights, booked direct)
- B&B, half board or full board options
US$206–297 a night (agent prices, Oct–Nov 2026)
Closed 1 Apr–10 Jun (per an agent). City tax US$5 per person per night. Airport shuttle US$60 per vehicle, one way
halalbooking.com (booking agent) · Priceline (booking agent) · Michamvi Sunset Bay (resort)
For more choice, see the best hotels in Zanzibar for each budget, or the Michamvi and Pingwe guide for the coast where Michamvi Sunset Bay sits.
Food and soft drink prices
Forodhani Gardens in Stone Town is possibly the cheapest food on the island, and good value2. It’s also where you buy Zanzibari pizza.
Hotel restaurants are where the bill climbs. These prices come from the hotels’ own menus:
- Soda at The View, Sharazad Boutique Hotel, Jambiani: TSh 3,0004
- Bottled water there: TSh 2,000 small, TSh 4,000 large4
- Coca-Cola at Alladin Boutique Beach Hotel, Matemwe: US$25
For places to eat beyond Forodhani, see where to eat around the island.
Getting around: dala dala or taxi
Minibuses are the cheap option: daladalas serve all the major villages on the island very cheaply2. You can start straight away, as there’s a dala dala stop just outside the airport gate2.
Cheap means slow. To reach Jambiani from Stone Town, you take a dala dala to Mwanakwerekwe, then route 309, which takes 1–1.5 hours6.
A taxi saves time and changes. It takes about 1 hour from Stone Town or the airport to Paje, and about 1½ hours2 from Stone Town to Nungwi or Kendwa Beach.
Coming from the mainland, many ferries and catamarans run between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar2. See getting to Zanzibar by ferry or plane for the options.
Tours and day trips
Tour prices drop when you share the trip, as the table shows. Expert Africa says a Spice Tour combines particularly well with Jozani Forest7, and on TUI’s version you taste vanilla, pepper and cardamom straight from the tree8.
Boat trips to Mnemba or Menai Bay carry a marine conservation fee, revised since 1 September 20259. Check whether your tour price includes it.
Zanzibar: The Swahili Spice Experience – Spice Tour + Culinary Journey
Free cancellation · Pickup included
fromUS$32
See dates on GetYourGuide
Zanzibar: Prison Island and Nakupenda Boat Trip with Lunch
Free cancellation · Pickup included
fromUS$18
See dates on GetYourGuideTo plan a whole day out, browse these day trips around the island.
Fixed costs before you land
Some costs are the same on any budget. Budget for them before you compare hotels.
Fixed costs on any budget
| Ticket | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|
| Tanzania tourist visa (single entry) | US$50 (some nationalities differ) | – |
| Zanzibar inbound travel insurance | US$44 per person | – |
| City tax at hotels (Meliá Zanzibar example) | US$5 per person per night | – |
| Marine conservation areas (Mnemba, Menai Bay), non-East African visitors | US$10 per day | US$5 per day, ages 5–15 |
us.tzembassy.go.tz (official); jp.tzembassy.go.tz (official); halalbooking.com (booking agent); The Citizen (news)
When prices rise and fall
The month you travel changes what you pay for a room.
| Month | Hotel prices |
|---|---|
| February | Low season for hotel rates11 |
| July | Peak season, high prices and many visitors11 |
| December | Hotel prices at their highest11 |
Paying: bring shillings
The local currency is the Tanzanian shilling (TSh)2, and cash is what works.
Carrying cash means you should watch out for pickpockets2. Read these practical Zanzibar travel precautions before you go.
Pick your kind of trip
Which suits whom
Pick the trip that matches how you’ll spend your days.
Choose a Stone Town budget trip if:
- you’re happy in a dorm bed or a basic double room
- you’ll eat at Forodhani and local places, not at resort restaurants
- you don’t mind slow minibus rides with a change on the way
- you can travel in the low season and bargain for your room
Choose a beach-hotel trip if:
- you want the sea at your door in Nungwi, Kendwa Beach or Paje
- you’ll pay resort-bar prices for drinks and dinner
- you’d rather take a taxi than change minibuses
- you’re booking boat trips and want the beach to come back to
Drinks and weekly budgets
Questions people ask
How much does alcohol cost in Zanzibar?
A local beer costs TSh 4,000 at the Old Dispensary bar in Stone Town and TSh 8,000 at The View hotel bar in Jambiani.
How much do cocktails cost at Zanzibar beach hotels?
Hotel bars list a piña colada at US$8 (Alladin, Matemwe) and a mojito at TSh 25,000 (The View, Jambiani).
How much does it cost to go to Zanzibar for a week?
There's no checked weekly total. Start with the US$50 visa and US$44 insurance, add your room, and city tax of US$5 per person per night at hotels such as Meliá Zanzibar.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons and Pexels. Authors and licences: image credits
Checked against 18 sources · last checked October 2026
- Wikivoyage · checked October 2026
- Wikivoyage · checked October 2026
- Wikipedia · checked October 2026
- sharazadzanzibar.com (resort) · checked October 2026
- alladinzanzibar.com (resort) · checked October 2026
- Wikivoyage · checked October 2026
- Expert Africa (tour company) · checked October 2026
- TUI (booking agent) · checked October 2026
- The Citizen (news) · checked October 2026
- jp.tzembassy.go.tz (official) · checked October 2026
- The Africa Specialists (booking agent) · checked October 2026
- Duma Explorer (tour company) · checked October 2026
- Wikivoyage · checked October 2026
- Blue-Green Zanzibar Tours (operator) · checked October 2026
- Go Smart Zanzibar Tours (operator) · checked October 2026
- Go Smart Zanzibar Tours (operator) · checked October 2026
- us.tzembassy.go.tz (official) · checked October 2026
- halalbooking.com (booking agent) · checked October 2026
Page history · last changed 21 October 2026
- First written
