Tanzania is East Africa's premier safari destination, home to the legendary Serengeti plains, Africa's highest peak Mount Kilimanjaro, and the pristine beaches of Zanzibar. Experience the Great Migration, explore ancient Stone Town, and discover incredible wildlife diversity.
Top food tours
Guided experiences that show you Tanzania through its food.
Stone Town Spice and Street Food Walk
Winding through Stone Town's labyrinthine alleys tasting Zanzibar pizza, urojo sour soup, mishkaki kebabs, and fresh coconut water along the way. Guides explain the Arab, Indian, and African influences behind each dish.
Darajani Market Dawn Tour
Early morning tour of Stone Town's main covered market at its most atmospheric, when fishermen arrive with fresh catches and spice vendors arrange colourful displays. Learn to identify rare spices and bargain for produce.
Kariakoo After Dark Food Crawl
Evening street food exploration through Dar es Salaam's Kariakoo neighbourhood, Tanzania's most authentic food district. Try nyama choma grilled over charcoal, chips mayai egg omelets, and sugarcane juice.
Zanzibar Spice Farm Tour and Lunch
Visit a working spice plantation to see cloves, vanilla, cinnamon, lemongrass, and cardamom growing in their natural habitat. Culminates in a seven-course Swahili lunch cooked using farm-fresh ingredients.
Arusha Multi-Restaurant Progressive Dinner
Begin with nyama choma at a traditional outdoor grill, move to Indian-influenced pilau rice at a local Swahili kitchen, and end with Tanzanian coffee and mandazi at a rooftop cafe. Experience Arusha's multicultural culinary scene.
Tour formats
Different ways to experience Tanzania's food scene.
Street food tours
Street food crawls through Kariakoo (Dar es Salaam) and Forodhani Gardens (Zanzibar) are the most authentic way to eat like a local. Expect dishes costing $1-5 each.
Market tours
Guided market tours at Kariakoo and Darajani markets reveal the ingredients behind Tanzanian cuisine. Best experienced at dawn when produce is freshest.
Restaurant tours
Progressive dinner tours visiting 2-3 restaurants in one evening showcase the Indian, Arab, and African culinary influences that define Tanzanian coastal cooking.
Specialty tours
Zanzibar spice farm tours combine botanical education with a memorable farm-to-table lunch using the island's famous cloves, vanilla, and coconut.
Cooking classes
Take a piece of Tanzania home with you.
Swahili Cooking Class with Mama Mzuri
Learn to cook authentic Swahili dishes in a Stone Town home kitchen under the guidance of a local cook. Prepare pilau rice, coconut fish curry, chapati, and mkate wa kumimina rice bread using fresh market ingredients.
Zanzibar Spice Farm Cooking Experience
Harvest fresh spices directly from the farm, then cook a traditional Zanzibari feast using coconut milk, pilipili peppers, cloves, and turmeric. The five-course meal is served under the shade of mango trees.
Tanzanian Home Cooking Class, Arusha
Join a local family in their Arusha home to learn traditional mainland Tanzanian cooking. Prepare ugali, nyama choma marinades, sukuma wiki (kale), and mandazi doughnuts with insider tips passed through generations.
DIY self-guided food tour
Zanzibar's Stone Town is perfect for a self-guided food walk of 2-3 hours covering all the island's signature street foods and drinks.
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1
Stop 1: Freddy's Juice Stand (near Serena Hotel) - fresh sugarcane and mixed fruit juice from $1
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2
Stop 2: Darajani Market (Creek Road) - buy fresh samosas and tropical fruit from vendors
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3
Stop 3: Old Fort area - try a Zanzibar pizza from roadside vendors ($2-3)
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4
Stop 4: Lukmaan Restaurant (Gizenga Street) - sit-down lunch with chicken biryani or fish curry ($8-10)
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5
Stop 5: Forodhani Gardens (evening) - urojo soup, mishkaki skewers, sugar cane juice, and fresh seafood under the stars
Foodie tips
Get more out of every meal.
Forodhani Night Market opens at 6pm daily - arrive at 6:30pm before the crowds for the best selection and freshest food.
Lukmaan Restaurant on Gizenga Street is the most authentic affordable Swahili restaurant in Stone Town, open since the 1970s.
Ask for mkate wa kumimina (rice bread) and mandazi (coconut doughnuts) at any Stone Town bakery for a traditional Zanzibar breakfast.
At Kariakoo Market in Dar es Salaam, eat at lunch time (12-2pm) when the food stalls are at their best and most dishes cost under $2.
Chips mayai (potato omelette) is Tanzania's most popular street food - available everywhere for $1-2 and excellent for a quick breakfast or snack.
Nyama choma (charcoal-grilled meat) is ordered by weight. Ask for goat or beef and specify how well done. Eaten with kachumbari (tomato salsa) and ugali.
Fresh coconut water is available everywhere on the coast for $0.50-1. The vendor will chop it open with a machete and hand it to you with a straw.
Look for roasted maize vendors (mahindi ya kuchoma) at busy street corners for an authentic and cheap Tanzanian snack at $0.50.
Urojo (Zanzibar mix) is the island's signature street food - a tangy soup base with fried potatoes, coconut chutney, bhajias, and egg. Only available at Forodhani Market.
The Zanzibar coffee house serves single-origin Tanzanian Arabica coffee from Kilimanjaro slopes - one of Africa's best coffees for around $3.