Zanzibar's shopping runs on cloves, cotton and carved wood. Stone Town's lanes hide fair-trade weavers, a Tanzanian fashion label and a 1904 spice bazaar, while Mwanakwerekwe and the spice farms price the same goods for locals. Bring cash in small notes.
Stone Town's main covered market, trading on Creek Road since 1904: cardamom, cloves and vanilla sold by the kilo, printed kanga bolts, copper trays and tin lanterns. Cash only, no fixed prices, and the produce halls thin out by 14:00.
A multi-storey family grocery at the edge of Darajani where Stone Town households buy in bulk. Everything carries a printed price tag, so no haggling: clove packs, Zanzibar vanilla, tamarind paste, cashews and coconut oil at local rates.
Fair-trade shop selling baskets, floor mats and lampshades woven from milola palm by women's cooperatives in Pemba and northern Unguja. Each piece is labelled with the maker's village, and larger baskets fold flat for hand luggage.
The narrow lane behind the Old Fort is an unbroken run of craft stalls and small shops: Tingatinga canvases, carved chess sets, brass-studded chest replicas, and Sasik's hand-appliquéd cushion covers stitched by local women.
Zanzibar's best-known fashion label, run from a Hurumzi townhouse: kitenge-lined clutches, raffia totes, woven slippers and silk scarves made by island tailors and stocked by boutiques abroad. Open Monday to Saturday, roughly 10:00-18:00.
A restored 1885 Arab merchant house roasting arabica from its own mainland estate. Whole beans, ground blends and cardamom-spiced coffee are sold at the counter in vacuum packs, and you can taste before buying on the rooftop terrace.
A social-enterprise boutique that trains and employs Zanzibari women as tailors: kaftans, kimonos, beach shirts and children's clothes in block-printed cotton. Made-to-measure orders are usually finished within about 48 hours.
A courtyard workshop off Kiponda Street blending its own scrubs, oils and soaps from Zanzibari cloves, coconut, ylang-ylang and lemongrass. The retail shelf is small, but everything is mixed on site and sold in reusable glass jars.
The island's largest everyday market, about 6 km inland from Stone Town: secondhand kitenge, plastic housewares, fish, fruit and the cheapest spices on Unguja. Trading is in Swahili, prices are local, and Saturday is the biggest day.
A government plantation north-east of town where clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and lipstick trees grow in labelled rows. The farm shop sells vacuum-packed spice sets, clove oil and cinnamon bark straight from the estate rather than a market middleman.
Bookshop and curio store on the Shangani corner opposite the Serena Inn: Swahili-language titles, out-of-print island histories, antique maps and photography books, alongside Persian chests, silver jewellery and carved doors.
Two floors of fixed-price souvenirs — tanzanite settings, coffee, kanga, Tingatinga prints, spice boxes and carved wood — under one roof, with card payment accepted. Useful as a price benchmark before you bargain elsewhere.