Dar Es Salaam

Located 1.5 miles (2.5km) north of Dar es Salaam, Bongoyo Island is an uninhabited island and makes up part of the Dar es Salaam Marine Reserve. Popular with tourists and other travellers seeking leisure activities, this island offers some fantastic snorkelling opportunities as well as beautiful sandy beaches and great hikes. The island can only be reached by means of a dhow and takes approximately 30 minutes.

Transport : First boat leaves at 9am, with others at 11:30am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm and can carry a minimum of four people

Admission : The ferry cost 11,000Tsh and another US$5 for the marine park fee

An authentic and exhausting shopping experience, the Kariakoo Market, which consumes numerous city blocks and is known as the largest market in East Africa, will appeal to all holidaymakers and shoppers and will quell just about every splurging urge. Offering everything from clothing, African drums and stone jewellery to agricultural goods, housewares, and many other items. As busy and exciting as this market is, many foreigners find it too overwhelming and pickpockets and other petty thieves take advantage of this. Shoppers should leave their valuables at home and only take as much money as they want to spend.

Address : Kariakoo

Opening times : Open daily

Situated across the channel from the Zanzibar ferry, Kigamboni is known as South Beach. An affluent area almost entirely filled with beach resorts, some of the best beaches in Dar es Salaam are to be found in Kigamboni. Many hotels charge an entry fee, however a portion of this is returned in the form of food vouchers.

A popular tourist attraction, the Makumbusho Village Museum displays traditional Tanzanian traditional homes, representing 18 ethnic tribes. Visitors are taken on a tour through the homes, which include furnished huts, meeting places and cattle pens, and can view artists and craftsmen weaving, carving and painting. Traditional dances are held every Thursday and Sunday.

Transport : Five miles (8km) from the city centre, next to the New Bagamoyo Road (Makumbusha bus stop).

Opening times : Open daily from 9:30am to 7pm

Located next to the Botanical Gardens, the National Museum was opened in 1940 in the King George V Memorial Museum. A new wing was built in 1963 and King George V's car can be viewed here. Visitors can see archaeological finds such rock paintings and a 3.6-million-year-old hominid footprint. The colonial years and anti-colonial struggle can be seen through a display of photos, documents and objects, while the History Gallery presents the Kilwa period (9th - 15th century), the English and German colonial period, the slave trade, local rebellions, and Independence.

Address : Samora Avenue

Opening times : Open daily from 9:30am to 6pm

Home of the Dar es Salaam Horticultural Society, the Botanical Gardens feature a wonderful selection of indigenous plants, including purple bougainvillea, blue jacaranda, scarlet flame trees and red hibiscus as well as the coco-de-mer palm tree, native to Seychelles. Located next to the Tanzania National Museum, Dar es Salaam's Botanical Gardens is the perfect place to escape the frenetic pace of the city and relax and unwind.

Address : Samora Avenue

Opening times : Open daily

Admission : Free