The point of Stone Town is to get lost in it. The lanes are too narrow for cars, the buildings lean toward each other above your head, and after the first three turns the map stops helping. Aim for the four landmarks on the seafront — the Old Fort, the House of Wonders, the Sultan's Palace and Forodhani Gardens — and let the streets in between take you past brass-studded carved doors, Hindu temples wedged between mosques, and crumbling Indian-style mansions with glass balconies.
The other essential stop is the Old Slave Market, now the courtyard of the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral: the altar stands on the site of the whipping post, and a memorial in the garden marks the cells in which captives were held below ground. The Hamamni Persian Baths and the Old Dispensary are quieter buildings worth tracking down. For Stone Town's most photographed feature, look up at the doors — over five hundred carved Zanzibari doors survive in the old town, brass-studded Indian-style or rectangular Omani.