Explore the narrow alleys and winding streets of stone town on this historic look at Zanzibar’s oldest neighborhood. Check out spice bazaars and palaces, see where Rock Legend Freddie Mercury was raised, and pay a visit to a 19th-Century church built atop the site of a former slave market.

Named because of its prevalent use of coral as a building material, Zanzibar’s Stone Town is filled with dense roadways too small for most modern cars. Explore the area by foot with your guide, starting at the House of Wonders. Built as a palace for the second Sultan of Zanzibar, this modern-looking residence was the first building in Zanzibar to have electricity and then continued on to uncover the hidden treasures elsewhere in Stone Town.

Pop by the first home of Freddie Mercury, rock legend and lead singer of Queen, snap photos of the weather-worn walls of the 17th-century Old Fort, used to defend the island from the Portuguese, and check out the Christ Church, whose coral stone walls were built atop the site of a former slave market. Before you head back to hotel, make one final stop at a bustling market, where you can weave between spice vendors and antique dealers, letting the aroma of exotic foods lure you to new discoveries, tastes, and one-of-a-kind souvenirs