Africa > Tanzania > Zanzibar (ZNZ)
The Car or no Car advice for Zanzibar can be broken down into three similar questions - do you need a car in Zanzibar ; is it worth it (based on costs), and ultimately - should you rent one? (a balance of the two).🚆 🚌⛴️ Do we need to rent a car in Zanzibar ?
These scores are based on the quality of public transport and other travel options. If these are good enough to see the main points of interest, then you don’t need to rent a car.
💰💶💳 Is it worth hiring a car in Zanzibar?
These scores reflect the practical factors that affect whether renting a car is convenient, good value, and stress-free.
Zanzibar is small, linear, and slow-paced, and crucially it does not function as a self-drive destination in the way even many developing-world cities do. While self-drive car rental technically exists, it is not common, not especially well supported, and not how most visitors move around the island.
For the vast majority of travellers, the default options are:
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Taxis
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Hotel-arranged transfers
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Ad-hoc hired drivers for specific trips or half days
Because distances are short and journeys are occasional rather than constant, this model works very well. You don’t need continuous access to a vehicle, and there’s little advantage in having one sitting idle while you’re on a beach or at a resort.
Unlike parts of India or East Africa where multi-day car-and-driver hire is routine, Zanzibar works differently. Visitors don’t usually retain a driver for days on end. Instead, you simply hire transport when you need it:
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A driver to take you from Stone Town to the east coast
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A taxi to a spice farm or forest reserve
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A return transfer to the airport
This ad-hoc approach is easy, affordable, and widely understood locally.
There are also good reasons not to self-drive:
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Road signage is limited
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Driving standards are inconsistent
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Police checkpoints are common
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Navigation offers little advantage over a local driver’s knowledge
When you factor in these issues, plus the small size of the island, a rental car rarely improves the experience.
Corrected conclusion: should you rent a car in Zanzibar?
No — almost never.
Zanzibar is a destination where taxis and hired drivers are simply the better solution. The island is small, trips are occasional, and transport is easy to arrange as needed. Self-drive car rental exists in theory, but in practice it offers little benefit and adds unnecessary complexity.
💡 Revised rule of thumb:
Zanzibar: hire drivers when you need them — don’t bother with a rental car. 🚕🌴