Dar es Salaam
Description: Dar es Salaam is a major African city with more than 3 million people. Unless you have a particular reason for spending some time in Dar, we feel it just doesn’t fit in well with most itineraries. Due to the timing of flights, we do occasionally recommend overnights in Dar. The best bet for a half-day in Dar is to head to Mwenge where there is some good souvenir shopping, especially wood carvings. And near there is the Makumbusho Village Museum where you can find a collection of authentic homes from 18 Tanzanian tribes. You can get a short tour and a broad overview of village life in Tanzania. There are also some decent beach hotels in/near Dar es Salaam, but for anything more than a 1 or 2 night visit, these are mostly outshined by nearby Zanzibar, which is where most people go. Near Dar, just a couple hours north, is Bagamoyo. This is a laid-back large village that has several very nice beach hotels.
Accommodations
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Harbour View Suites
Holiday Inn Dar es Salaam City Centre
Hotel Slipway
Peacock Hotel
The Retreat Dar es Salaam
Hotel Sea Cliff
Southern Sun
$$$
Amani Beach Hotel
Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro
Mövenpick Royal Palm Hotel
“Without Access2Tanzania we probably never would have gone to Africa. A2T made it possible. Everyone we encountered A2T was friendly and helpful, both here in the US and in Tanzania. We were very pleased with the itinerary that was set for our trip. It was perfect. The range of parks and reserves was varied and interesting. The accommodations were comfortable and gave us great insight into choosing places to stay for our next trip (hopefully). Inserting the experience of going to Nyamuswa was a wonderful counterpoint to our time in the parks with the animals and birds. It really made the trip special. Our guide Mussa was friendly, knowledgeable and resourceful. We never got tired of spending nearly 12 hours a day with him. He may have gotten tired of us.”