Travel to Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
is a primary commercial hub
on the coast of Tanzania
quite fun to explore if you are sufficiently streetwise
Set on the mainland coast of Tanzania just south of Zanzibar Island, Dar es Salaam is the economic capital and a major transport hub for the country.
It is a typically chaotic African city, choked with traffic.
The old town is set around a large harbour and is a classic melting pot of industry, culture and commerce. We have always enjoyed exploring this area and mixing with the local people, although you do need to be a little bit streetwise if you are not accompanied by a guide.
Set back from the waterfront is a relatively pleasant if rather hectic old town, with a grid pattern of stores, offices and government buildings.
Slightly more relaxed suburbs containing the embassies, government offices and hotels are set to the north.
It has to be said that Dar es Salaam has undergone a significant facelift in recent years, with a new train terminus, various improvements to the road infrastructure and some big new property developments along the waterfront. Overall, the place feels a good deal more modern and organised than it used to.
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Dar es Salaam airport is reasonably well served by long haul flights, notably from Johannesburg, Nairobi, the Arabian Gulf and Amsterdam. The airport itself is a fabulous modern construction, opened in 2020.
Most flight connections within Tanzania are mainly operated from the adjacent domestic airport, which is a five minute taxi ride away and which is much more old-fashioned and characterful.
In the old days, travellers used to travel from the airport to the port, in order to catch a boat to Zanzibar Island, but these days the hopper flights are so much easier and more popular.
Where to stay
Occasionally it is necessary to overnight in Dar, for which there are several reliable hotels, mostly in the city centre or in the coastal suburbs to the north.
The airport is located amidst the sprawling shanty towns to the west and it usually takes the best part of an hour to reach a hotel.
an overnight transit stop when making flight connections
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