Zanzibar for The Time Travellers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

The grand exterior of the sultan's ceremonial palace, once the first building in East Africa with electric light and a lift; check whether the interior is open.

The Portuguese-era fort turned Omani stronghold, free to enter, with a courtyard amphitheatre and craft stalls inside the walls.

Dinner in a restored merchant house in the old quarter, where the menu leans on Omani and Swahili cooking; book for the rooftop.

The cathedral stands on the old slave market, and the cramped underground chambers are as shocking as they should be; the guides are excellent.

Zanzibar's story from the sultans to the revolution of 1964, in a handsome colonial building with a quiet tearoom.

A local supper of pilau, curry and chapati where residents eat, to digest the day with a plate of ordinary life.

Built for Sultan Barghash in the 1880s, these are the last of the town's Persian baths still standing; the guide's walk-through takes forty minutes.

The roofless ruins of Barghash's harem palace, burned in 1899, among mango trees; a short taxi ride and worth the quiet.

The colonial club's terrace bar, where British officials once sat; the plotters' bar of the weekend, and drinks are fairly priced.

The house where Farrokh Bulsara was born in 1946, now a small, loving exhibition of photographs and letters; compact, so it takes an hour.

The big market the British built in 1904; produce downstairs, fish and meat behind, and a good place to buy dried spices.

A last lunch in the old Persian-style house, surrounded by antiques and a menu of simple Swahili and Western dishes.