Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar runs about 5 times a day, with the first departure around 06:32 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €12.44, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 1h 24m over 85 km, on services run by 1 operator across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €12.44, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares · Priced for October 7, 2026
€12.44
- 120%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Dar es Salaam
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:32First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 5Services per day
- 20%Run direct
Tanzania Railways runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this trip
Bookaway lists departures for Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar on Bookaway
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €26.19Sat19
- about €25.64Sun20
- about €21.79Mon21
- about €20.14Tue22
- about €18.49Wed23
- about €22.34Thu24
- about €22.89Fri25
- about €19.59Sat26
- about €16.84Sun27
- about €16.29Mon28
- about €13.54Tue29
- about €17.94Wed30
- about €17.94Thu1
- about €19.59Fri2
- about €15.74Sat3
- about €15.74Sun4
- about €13.54Mon5
- about €13.54Tue6
- about €12.44Wed7
- about €16.84Thu8
- about €15.19Fri9
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into Zanzibar. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Zanzibar for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from KITUONI and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Zanzibar on Booking.com
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €15.1990 days
- €11.8860 days
- €11.8845 days
- €11.8830 days
- €15.1921 days
- €19.5914 days
- €22.897 days
- €21.793 days
- €26.191 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €11.88.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 120 percent. The most expensive point is €26.19, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 30 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
85 km
74 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services take. The bearing runs north.
Who lives at each end
5,383,728 → 709,809
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/2
2 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 20% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 80% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 85 km against 74 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Bagamoyo, Korogwe, Handeni, Tanga. The gap between arriving and leaving is 50 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 19 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is ours to fix and you are rebooked at no charge.
The fare from ZNZ into Zanzibar is the one price on this trip we cannot show you, because it is not ours.
A car waiting when you land in Zanzibar
Settled in advance, so the ride into Zanzibar costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from ZNZ with Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
The train gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near KITUONI
Most of the points near KITUONI open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Zanzibar on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
The fastest journey from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar takes 1h 24m door to door, of which 46m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 1h 27m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
The cheapest fare from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar is €12.44, as of September 18, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €17.94. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
The cheapest way from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar is by train, at €12.44 for one passenger on October 7, 2026. That journey takes 1h 30m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
Fares from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar bottom out around 60 days before departure, at €11.88. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 120 percent, measured on September 18, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar, at €13.54. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 18, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar, at €11.88 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
No operator record names Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar directly. Tanzania Railways publish service areas covering both ends and may serve it, so we list them as possible operators rather than confirmed ones.
Is there a direct service from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
20 percent of the services we sell from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar are direct. The rest connect at Bagamoyo, Korogwe, Handeni, Tanga, with about 50 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar use?
Services from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar by train leave from Dar es Salaam Central Station and arrive at Zanzibar station. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
1 of the 1 operators we sell from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar on September 18, 2026: 85 km of route against 74 km in a straight line, 5 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €12.44, and 1h 24m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Being on the water gives Zanzibar a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of Zanzibar and across Tanzania
Day trips that leave Zanzibar in the morning and cover a good part of Tanzania by evening.
See Zanzibar on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Dar es Salaam reaches 41 places in 20 countries on services we hold, over distances from 59 to 7,343 km. Zanzibar reaches 39 places in 16 countries, from 45 to 7,272 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Dar es Salaam
- 41Places you can leave for
- 20Countries
- 19Operators
Arriving in Zanzibar
Leaving Zanzibar
- 39Places you can leave for
- 16Countries
- 20Operators