Full-Day Mombasa City Tour
30-45 minutes from Mombasa city
Explore Mombasa, Kenya's ancient port city and the oldest continuously inhabited city on the East African coast. Begin at Fort Jesus, the imposing 16th-century Portuguese fortress that now houses an extraordinary museum of Swahili history, Arab trade, and the Indian Ocean world. The fort's massive coral-stone walls and the museum's collection of Chinese porcelain, Arab incense burners, and Portuguese cannons tell the story of centuries of Indian Ocean trade routes.
Continue to the Old Town of Mombasa, a UNESCO-recognised historic district of carved wooden doorways, narrow streets, and Swahili architecture that blends Arab, Indian, and African influences. The Mackinon Market is a riot of tropical produce, spices, and coastal crafts. End the afternoon at Mombasa's beautiful Haller Park, a remarkable environmental restoration project that transformed a former limestone quarry into a wildlife sanctuary home to giraffe, hippo, and a remarkable community of animals.
A Mombasa evening offers some of the finest Swahili cuisine in East Africa: biryani made with the aromatic spices of the trade routes, pilipili prawns, coconut fish curry, and mkate wa sinia (Swahili bread). The night air carries the smell of the ocean and incense from the mosques of the Old Town.
