What it is
An island off Nampula province, joined to the mainland by a single-lane bridge about 3 km long. The northern half, Stone Town, is coral-stone buildings, churches and the Fort of Sao Sebastiao, begun in 1558. The southern half, Macuti Town, is a dense reed-and-thatch settlement where most of the island's people live.
Why go
It is a World Heritage site and one of the oldest European settlements in the southern hemisphere, and unlike most such places it is still fully lived in rather than restored into a museum. The chapel of Nossa Senhora do Baluarte inside the fort dates from 1522 and is usually described as the oldest European building south of the Sahara.
When to go
May to October, dry and less humid. It is hot and airless in the wet months. Accommodation is limited and simple, and two nights is usually enough. It is a long way from the southern beaches: fly to Nampula, then roughly three hours by road.
Most people stay 2 nights.