Dar es Salaam's craft stands and markets, scattered throughout the city centre around Samora Avenue, are very good for browsing and shopping. Markets worth visiting include Ilala Market on Uhuru Street or the sprawling Kariakoo Market on Msimbazi and Mkunguni Streets. Take a local guide but leave all valuables behind and watch out for pickpockets. To watch fish auctions and see the local catch sold visit the fish market on Kivukoni Front.

Handicrafts are available from the Msasani Slipway Weekend Craft Market on Msasani Slipway, which is calmer and has better-quality goods than elsewhere in town. The local artists' cooperative Nyumba ya Sanaa (Nyerere Cultural Centre) on Ohio Street also sells good-quality textiles and regional crafts. It is also possible to watch the artisans at work here. The Mwenge Carvers' Market on Sam Nujoma Road is full of stalls and craftsmen at work. Wood-carvings and paintings can also be bought from the Mawazo Art Gallery in the YMCA grounds on Upanga Road.

Vibrantly colourful Tingatinga paintings, as first marketed by Edward Said Tingatinga, can be bought from the Tingatinga Centre on Haile Selassie Road. Artists can also be seen working on projects here.