Kenya · Mombasa · Mombasa
Old Mombasa, Mombasa — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Old Mombasa, or Mji Wa Kale, is the old quarter of Mombasa Island, 72 hectares settled by Swahili, Arab, Persian and Indian communities.
About Old Mombasa
Where to stay in Old Mombasa
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Mombasa House and the lanes of Mji Wa Kale are what a stay in Old Mombasa buys, since the whole quarter measures 72 hectares and can be crossed on foot in an easy morning. Space is tight inside it. Guests who want the Swahili and Arab streets outside the door book here, while those after the wider stock of Mombasa County look beyond the old quarter.
About Old Mombasa
What are the main landmarks in Old Mombasa?
Two names carry the register. Mombasa Old Town is the quarter itself, the old part of Mombasa also called Mji Wa Kale, and Mombasa House stands inside it as the second entry the record fixes. The streets do the rest.
Swahili, Arab, Persian, Indian, Portuguese and British settlement left the building stock that makes a walk through Old Mombasa worth the hour.
What is the history of Old Mombasa?
Settlers came from every shore. The old part of Mombasa took in Swahili, Arab, Persian, Indian, Asian, Portuguese and British arrivals, and that mixture is what the record notes about Mji Wa Kale rather than any founding date. No year is given.
Mombasa County counts Mombasa as its main city, and these 72 hectares are the old part of it, kept on the south-east side of Mombasa Island.
Where is Old Mombasa?
Old Mombasa covers 72 hectares on the south-east side of Mombasa Island, the old part of the main city of Mombasa County.
Good for
More areas in Mombasa
Updated September 2026