Tunisia

Tunisia, in a few days

From Tunis and Carthage to the blue lanes of Sidi Bou Said, the oases of Tozeur and the beaches of Djerba, by car: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

Tunis and Carthage

Days 1-2

A capital with a UNESCO-listed medina at its heart. The ruins of Carthage and the Bardo Museum are both a short ride away.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Carthage, guidedHalf day · from €15
  The Punic ports, the Antonine Baths and the Byrsa hill, the remains of the city Rome destroyed in 146 BC and then rebuilt.
• The Bardo Museum2h · from €12
  One of the largest collections of Roman mosaics in the world, laid out in the rooms of a former beylical palace.

✦ Free to visit

• The medina of Tunis
• The covered souks
• The Zitouna Mosque, from outside
• Avenue Habib Bourguiba

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Auberge Médina ↗ (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Dar Ben Gacem ↗ (€90 a night) · Luxury: Four Seasons Hotel Tunis ↗ (€250 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Tunis and Carthage on GetYourGuide

2

Sidi Bou Said

Day 3 · 🚗 Car 30 min

A white and blue village on a clifftop above the Gulf of Tunis, long a retreat for painters and writers.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Café des Délices and the lanes, guided1h30 · from €10
  The village lanes with a guide, ending with mint tea on the terraces of the Café des Délices above the sea.
• Ennejma Ezzahra Palace1h · from €8
  The palace built by Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger in the 1920s, now the Centre of Arab and Mediterranean Music.

✦ Free to visit

• The white houses and their blue doors
• The marina below the village
• The view over the Gulf of Tunis
• The art galleries and ceramic workshops

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Dar Sidi Bou ↗ (€45 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Dar Said ↗ (€110 a night) · Luxury: Villa Didon ↗ (€220 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Sidi Bou Said on GetYourGuide

3

Tozeur and the Sahara

Days 4-5 · 🚗 Car 6h

A palm oasis on the edge of the Chott el Djerid salt flat, with the dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental further south. Several Star Wars sets were built around here.

🎟️ Worth booking

• 4x4 to the mountain oasesFull day · from €55
  A day in the hills near the Algerian border, through the gorges and palm groves of Chebika, Tamerza and Mides.
• A camel ride at dusk2h · from €25
  Two hours into the dunes as the light drops, which is when the sand changes colour.

✦ Free to visit

• The Tozeur palm grove
• Chott el Djerid, the salt lake
• The dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental
• The Berber ksour, fortified granaries of earth

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Dar Tozeur ↗ (€40 a night) · Luxury: Palm Beach Palace Tozeur ↗ (€110 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Tozeur and the Sahara on GetYourGuide

4

Djerba

Days 6-7 · 🚗 Car 4h

A flat, quiet island in the south, with long beaches, the street art of Djerbahood and the El Ghriba synagogue.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Round the island and Houmt Souk, guidedHalf day · from €20
  A loop of the island, with its fortified mosques and whitewashed farmhouses, ending in the market town of Houmt Souk.
• El Ghriba synagogue and the pottersHalf day · from €15
  The synagogue said to be the oldest in Africa, then the potteries of Guellala, where clay has been worked for centuries.

✦ Free to visit

• The soft sand beaches
• Djerbahood, the street art village
• Houmt Souk market
• Sunset over the sea

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hôtel Erriadh ↗ (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Dar Dhiafa ↗ (€90 a night) · Luxury: Radisson Blu Djerba ↗ (€170 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Djerba on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

A hire car · A car is the practical way to reach the south, the mountain oases and the desert, where public transport thins out.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

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Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Couscous: the Tunisian version, redder and hotter than its neighbours', often with fish on the coast.
• Brik: a thin pastry folded around a runny egg and tuna, then fried.
• Lablabi: a chickpea soup poured over stale bread, with harissa and cumin, eaten in the morning.
• Ojja: eggs cooked in a spicy tomato and pepper sauce, often with merguez.
• Harissa on every table, and mint tea with pine nuts floating on top.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Make sure the taxi metre is running, or agree the fare before you get in.
• Politely turn down touts and self-appointed guides in the medinas.
• Bargain in the souks: a glass of tea offered in a shop commits you to nothing.
• Cover shoulders and knees at religious sites.

Words that help

English ↔ Arabic

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The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/tunisia

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos: Pexels and Wikimedia Commons (BishkekRocks, CC BY-SA 3.0) · Details are indicative, check before you leave.