Tunisia itinerary, day by day

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.

🗓️ 3, 7 or 14 days📍 4 stops☀️ Best time: April to June and September to October

Tunis · Photo Ismail SAIDI / Pexels

Route map (numbers = order of the stops).

Tunisia in 3 days

2 stops · 12 things to do · ≈ 20 km

1Tunis 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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
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.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Restaurant "Le Jardin des Légumes" ↗ ★ 5 · 147 reviews
Restaurant Set Al Habayeb ↗ ★ 4.9 · 898 reviews
L'antica Pizzeria Da Pietro ↗ ★ 4.8 · 4584 reviews
Restaurant des Arts ↗ ★ 4.8 · 498 reviews
Bab Tounès ↗ ★ 4.8 · 489 reviews

Photo Halil Cihat Darıcıoğlu / Pexels

🚗 Car · 30 min · 20 km

2Sidi Bou Said

Day 3

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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Ennejma Ezzahra Palace1h · from €8
The palace built by Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger in the 1920s, now the Centre of Arab and Mediterranean Music.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Panzerotti ↗ ★ 4.9 · 368 reviews
DonPietro Sidi Bou Saïd ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1112 reviews
bleue! ↗ ★ 4.8 · 801 reviews
Memo Sidi Bou ↗ ★ 4.8 · 397 reviews
Bambalouni ↗ ★ 4.8 · 326 reviews

Photo Reyyan / Pexels

Tunisia in 7 days

4 stops · 24 things to do · ≈ 770 km

1Tunis 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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
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.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Halil Cihat Darıcıoğlu / Pexels

🚗 Car · 30 min · 20 km

2Sidi Bou Said

Day 3

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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Ennejma Ezzahra Palace1h · from €8
The palace built by Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger in the 1920s, now the Centre of Arab and Mediterranean Music.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Reyyan / Pexels

🚗 Car · 6h · 450 km

3Tozeur and the Sahara

Days 4-5

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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
A camel ride at dusk2h · from €25
Two hours into the dunes as the light drops, which is when the sand changes colour.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

El Hamma Resort ↗ ★ 4.8 · 117 reviews
Le Minarét Ferkous ↗ ★ 4.7 · 659 reviews
RESTAURANT TISOUROS ↗ ★ 4.7 · 458 reviews
Dar Tozeur ↗ ★ 4.6 · 249 reviews
Scoop Café-Resto ↗ ★ 4.5 · 401 reviews

Photo BishkekRocks / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

🚗 Car · 4h · 300 km

4Djerba

Days 6-7

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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
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.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Restaurant la Bohême ↗ ★ 4.9 · 520 reviews
La Plancha Avenue | Restaurant & Brunch Djerba ↗ ★ 4.9 · 422 reviews
RESTAURANT MALOUF ↗ ★ 4.9 · 297 reviews
L’Autre Monde ↗ ★ 4.8 · 248 reviews
Mamie Fatima ↗ ★ 4.8 · 219 reviews

Photo Daciana Cristina Visan / Pexels

Tunisia in 14 days

5 stops · 30 things to do · ≈ 1 270 km

1Tunis and Carthage

Days 1-3

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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
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.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Halil Cihat Darıcıoğlu / Pexels

🚗 Car · 30 min · 20 km

2Sidi Bou Said

Day 4

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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Ennejma Ezzahra Palace1h · from €8
The palace built by Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger in the 1920s, now the Centre of Arab and Mediterranean Music.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Reyyan / Pexels

🚗 Car · 6h · 450 km

3Tozeur and the Sahara

Days 5-8

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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
A camel ride at dusk2h · from €25
Two hours into the dunes as the light drops, which is when the sand changes colour.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo BishkekRocks / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

🚗 Car · 4h · 300 km

4Djerba

Days 9-12

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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
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.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Daciana Cristina Visan / Pexels

🚗 Car · 6h · 500 km (return)

5Tunis and Carthage

Days 13-14

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.
Book on GetYourGuide →
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.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

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)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Halil Cihat Darıcıoğlu / Pexels

Hotel prices are per room per night, activity prices per person, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide): we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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Good to know before you go

🍽️ What to eat

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.

⚠️ What to avoid

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.

Plan this trip

📒 The free printable Tunisia guide→ 🗓️ Best time to visit Tunisia, month by month→ 🎟️ What to book before you go→

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