--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Sousse, Tunisia | Wimup" description: "Sousse on Wimup: the Aghlabid ribat and Great Mosque, Roman mosaics in the kasbah, Boujaafar beach, El Jem an hour south, and what a day here costs." url: https://wimup.com/city/sousse type: City guide updated: 2026-10-05 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10 Things To Do in Sousse Sousse, Tunisia · Africa · By Wimup Editorial, 12 min read Sousse has a UNESCO medina with a ninth-century fort at its gate and a beach running north from it for ten kilometres. That pairing is why the Tunisian Sahel sells package holidays, and why the Aghlabid ribat is still standing: this has been a port worth defending since before Carthage. ## Quick answer Two days covers Sousse. The first is the medina: the Ribat, the Great Mosque fifty metres from it, the souks, and the Archaeological Museum in the kasbah, which holds Tunisia's second-largest collection of Roman mosaics. The second is the coast, either Boujaafar and Port El Kantaoui or the metro south to Monastir. El Jem is 60 km away and worth a third. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** Apr · May · Sep · Oct - **Ideal length:** 2–3 days - **Budget per day:** $45–100 - **Language:** Arabic, with French across signage and English common in tourism - **Getting around:** On foot in the medina, the Sahel Metro along the coast - **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://www.discovertunisia.com/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## The 10 best things to do in Sousse ### 1. Ribat of Sousse Fortress · Place des Martyrs, Medina of Sousse Ziyadat Allah I rebuilt this monastery-fort in 821: a square enclosure, thirty-five cells around a courtyard, one gate. The watchtower in the corner is the reason to climb. From the top the medina wall, the Great Mosque and the port line up in one frame. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Site ticket, bought at the gate - **Best at:** Early morning - **Tip:** The spiral stair to the nador is narrow and dim, so take it before the coach groups arrive Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/498/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 2. Great Mosque of Sousse Mosque · Rue el Aghalba, Medina of Sousse Built in 851 and fifty-five metres from the ribat, it looks like a fort because it was one: crenellated walls, corner turrets, no minaret. The colonnaded courtyard is the visit. The prayer hall is closed to non-Muslim visitors. - **Time:** 30 min - **Cost:** Site ticket - **Best at:** Mid-morning - **Tip:** Shoulders and knees covered. Pair it with the ribat, which is a minute away on the same square Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/498/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 3. Sousse Archaeological Museum Museum · Kasbah, Medina of Sousse Tunisia's second-largest collection of Roman mosaics after the Bardo, laid out inside the kasbah. Neptune in a chariot pulled by hippocamps, Bacchus riding with tigers, and two hunting floors in the rear gallery. It reopened in 2012 after a rebuild. - **Time:** 1–2 hr - **Cost:** Museum ticket - **Best at:** Any time - **Tip:** Give the rear gallery the time; the two hunting mosaics are the largest things here ### 4. The medina and its ramparts UNESCO World Heritage Site · Medina of Sousse, between Place des Martyrs and the kasbah UNESCO listed it in 1988 as a town of the first centuries of Islam that kept its shape: the wall, the kasbah, the ribat, the Great Mosque and Bou Ftata all inside it. The souks run through the middle, and the lanes climb the whole way west. - **Time:** 2 hr - **Cost:** Free to walk - **Best at:** Late afternoon - **Tip:** Start at Place des Martyrs and finish at the kasbah, which is the medina's high corner Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/498/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 5. Amphitheatre of El Jem UNESCO World Heritage Site · El Jem, about 60 km south of Sousse Roman Thysdrus built it around 238 AD for some 35,000 spectators, and it still stands three tiers high with the arena floor and the underground passages open. Nothing in Africa is bigger, and nothing comparable in Europe is this empty. - **Time:** Half day with the travel - **Cost:** Site ticket, museum extra - **Best at:** Early or late - **Tip:** SNCFT trains from Sousse stop at El Jem, a short walk from the arena Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/38/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 6. Catacombs of the Good Shepherd Archaeological site · West of the medina, near the Sunday market, Sousse Five kilometres of second to fourth-century Christian galleries under the western edge of town, cut into soft rock and holding more than 15,000 burials. A short lit stretch is what visitors see. Access has been intermittent for years. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Site ticket - **Best at:** Any time - **Tip:** Confirm it is open before you go; the site closes for restoration without much notice ### 7. Port El Kantaoui Marina · Port El Kantaoui, about 10 km north of Sousse A marina built from nothing in 1979 in whitewashed Andalusian style, with 340 berths and the hotel strip behind it. It is not old and does not pretend to be. Come for the boat trips, the two golf courses and a flat evening walk. - **Time:** Half day - **Cost:** Free to walk - **Best at:** Evening - **Tip:** Shared taxis run up the coast road from Boujaafar; agree the fare before you get in ### 8. Boujaafar beach Beach · Boulevard Hédi Chaker, north of the medina The city beach: a broad sand strip running north from the medina along the corniche, with cafés on the boulevard behind it. Public, packed through July and August, and the ground the Aoussou carnival parades along each summer. - **Time:** 2 hr - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** The northern end past the hotels is quieter than the stretch opposite the medina ### 9. Dar Essid House museum · 65 Rue du Rempart Nord, Medina of Sousse A merchant house against the medina's north wall, kept as its family left it: tiled courtyard, carved wood, a bedroom for each of two wives, a Roman lamp and a marriage contract seven centuries old. The roof tower is the reward. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Entry ticket - **Best at:** Late morning - **Tip:** Signed off the rampart lane and easy to walk past, because the street door is small ### 10. Ribat of Monastir Fortress · Monastir, about 20 km south of Sousse The oldest Islamic fortress in North Africa, begun in the eighth century and enlarged for a thousand years after. Its ramparts stood in for Jerusalem in Monty Python's Life of Brian. The Bourguiba mausoleum and its gold dome are a short walk on. - **Time:** Half day with the metro - **Cost:** Site ticket - **Best at:** Late afternoon - **Tip:** The Sahel Metro runs from Sousse Bab Jedid to Monastir and calls at the airport on the way ## Inside the medina, monument by monument Six Aghlabid, Byzantine and Ottoman buildings behind one wall, oldest first. 1. **Bou Ftata Mosque** (c. 840 · South wall): The city's oldest mosque, built around 840, a decade before the Great Mosque. 2. **Ribat of Sousse** (821 · Site ticket · Place des Martyrs): Thirty-five cells around a courtyard, with a watchtower over the port. 3. **Great Mosque of Sousse** (851 · Site ticket · Place des Martyrs): Crenellated, turreted and without a minaret. The courtyard is the visit. 4. **Khalaf al-Fata tower** (859 · Museum ticket · Kasbah): The kasbah watchtower, raised in 859 on the medina's highest ground. 5. **Sofra cistern** (6th c. · Medina): A Byzantine reservoir the Aghlabids restored, holding 3,000 cubic metres. 6. **Zaouia Zakkak** (17th c. · Medina): An octagonal Ottoman minaret over a mosque, a school and a mausoleum. ## Museums and underground sites in Sousse Four collections, three of them inside the medina wall. 1. **Sousse Archaeological Museum** (Museum ticket · Kasbah): Roman mosaics in the kasbah, second in Tunisia only to the Bardo. 2. **Dar Essid** (Entry ticket · Medina): A merchant house on the north rampart, furnished as its family kept it. 3. **Kalaout el-Koubba** (11th–12th c. · Medina): Zigzag fluting on the dome, and rooms staged as Ottoman-era domestic life. 4. **Catacombs of the Good Shepherd** (2nd–4th c. · West of the medina): Five kilometres of Christian galleries. Access is intermittent, so check first. ## Beaches along the Sousse coast Four stretches of Sahel sand, working north from the city beach. 1. **Boujaafar** (Free · Public · Corniche): The city beach, running north from the medina behind a café-lined boulevard. 2. **Hammam Sousse** (Free · Public · Hammam Sousse): The stretch between the city and the marina, backed by apartments. 3. **Port El Kantaoui** (Free · Public · Port El Kantaoui): The hotel strip's sand, 10 km north and calmer behind the marina wall. 4. **Chott Meriem** (Free · Public · North): North again past Kantaoui, thinner on hotels and wider on sand. ## Where to eat in Sousse Four kitchens, mostly fish, in and around the medina. 1. **Le Bonheur** (Tunisian · Central): Tunisian cooking in the centre, from fish couscous to grilled catch. 2. **L'Escargot** (French & Mediterranean · Sousse): French and Mediterranean plates, seafood alongside grilled lamb and steak. 3. **El Soffra** (Tunisian · Medina): Tunisian and Mediterranean grills, fish and meat over charcoal. 4. **La Marmite** (Seafood · Sousse): A seafood kitchen working the Mediterranean end of the menu. ## Markets and shopping in Sousse Where the medina trades, and where the city does its own shopping. 1. **The medina souks** (Free · Daily · Medina): Textiles, leather and ceramics in the lanes between the ribat and the kasbah. 2. **Soula Center** (Fixed prices · Place des Martyrs): Fixed prices at the medina gate, with a rooftop café over the square. 3. **Souk El Ahad** (Sundays · West of the medina): The Sunday market west of the medina: clothes, spices, produce, second-hand everything. ## Port El Kantaoui, on the water and off it The marina 10 km north, and the two things built around it. 1. **The marina** (1979 · Free · Port El Kantaoui): 340 berths inside a whitewashed Andalusian shell, finished in 1979. 2. **Golf El Kantaoui** (36 holes · Port El Kantaoui): Two 18-hole courses, Sea and Panorama, both laid out by Ronald Fream. 3. **Boat trips** (Seasonal · Port El Kantaoui): Day sailings leave the marina along the coast. Fares are agreed at the quay. ## Day trips from Sousse Six runs out of the city, most of them on a rail line rather than a tour bus. 1. **El Jem** (60 km · Rail · South): The Roman amphitheatre, 60 km south on the Sousse to Sfax mainline. [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/38/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 2. **Kairouan** (60 km · Louage · West): The Great Mosque and the walled medina, about 60 km inland by louage. [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/499/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 3. **Monastir** (20 km · Metro · South): The eighth-century ribat and the Bourguiba mausoleum, 20 km down the metro. 4. **Mahdia** (60 km · Metro · South): A fishing town on a cape, and the far end of the Sahel Metro line. 5. **Hergla** (About 30 km · Road · North): A whitewashed clifftop village up the coast, known for its esparto weaving. 6. **Takrouna** (About 50 km · Road · Northwest): A Berber village on a rock above the Enfidha plain, with the coast in view. ## Festivals & annual events in Sousse (2026) - **Ramadan** (Feb–Mar): The medina stays open late and the cafés fill after sunset. Daytime restaurant hours shift. - **Independence Day** (20 March): Tunisia marks the 1956 end of the French protectorate. A public holiday, so sites close. - **Eid al-Fitr** (20–21 March 2026): The end of Ramadan and the year's biggest family holiday. It moves back eleven days a year. - **Aoussou Carnival** (Late July): Floats, brass bands and folk troupes along Boujaafar. It descends from a Roman festival for Neptune. - **Republic Day** (25 July): The 1957 abolition of the monarchy. A public holiday, and it lands beside the carnival. - **Festival International de Sousse** (Jul–Aug): Concerts and theatre through the summer. The 2026 programme is the sixty-seventh edition. - **El Jem Symphonic Music Festival** (Jul–Aug): Orchestras play inside the Roman amphitheatre an hour south, on selected nights since 1985. - **Olive harvest** (Oct–Dec): The Sahel's groves are picked and pressed, and the year's oil reaches the markets. ## Must-try dishes in Sousse, Tunisia - **Couscous bel hout**: Fish couscous, the Sahel reading of the national dish. Usually grouper or bream. - **Grilled daurade**: Sea bream off the morning boats, charcoal-grilled whole with lemon. - **Lablabi**: Chickpeas in a cumin and garlic broth poured over torn bread. Breakfast, and cheap. - **Ojja merguez**: Eggs poached in tomato and harissa with lamb sausage, served in the pan. - **Brik à l'oeuf**: Warka pastry folded around tuna, capers and a whole egg, fried to order. - **Salade mechouia**: Grilled peppers and tomatoes chopped with garlic, olive oil and tuna. - **Kaftaji**: Fried peppers, pumpkin, potato and egg chopped together at the counter. - **Makroudh**: Semolina pastry stuffed with date paste and soaked in honey. Kairouan's, an hour west. ## Sousse transport & airports - **Monastir Habib Bourguiba Airport** (MIR): About 20 km south and the more useful arrival of the two: the Sahel Metro has a station at the terminal and runs on to Sousse Bab Jedid. [Monastir Airport](https://tavairports.com/monastir-airport?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Enfidha-Hammamet Airport** (NBE): The larger of the two, about 45 km north and built for charter traffic. There is no rail link, so arriving here means a taxi or a hotel transfer. [Enfidha-Hammamet Airport](https://tavairports.com/enfidha-hammamet-airport?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Rail and the Sahel Metro** (SNCFT): SNCFT mainline trains run north to Tunis and south to Sfax through El Jem. The Sahel Metro is the separate coastal line to Monastir and Mahdia. [SNCFT](https://www.sncft.com.tn/en/home/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Taxis and louages** (In town): Yellow taxis are metered and cheap. Louages, the shared long-distance vans, leave when full from the station west of the medina for Kairouan and Tunis. ## Sousse at a glance - **Country:** Tunisia - **Region:** Sousse Governorate, on the Gulf of Hammamet at the northern end of the Sahel plain - **Population:** 271,428 in the city at the 2014 census, which makes it Tunisia's third-largest after Tunis and Sfax - **Founded:** Around 1100 BC as Hadrumetum, a trading post set up from Tyre, older than Carthage - **Nickname:** The Pearl of the Sahel - **Language:** Arabic is official, French is used across business and signage, and English is common in tourism - **Currency:** Tunisian dinar (TND), a closed currency you cannot buy or take out. Cards work in hotels, cash elsewhere - **Time zone:** UTC+1 (Central European Time), with no daylight saving - **Calling code:** +216 - **Airports:** Monastir Habib Bourguiba (MIR) 20 km south, Enfidha-Hammamet (NBE) 45 km north - **Power:** 230V, 50Hz, sockets of types C and E - **Emergency:** 197 police, 190 ambulance, 198 fire ## Interesting facts - Hadrumetum was founded from Tyre around 1100 BC, which makes Sousse older than Carthage. - The ribat's watchtower went up in 821 to pass signals down the coast to Monastir. - UNESCO listed the medina in 1988 as a model town of the first centuries of Islam. - The Archaeological Museum holds Tunisia's second-largest mosaic collection, after the Bardo. - The Aoussou carnival descends from Neptunalia, a Roman midsummer festival for the sea god. ## Sousse travel FAQ ### How many days do you need in Sousse? Two. The first is the medina: the Ribat, the Great Mosque, the souks and the Archaeological Museum in the kasbah. The second is the coast, either Boujaafar and Port El Kantaoui or the metro south to Monastir. Add a third day for El Jem. ### Is Sousse or Monastir the better base? Sousse, unless you are flying into Monastir and staying put. Sousse has the UNESCO medina, the museum and the wider choice of hotels, and the Sahel Metro puts Monastir about half an hour away. The return trip is the same ride. ### How do you get from Sousse to El Jem? By train. SNCFT runs the Tunis to Sfax mainline through Sousse and El Jem, and the station there is a short walk from the amphitheatre. A louage or a hired taxi covers the 60 km by road instead. ### What does a day in Sousse cost? About $45 covers a small hotel, local restaurants and site tickets. Around $100 buys a beachfront room, restaurant meals and a car for El Jem or Kairouan. Carry dinar in cash: the currency cannot be bought outside Tunisia. ### When is the best time to visit Sousse? April, May, September and October. The sea is warm either side of summer and the sites are walkable without the July heat. Mid-July to late August is peak beach season, when Boujaafar and Kantaoui fill and prices rise. ## Nearby guides - [Tunis](https://wimup.com/city/tunis.md): Day trip · 10 picks - [Djerba](https://wimup.com/city/djerba.md): Tunisia · 10 picks - [Constantine](https://wimup.com/city/constantine.md): Algeria · 10 picks - [All of Africa →](https://wimup.com/africa): 67 cities Part of the [Tunisia guide](https://wimup.com/country/tunisia.md) · [Africa](https://wimup.com/africa.md) ## Sources - [Sousse tourism board](https://www.discovertunisia.com/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Ribat of Sousse: UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/498/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Amphitheatre of El Jem: UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/38/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Kairouan: UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/499/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Monastir Habib Bourguiba Airport: Monastir Airport](https://tavairports.com/monastir-airport?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Enfidha-Hammamet Airport: Enfidha-Hammamet Airport](https://tavairports.com/enfidha-hammamet-airport?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Rail and the Sahel Metro: SNCFT](https://www.sncft.com.tn/en/home/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.