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Tunis, Tunisia, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
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Top 10 Things To Do in Tunis

Country
Tunisia
Best months
Apr · May · Oct
Population
605K
Language
Arabic is official
Budget / day
$40–90
Quick answer

The best things to do in Tunis are the walled medina and its trade souks, the Bardo and the largest collection of mosaics in the world, the ruins of Carthage on the shore, the blue and white village of Sidi Bou Said above them, and the Avenue Habib Bourguiba the modern city still promenades along. Three days is right, and almost everything outside the walls sits on one commuter railway.

Tunis on Foot

▶ Video guide

Tunis is the rare capital where the ancient world, the Arab city and the colonial boulevard are all within one commuter line of each other. The medina behind Bab El Bhar was inscribed by UNESCO in 1979 for some 700 monuments, and it is still a working quarter of perfumers and cap makers rather than a preserved one.

The 10 best things to do in Tunis

1

Walk the medina from the Porte de France to the Zitouna

Old town· Medina of Tunis, between Place de la Victoire and Place du Gouvernement

Inscribed in 1979 for roughly 700 monuments, and a working quarter rather than a museum. The souks are still sorted by trade, which is the easiest way to read them: rose water along the mosque wall, felt caps blocked by hand, gold under the vaults. Give it a morning and accept that part of it will be spent lost.

TimeHalf a day
CostFree to walk
Best atMid-morning
TipEvery lane climbs toward the Zitouna, so navigate by the slope
Map↗ Website
2

Give the Bardo a morning of your trip

Museum· Rue Mongi Slim, Le Bardo, about 4 km west of the centre

The largest collection of mosaics in the world, lifted from Carthage, Dougga and El Jem and installed in the palace of the Husainid beys, so nineteenth-century painted ceilings sit over second-century floors. The Virgil portrait is the only surviving likeness of the poet. Three hours is not generous.

Time3 hr
CostTicket at the door
Best atOpening
TipLine 4 of the light metro stops at Le Bardo, a few minutes from the gate
Map↗ Website
3

Cross Carthage from Byrsa hill to the Antonine Baths

Ancient site· Carthage, on the TGM line between Tunis Marine and La Marsa

Not one ruin but a dozen enclosures scattered through a seaside suburb, on one ticket. Start on Byrsa, where Punic houses survive below the cathedral, then the Antonine Baths on the shore, among the largest in the Roman world. The national museum on the hill has been closed for a long renovation.

TimeHalf a day
CostOne ticket covers the enclosures
Best atLate afternoon
TipSix TGM stations serve Carthage
Map↗ Website
4

Take the cliff steps at Sidi Bou Said early

Village· Sidi Bou Said, about 17 km north of Tunis, on the TGM line

A whitewashed village on the cliff above the gulf, and the most photographed place in the country: white walls, blue doors studded in black nails, the sea below. The palette is a building rule rather than folklore. Come early or stay for dusk, because it is busy by eleven.

Time3 hr
CostFree to walk
Best atBefore 10am, or at sunset
TipThe TGM stops below the village, so the walk up is part of the visit
Map
5

Look into the courtyard of the Zitouna Mosque

Mosque· Rue Jamaa Ezzitouna, Medina of Tunis

The great mosque, and the building the whole medina is arranged around: the souks run along its walls and every lane that leads to it climbs. The columns holding up the prayer hall were taken from Roman Carthage. Non-Muslim visitors see the courtyard, and the carpet shops opposite sell the roof view for a mint tea.

Time45 min
CostSmall entry for the courtyard
Best atMid-morning
TipCover shoulders and knees, and take the shop terrace opposite for the roof view
Map
6

Promenade the Avenue Habib Bourguiba

Avenue· Avenue Habib Bourguiba, between Place du 14 Janvier 2011 and Place de la Victoire

The spine of the Ville Nouvelle, built on ground reclaimed from the lake, with a raised central walkway under two rows of ficus. The promenade is a genuine habit rather than a tourist ritual. The 1902 Municipal Theatre is the best art nouveau facade in North Africa.

Time1 hr
CostFree
Best atEarly evening
TipStand on the central walkway for the theatre facade, not the pavement
Map
7

See how the beys lived at Dar Ben Abdallah and Tourbet el Bey

Palace· Impasse Ben Abdallah, southern medina

The southern medina is the quiet half, and it holds the two buildings that explain the ruling class the souks served: a palace of 1796 staged as a nineteenth-century household, and the Husainid royal mausoleum under green-tiled domes. Both are cheap, both are usually empty, and together they take two hours.

Time1.5 hr
CostSmall entry at each
Best atMidday
TipDo them as a pair, they are five minutes apart
Map
8

Hear a concert at Ennejma Ezzahra

Palace· Rue 2 Mars 1934, Sidi Bou Said

Baron d'Erlanger built this palace below Sidi Bou Said between 1912 and 1922, and it is the finest neo-Moorish architecture in the country. Since 1991 it has held the national sound archive and programmes concerts in the room he designed for them. Check the schedule: hearing an oud in that room is the point.

Time1.5 hr
CostEntry at the gate
Best atAfternoon
TipCheck the concert programme before you fix the day
Map↗ Website
9

Climb to the koubba in Belvedere Park

Park· Avenue Taieb Mhiri, Belvédère

110 hectares of hillside laid out from 1892 by the man who had been chief gardener of Paris, and closed to the public for a decade afterwards to let the trees take. A domed koubba moved in from a palace sits at the top, with the city falling away toward the lake. On a Sunday the park belongs to families.

Time1.5 hr
CostFree, small fee for the zoo
Best atLate afternoon
TipWalk up to the koubba for the view over the Lake of Tunis
Map
10

Eat grilled fish at La Goulette

Food· La Goulette, at the mouth of the Lake of Tunis, on the TGM line

The port at the channel between the lake and the sea, and where the capital eats fish. The town behind the fortress was Sicilian, Maltese, Jewish and Tunisian at once, and it still shows in the cooking. The catch is sold by weight and grilled plain. Fifteen minutes on the TGM.

Time2 hr
CostFish sold by weight
Best atSunday lunch
TipPick the fish and agree the weight before it goes on the grill
Map

9 of the 10, mapped

Tunis · 9 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Tunis travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Tunis?+
Three. The first belongs to the medina, from Bab El Bhar up through the souks to the Zitouna. The second is the coast on the TGM: Carthage in the morning, Sidi Bou Said at dusk, fish in between. The third is the Bardo, which deserves a full morning. A fourth buys Dougga or Bizerte.
What is the best time of year to visit Tunis?+
April and May, or late September through October. Summer is hot and dry, and July and August are when the city empties toward the beaches. Spring gives clear skies and the ruins to yourself; autumn adds the warmest sea of the year. Winter is mild and wet, and the medina looks better than the coast.
How do you get from Tunis to Carthage and Sidi Bou Said?+
Take the TGM from Tunis Marine, at the sea end of Avenue Habib Bourguiba. It is a commuter line, not a tourist service: cheap, frequent, and it calls at six stations inside Carthage before Sidi Bou Said. Pick your Carthage station by the enclosure you want rather than getting off at the first.
What should you eat in Tunis?+
Start with a brik à l'oeuf, the fried pastry folded over a whole egg, and a salade méchouia, which arrives whether you order it or not. Lablabi is the medina breakfast. Take couscous with fish rather than lamb on this coast, and finish with makroud from a patisserie rather than a restaurant.
What should you know about money in Tunisia?+
The dinar is a closed currency and cannot legally be carried in or out. You change money on arrival and keep the receipts, because converting back at the end requires them and is capped. Cards work in hotels and supermarkets; the medina, the louages and the fish stalls are cash. Spend down before you fly out.
Medina & souks

Best of the medina in Tunis

Six stops inside the walls, from the perfumers' lane to the royal mausoleum.
All 6 in the medina →
Medina

Zitouna Mosque

Founded in the eighth century

The great mosque the medina is arranged around. UNESCO dates it to 723, and its prayer hall stands on columns taken from Roman Carthage.

Map
Medina

Souk El Attarine

Perfume and rose water

The perfumers' souk along the mosque's northern wall, which every visitor walks whether they mean to or not. Rose water, orange blossom, henna.

Map
Medina

Souk des Chéchias

Felt caps, made on site

The red felt caps are still blocked, dyed and brushed here by a guild that has held the trade for centuries. One of the few souks where the making shows.

Map
Southern medina

Tourbet el Bey

Opened 1777

The Husainid royal mausoleum, opened in 1777, under green-tiled domes. Carved marble, Italianate tilework, and almost never a queue.

Map
Medina

Dar Lasram

Palace and medina archive

A nineteenth-century courtyard palace housing the association that preserves the medina, which is why it is the best-restored house you can walk into.

Map
Place de la Victoire

Bab El Bhar

The medina's sea gate

The gate of the sea, left standing alone when the walls came down. It is the hinge of the city: souks behind it, boulevards in front.

Map
Punic & Roman

Best ancient sites in Tunis

Six enclosures of Carthage, all of them within a few stops of each other.
All 6 ancient sites →
Carthage

Antonine Baths

Second century AD

The largest Roman baths outside Rome itself and the most legible ruin at Carthage. The surviving basement vaults still carry the outline of the halls above.

Map
Carthage

Byrsa hill

Punic acropolis

The Punic acropolis and the hill the city was founded on. Rome sheared off the top, but Punic houses survive on the terrace below the cathedral.

Map
Carthage

The Punic ports

Circular naval harbour

Two linked harbours, a rectangular one for trade and a circular one for the war fleet. What survives is a quiet lagoon, and the model makes it readable.

Map
Salammbô

Tophet of Salammbô

Punic sanctuary

A sunken Punic sanctuary of urns and stelae, and the most argued-over ground in Carthage: child sacrifice or infant burial has been contested for a century.

Map
Carthage

Roman theatre of Carthage

Still a festival stage

Restored and still working: the Festival International builds its stage here each July, and out of season it is a quiet bowl above the sea.

Map
Carthage

La Malga cisterns

End of the Zaghouan aqueduct

The reservoirs at the end of the aqueduct from Zaghouan, big enough to walk through. Unfenced, unvisited, and the clearest measure of what Rome needed.

Map
Museums

Best museums in Tunis

Five collections, from the world's mosaics to a beylical family home.
All 5 museums →
Le Bardo

Bardo National Museum

Second largest museum in Africa

The largest collection of mosaics in the world, in the palace of the Husainid beys. The Punic rooms downstairs are the quiet reward. Reopened in 2023.

Map↗ Website
Carthage

Carthage National Museum

On Byrsa hill

The site museum on Byrsa hill, with the terrace view over the whole bay. Closed for a long renovation, so confirm before travelling out for it.

Map
Medina

Musée de la Ville de Tunis, Palais Kheireddine

Palace of 1860 to 1870

The city's own museum, in the palace built for the reforming minister Kheireddine Pasha. Tunis as a built city downstairs, art upstairs.

Map
Southern medina

Dar Ben Abdallah

Palace of 1796

The museum of popular arts, in a palace of 1796 around a marble courtyard, staged as a nineteenth-century household down to the wedding room.

Map
Sidi Bou Said

Ennejma Ezzahra

Built 1912 to 1922

D'Erlanger's neo-Moorish palace above the sea, and since 1991 the national sound archive, with a concert programme in the room built for it.

Map↗ Website
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Tunis

Six kitchens, from a medina palace dinner to a family fish house at the port.
All 6 restaurants →
Medina

Dar El Jeld

Medina mansion

The formal Tunisian dinner in the city, behind a famous yellow door in a restored mansion in the upper medina. Prices match the setting.

Map
Medina

Fondouk El Attarine

In a restored fondouk

A restored merchants' fondouk off the perfumers' souk, all arches and tilework, with briks and couscous for a fraction of what the room suggests.

Map
Medina

El Ali

Roof terrace over the medina

Café, restaurant and bookshop near the Zitouna, with a roof terrace over the medina tiles. Go up for mint tea and stay for the classics.

Map
Medina

Dar Belhadj

Traditional house

A traditional house near the Zitouna turned into a small dining room, and one of the few places inside the walls licensed to serve alcohol.

Map
La Goulette

Le Café Vert

Open since 1955

Open in La Goulette since 1955 and still in the same family. Grilled fish sold by weight, and the reason Tunis families lose a Sunday afternoon.

Map
La Marsa

Le Golfe

On the water since 1955

A Marsa institution since 1955, on the water with a terrace over the rocks. The signature is spaghetti with local poutargue, the cured mullet roe.

Map↗ Website
Coffee & pastry

Best cafes & patisseries in Tunis

Five places to sit down, from a cliff terrace to a doughnut stall with a queue.
All 5 cafes & patisseries →
Sidi Bou Said

Café des Nattes

Mint tea with pine nuts

At the top of the stairs in Sidi Bou Said, floored with the rush mats that name it. Mint tea with pine nuts, and a view down the village street.

Map
Sidi Bou Said

Café Sidi Chabaane

Cliff terraces over the gulf

Terraces cut into the cliff below Sidi Bou Said, stepping down toward the marina. This is where the town watches the sun go down over the gulf.

Map
Medina

Café M'rabet

Turkish coffee in the souks

An old medina café above a saints' burial chamber, with tiled columns and low benches. The easiest place to stop mid-medina.

Map
Sidi Bou Said

The bambalouni stall, Sidi Bou Said

Fried to order

A doughnut fried to order in a doorway on the main street, dusted with sugar and handed over hot. There is a queue most afternoons and it moves quickly.

Map
Across the city

Pâtisserie Masmoudi

Founded 1972

Founded in Sfax in 1972 and now the standard reference for Tunisian pastry. Buy makroud, baklawa and kaak warka by weight in a mixed box.

Map
Where to stay

Best neighborhoods in Tunis

Six quarters, and what each is actually for.
All 6 neighborhoods →
Centre

The medina

Walled city, no cars

The walled city, and the place to stay if you want to be inside the thing you came for. Restored courtyard houses, no cars, and a surprising quiet.

Map
Centre

Ville Nouvelle

Central and walkable

The French grid around Avenue Habib Bourguiba: the cathedral, the theatre and most of the mid-range hotels. Ten minutes from the medina.

Map
North of the centre

Belvédère and Mutuelleville

Embassies and business hotels

The leafy uptown above the park, with the embassies and the business hotels. Useful for work, less so if you want to walk to the souks.

Map
Coast

Sidi Bou Said

Cliff village, quiet at night

The cliff village north of Carthage, and the prettiest base in Greater Tunis. It empties once the day trippers leave, which is the argument for staying.

Map
Coast

Carthage

Ruins between the villas

A wealthy residential suburb with Roman ruins between the villas and six stations of its own. Stay here to walk the site early and late.

Map
Coast

La Marsa

Beach and corniche

The end of the TGM line, with the beach, the corniche and the best concentration of restaurants on the coast. Where Tunis goes at the weekend.

Map
Nearby

Best day trips from Tunis

Six runs out of the capital, from a Roman hill town to the top of the continent.
All 6 day trips →
Béja governorate

Dougga

About 1 hr 30 by car

The best-preserved Roman town in North Africa: a capitol, a theatre still used for performances and a Punic-Libyan mausoleum. Ninety minutes by car.

Map↗ Website
North coast

Bizerte and Cap Angela

About 1 hr by car

The northernmost city in Africa, with an Andalusian port and a kasbah, and half an hour beyond it the northernmost headland of the continent.

Map
Inland

Zaghouan

About 1 hr by car

The Temple of the Waters stands at the spring the Romans tapped to supply Carthage, and the aqueduct still crosses the plain in long stretches.

Map
Cap Bon

Kerkouane and Kelibia

About 2 hr by car

The only Punic town never rebuilt by Rome, so its street plan and its pink bathtubs survive as the Phoenicians left them, on the Cap Bon coast.

Map↗ Website
Medjerda valley

Testour

About 1 hr 15 by car

A town founded by Andalusian Muslims expelled from Spain, with a minaret carrying a clock said to run backwards and a street plan that reads as Spanish.

Map
Cap Bon

Hammamet and Nabeul

About 1 hr by car or train

The old resort coast, an hour south: a walled medina on the beach, and the pottery town beside it. Easiest to reach without a car.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Tunis (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Feb–Mar

Ramadan in the medina

The medina keeps different hours: quiet by day, then the cafés and stalls fill after the fast breaks and stay busy past midnight.

Mar

Independence Day

20 March marks independence from France in 1956. Official ceremonies, closed offices, and a holiday that fills the coast road.

Apr

Jazz à Carthage

Running since 2005 and spread across venues in Carthage, La Marsa, Sidi Bou Said and Tunis, over a fortnight of spring evenings.

Apr–May

Tunis International Book Fair

One of the larger book fairs in the Arab world, at the Parc des Expositions du Kram, with publishers from across the region.

Jul–Aug

Festival International de Carthage

The city's biggest cultural date, staged in the restored Roman theatre since the 1960s: six weeks inside the ancient bowl.

Oct

Journées Musicales de Carthage

A week of Arab and African music that works as an industry meeting as much as a festival, with a market alongside the concerts.

Oct

Dream City

A biennial of contemporary art staged in the medina itself, using courtyards and workshops as venues.

Nov

Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage

Created in 1966 and the oldest film festival in Africa and the Arab world, with a focus on Arab and African cinema.

Getting around

Tunis transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
TUN

Tunis-Carthage International Airport

About 8 km northeast of the centre on the far side of the lake. There is no rail link into the terminal, so a metered taxi or a hotel transfer is the way in.

Map↗ Website
TGM

The TGM to Carthage and La Marsa

The line that makes Tunis easy. Opened in 1872 as the first railway in Tunisia, it runs from Tunis Marine to La Marsa via La Goulette, six Carthage stations and Sidi Bou Said.

Map↗ Website
Rail

Light metro and mainline trains

The métro léger runs six lines across the capital, with line 4 reaching Le Bardo. Mainline trains leave Tunis Ville on Place de Barcelone for Sousse, El Jem, Sfax and Gabès.

Map↗ Website
Taxi

Taxis, louages and ride-hailing

Yellow taxis are metered and cheap, and the meter is the whole negotiation: ask for it rather than a price. Between cities, louages are the real network, shared minibuses that leave when they fill.

Map
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Tunis, Tunisia

The classics to order before you leave.

Brik à l'oeuf

A sheet of malsouka pastry folded over a whole egg with tuna and capers, deep fried.

Lablabi

Chickpea broth poured over torn bread with harissa, cumin and a poached egg, mixed at the table.

Couscous

Steamed fine and served with lamb, chicken or, on this coast, whole fish.

Ojja

Tomatoes and green peppers cooked down with garlic and harissa, then eggs broken straight into the pan.

Salade méchouia

Peppers, tomatoes and garlic grilled over charcoal, chopped fine with oil and topped with tuna and egg.

Fricassé

A small fried bread roll stuffed with tuna, potato, olives, harissa and egg.

Mloukhia

Jute leaf powder cooked for hours with olive oil and beef until it turns almost black and glossy.

Makroud

A semolina pastry filled with date paste, fried and soaked in honey. Buy it by weight from a patisserie.

Tunis fact sheet

Tunis at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Tunisia
Region
Tunis Governorate, on the Lake of Tunis between the hills and the Gulf of Tunis
Population
604,599 in the commune at the 2024 census, with Greater Tunis the largest urban area in the country
Founded
A Punic town before Carthage fell, refounded as an Arab city at the end of the seventh century and made a capital by the Hafsids in the thirteenth
Nickname
Tunis el Khadra, Tunis the green
Language
Arabic is official and Tunisian Arabic is what is spoken; French is used across business, menus and signage
Currency
Tunisian dinar (TND), a closed currency: it cannot legally be taken in or out, so change what you need and keep the receipts
Time zone
UTC+1, with no daylight saving
Calling code
+216, with no city codes and eight-digit numbers
Airports
Tunis-Carthage International (TUN), about 8 km northeast of the centre
Power
230V, 50Hz, sockets of types C and E
Emergency
197 police, 190 ambulance, 198 fire and civil protection, 193 national guard
Ideal length
3 days
Getting around
The TGM to the coast, the light metro, metered taxis
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • The Bardo holds the largest collection of mosaics in the world, prised off the floors of Carthage, Dougga, El Jem, Sousse and Kairouan.
  • The TGM line to Carthage and La Marsa opened in 1872 and was the first railway built in Tunisia.
  • UNESCO inscribed the medina in 1979 for some 700 monuments across seven quarters, among them the Zitouna Mosque and the gate at Bab El Bhar.
  • Sidi Bou Said's blue and white is a building rule, credited to Baron d'Erlanger, who pressed for the whole hill to be protected.
  • The Tunisian dinar is a closed currency: illegal to carry in or out, which is why exchange receipts matter and you cannot buy it ahead.

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