Give Tunis two days: the medina, the Bardo mosaics, and Carthage and Sidi Bou Said on the same commuter line. The north is green, with Bizerte, the cork forests behind Tabarka and Roman Dougga inland. The Sahel coast has Sousse, the amphitheatre at El Jem and Sfax. Kairouan, the fourth holy city of Islam, is the stop that changes the trip. Then the desert: Tozeur and Douz, Matmata, and Djerba for a beach. Two weeks does the loop. One does the north and the Sahel.
3 Tunisia city guides
Fun fact
Africa ends in Tunisia. Ras ben Sakka, the tip of Cap Angela on the coast north of Bizerte, has been recognised as the northernmost point of the continent since 2014, when it displaced Cape Blanc eight kilometres along the same shore.
Stereotypes, sorted out
The realityNorthern Europe buys it that way, and the resorts at Hammamet, Sousse and Djerba are real. They are also a thin strip of a country with nine UNESCO World Heritage sites, Roman Dougga, an amphitheatre at El Jem to rival Italy's, and a Saharan half few beach visitors see.
The realityThe north is Mediterranean, green in winter and covered in cork oak and olive. The Sahara begins well south of the middle of the country, past the salt flats, and the drive from Tunis to the first dunes takes most of a day. Tunisia's problem in spring is rain in the north, not sand.
The realityCarthage is a suburb of Tunis on a hillside above the sea, and the site is scattered across it. The Antonine baths, the Punic ports, the theatre and the hilltop museum sit a walk or a short hop apart on the TGM line. Give it half a day and pair it with lunch in Sidi Bou Said above it.
The realityYou need neither Arabic nor much planning. French runs through schooling, business, menus and signage, so a French speaker is entirely at home, and English is widely spoken in Tunis and the resort towns. A few words of Derja are still the fastest way to change the temperature of a conversation.
The realityThe Tunis medina is a working neighbourhood, a UNESCO site, and the place the city does its shopping. The stretch around the main gate is set up for visitors. Two turns off it are the wool market, the perfume sellers and the courtyards, and the pressure to buy drops to nothing.
Cultural notes that actually help
- Greet before you transact. Aslema, or bonjour, and a moment of small talk come before the question, and skipping to the question reads as brusque however friendly the tone.
- Bargaining is expected in the souk and nowhere else. Shops with marked prices, cafes and restaurants are fixed. In the medina, a counter-offer is part of the conversation, and walking away politely is a normal move that offends nobody.
- Dress is relaxed on the coast and more conservative inland. Beachwear stays at the beach, and covered shoulders and knees are the right call in Kairouan, in any medina and around religious sites.
- Mosques are mostly not open to non-Muslims, with a few exceptions where the courtyard is. The Great Mosque of Kairouan is one of those: the courtyard is visitable, the prayer hall is viewed from the doorway, and shoulders and knees stay covered.
- The left hand is not used for eating or for passing food. Bread is torn, never cut, and shared dishes are eaten from the section in front of you.
- Photograph people only after asking, and expect a refusal sometimes, particularly from older women and inside markets. A police station, a military site and a government building are all firm no.
- Friday midday slows the country down for prayers, and Ramadan reverses the day entirely. Neither stops a visitor doing anything, but both are worth knowing before you plan a lunch.
- Politics is discussed openly and often with visitors, and the 2011 revolution is still a live subject. Listening is welcome. Pronouncing verdicts on it is not.
Famous Tunisian faces
Habib Bourguiba
Ons Jabeur
Azzedine Alaïa
Kaouther Ben Hania
Anouar Brahem
Oussama Mellouli
Abdellatif Kechiche
Hend Sabry
Emel Mathlouthi
Latifa
Saber Rebaï
Wahbi Khazri
Ibn Khaldun
Claudia Cardinale
Moufida Tlatli
Habiba Ghribi
Farhat Hached
Hannibal
Must-try Tunisian food
Couscous
The national dish, steamed over a lamb, fish or vegetable broth. UNESCO-listed in 2020.
Brik
Egg, tuna, parsley and capers in thin malsouka pastry, fried. The yolk should run.
Ojja
Tomatoes and peppers cooked down with harissa, eggs cracked in, merguez or prawns added.
Salade mechouia
Grilled peppers, tomatoes and onions chopped with oil and garlic. First on most tables.
Chorba
Thin, peppery frik wheat soup with lamb or fish. Every evening through Ramadan.
Lablabi
Chickpea and cumin broth over stale bread, egg and harissa. The cheapest good breakfast.
Fricassé
Small fried roll of tuna, potato, olives, egg and harissa, eaten standing up.
Harissa
Sun-dried chillies pounded with garlic, caraway and olive oil. UNESCO-listed in 2022.
Assidat zgougou
Aleppo pine seed cream under custard and nuts, made for the Prophet's birthday.
Boukha
Clear fig spirit, Tunisian in origin, drunk cold from a small glass.
Mloukhia
Powdered jute leaf slow-cooked with beef until almost black. Deeply savoury.
Koucha
Lamb shoulder baked slowly in clay with potatoes and paprika. The celebration roast.
Kafteji
Fried peppers, potato, courgette, tomato and egg, chopped together in front of you.
Merguez
Thin lamb and beef sausage red with harissa, grilled over coals, served in bread.
Complet poisson
The coastal plate: grilled fish with rice, salad, chips and a fried pepper.
Grilled daurada
Sea bream over charcoal with lemon and oil, the default order from Bizerte to Djerba.
Poulpe salad
Tender octopus dressed cold with oil, lemon and parsley. A Sfax and Kerkennah habit.
Olive oil
One of the world's largest producers, and it goes in everything. Buy at a co-operative.
Deglet Nour dates
Translucent honey-coloured dates from the Tozeur and Kebili oases, sold on the branch.
Makroudh
Semolina pastry filled with date paste, fried and soaked in syrup. Kairouan's speciality.
Bambalouni
Sugared fried dough ring, sold hot at the top of the steps in Sidi Bou Said.
Zlabia
Loops of batter fried and drenched in syrup, bright orange and everywhere during Ramadan.
Samsa
Almond and sesame pastry triangles in syrup. Small and dense.
Mint tea with pine nuts
Strong, sweet green tea with pine nuts floating on top. The cafe order.
Citronnade
Whole lemon blended with sugar and ice. At every beach cafe from May to September.