Tunisia Travel Forum

Hi folks

I'm planning my vaccations in Tunisia this August. Would like to hear advices from those of you who have experied that destination, expecially where to stay and what is a must see.
Thanks a lot.

The Bardo Museum in Tunis is a must see.

Take a look here.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/21dba/#TL

Joan

I have the best memories about Douz, the gateway to the desert. Lots of friendly people around!
Kairouan is also worth seeing, it's one of the biggest muslim cities in the world. Just be careful about the carpet sellors, they tend to be a bit annoying.
Greetz, have fun!

Lots of Must Sees in Tunisia............................ The huge Roman ampitheatre in El Djem, visit the Sahara desert south of Douz & the salt lakes at Tozour. Tunis is a relaxed pleasant capital city to wander around.

Try to get a seat on the Red Lizard train which takes your high in to the Atlas mountains. I found the ancient city of karouan a wonderful attack on the senses, its the 4th or 5th most holy city in Islam, & had a great medieval feel to it.

Matmata is where the people still live in Troglodite (underground) houses & also where part of Star Wars were filmed, also there is the Oasis at Gabes, where there is a huge Palmery plantation you can visit. At Nebul there is a huge camel market on Fridays.

Not forgetting the great beaches to be found here.

More info & photos of the above are all on my Tunisia page if you are interested.

Hope this helps, Have a wonderful trip

Nicola
(~_~)

Hi Boris, now, I have the answer to one of my questions !

It depends of how long you have. I assume that you will have a car and that you arrive in Tunis.
Are you going to stay somewhere or travel ? As it seems to be your first visit, my advice would be to travel and get an overview of the whole country.
The must see is mostly along the eastern coast.

* Tunis, the medina and the souk, the musee des Arts et Traditions populaires, the ''Parc du Belvedere'' (great view on the town but beware of thiefs, keep close to your belongings while watching the landscape), out of town the Bardo museum, Cartago.
* Sidi-Bou-Said nice but very touristy (''the tunisian Saint-Tropez'')
* Around the Cap Bon
* Nabeul, Hammamet
* Takrouna, Hergla : mountain berber villages
* Thuburbo Majus : magnificient roman remains in a great surroundings. A must see.
* Kairouan, of course. You cannot skip sousse, but don't waste your time.
* Monastir (birth place of Bourguiba), beautiful little town.
Mahdia. Fishing port with beautiful houses. Not touristy but worth a visit.
* El Djem, of course.
* The Kerkenna islands, if you have enough time.

* The south. Depends of the time you have. Look at my 2002 round trip Djerba,Gabes, Gafsa, Metlaoui (the red lizzard !), Tozeur, Nefta, the chott El Djerid (hot but wonderful in summer), Kebili, Douz, Matmata and back to Djerba. The south can be pretty hot in summer. I remember of a previous trip in August with 52°C in Tozeur during day, which was OK because dry, and 48°C at midnight which was too much. That was a heat wave !

* The North (from Tunis), depending of time.
Mateur
Tabarka
Ain Draham pass
Dougga (roman remains in very good condition)

Sh..., too long...

Following.

Tunisia is not a very big country but nevertheless there is a lot to visit. I can give more detailed tips (sorry, I have built only my ''south'' page but not the remaining of Tunisia). I should be leaving home on july 19th and will be off line after that, then, if you want any precisions, hurry up !

Most tunisian speak french, some speak italian (on the coast and mainly in the north), few speak english (hotels, students). Will you find one speaking croat ? Why not ? That will be your challenge :-)))

Jean-Louis

Wow, plenty of very good tips, thank you very much folks.
No, Jean-Louis, unfortunately I am flying to Tunis and staying there 10-14 days only. You've suggest so many tips as I am moving there, LOL.
Once again, thank you all for your very kind answer and useful tip. I promice to make a good page on Tunis.

Then you will have to rely on train or bus. Trains are not fast but reliable (timetable). Busses are a little cheaper but slower than trains. You might also find organized day trips in your hotel
http://voyagez.branchez-vous.com/destinations/tunisie/depla.html

If you choose the train, you can get a ''carte bleue'' (blue card'') for € 56.45 that gives free access to all trains for 15 days (except the Red Lizzard and the Tunis-La Goulette tramway). Time-tables should be found on the site of the french SNCF (national railway company) but that does not work. But you can get them in french or german on the following websites of Fahrplancenter
http://www.fahrplancenter.com/Tunesische_Chemindefer_SNCFT.html
http://www.fahrplancenter.com/Fahrplan_SNCFT.html

You have for example :
TUNIS ? BIZERTE( 1:30)
TUNIS - SOUSSE ? El Jem (3:00)- SFAX ? GABÈS(6:00) ? METLAOUI
TUNIS ? NABEUL (1:40) - MONASTIR (3:00)- MAHDIA (4:00)

You will have time to visit in depth Tunis and surroundings including the Bardo museum and Carthage. Don't miss taking the tramway that goes from Tunis to La Goulette.
By train, you will be able to visit Nabeul, Hammamet, El Jem, Monastir, Mahdia and Gabes.
For Kairouan, you can either go to Sousse and take a bus in Sousse or find a regular bus in Tunis or find a day trip. Don't miss Kairouan.
Gabes, to my point, is very deceiving. The palmgrove has been parly ''eaten'' by the town. There is a famous waterfall, which is famous on desert standards but that we would not even take care at home. You have to little time to waste it in Gabes. Should you go to the south ? It's up to you, but I wonder if you have enough time.

I will send you tips on restaurants in Tunis. Caution, Tunisian cooking is good but HOT. If you like hot, it is OK (I do !). If you don't, take care.

i really enjoyed the eastern part of tunisia, next to the algerian border.
sfax is a pleasant town to spend a couple of days too.

>>i really enjoyed the eastern part of tunisia, next to the algerian border.<<

Claus, you mean western I guess. Yes the north western part around Tabarka and Cabo Negro is very pleasant. I have stuff to build a page but not the time ! The south western, Tozeur, Nefta, Chebika is very different but very spectacular. I have been there recently and enjoyed it a lot. The central western has less interest, though the ruins of Sbeitla and Thelepte are interesting.

ooops.
sure, i meant the western part.