Cheap flights to Tunis

Quick summary

Identity

Three thousand years on one train line

Tunis is the capital of Tunisia and the main way into the country, and what sets it apart is how much fits along a single suburban railway. At one end is a living Arab medina on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Next to it runs the French-era "ville nouvelle" along Avenue Habib Bourguiba. Out on the coast are the ruins of Carthage and the blue-and-white hill village of Sidi Bou Said.

The history explains the layers. Carthage was a Phoenician city, destroyed at the end of the Third Punic War and redeveloped by Rome about a century later. Tunis itself was founded by the Arabs in 698, became the Hafsid capital in the 13th century, passed under Ottoman control in 1574 and under a French protectorate in 1881, before independence in 1956.

That makes a day here easy to picture: souks in the morning, Punic and Roman Carthage at midday, mint tea above the Gulf of Tunis at sunset. It is a city break that also works as a base for the north of the country.

Old town

The medina: 700 monuments and souks arranged by trade

The Medina of Tunis has been a World Heritage site since 1979 and holds about 700 monuments: palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains. At its heart is the Zitouna mosque, whose name means "olive tree". Its prayer hall rests on columns reused from Carthage, and its minaret dates from the 19th century. Non-Muslims see the courtyard from a gallery only.

Around it, the souks are narrow covered lanes organised by craft, with the goldsmiths near Bab Bnet. Other stops worth finding are the Sidi Youssef Dey mosque of 1631, the first Ottoman mosque in the city with its octagonal minaret, the Tourbet el-Bey, the 18th-century mausoleum of the Husainid beys, and Dar Ben Abdallah, an 18th-century palace turned folk museum with faience, stucco, costumes and furniture.

The medina meets the French-era city at Bab el Bhar, also called the Porte de France, one of only two original gates still standing. For the classic view over domes and minarets, climb to one of the rooftop cafés west of the Zitouna.

Museum and boulevard

Avenue Habib Bourguiba and the Bardo mosaics

Avenue Habib Bourguiba is the main boulevard of the ville nouvelle. Along it stand the Cathedral of St Vincent de Paul, the Art Nouveau and Art Deco municipal theatre and the clock tower on Place du 14 Janvier. The Parc du Belvédère is the city's main green space, with views over Tunis and its lake.

The Bardo National Museum opened in 1888 in a former beylical palace in the suburb of Le Bardo, on metro line 4. It holds one of the largest collections of Roman mosaics in the world. Look for the Virgil mosaic, a 3rd-century work from Sousse, the Neptune and zodiac mosaics, the bronzes and marbles recovered from the Mahdia shipwreck, leaves of the Blue Koran of Kairouan and the Punic stelae. Allow half a day, and check the opening days before you go.

Archaeology

Carthage: Punic and Roman ruins beside the sea

The archaeological site of Carthage is a UNESCO site in its own right and lies on the TGM suburban line, which has six stations with "Carthage" in their name. Carthage-Hannibal is the stop for the Antonine Baths, the Roman theatre and Byrsa hill.

The Antonine Baths are the ruins of the largest Roman baths outside Rome, set right on the seafront. Byrsa hill has a Punic quarter, the Carthage museum and the former St Louis cathedral, known as the Acropolium. Elsewhere are the Punic tophet with its stelae, the Punic ports, an amphitheatre, cisterns, Roman villas and the Odeon hill.

A single combined ticket covers the scattered sites. They are far apart, so plan on walking or short taxi hops and keep a full half-day for the visit. There is very little shade.

Coast

Sidi Bou Said, La Marsa and Gammarth

Sidi Bou Said is a hilltop village of white houses with blue doors and window grilles above the Gulf of Tunis, also on the TGM line. It is compact, and two to three hours are enough. Ennejma Ezzahra, the palace of Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger, is now a museum and a centre for Arab and Mediterranean music. Dar El Annabi is an 18th-century family house shown as a museum of traditional life.

The Café des Nattes is associated with the painter Paul Klee. The street snack to try is bambalouni, a sugared ring of fried dough, and the local craft is the blue-and-white wire birdcage.

La Marsa is the terminus of the line. Its town beach is popular with people from Tunis at weekends, the Abdelliya Palace dates from the early 16th century, and seafood restaurants line the corniche. Just to the north, Gammarth is the upmarket resort strip, with large hotels, beach clubs, kitesurfing in season and nightlife.

Food and shopping

What to eat and what to buy in Tunis

Couscous is the national dish and in Tunis often comes with fish. Brik is a thin fried pastry wrapped around an egg, lablabi a garlicky chickpea soup, and ojja a pan of eggs poached in tomato, peppers and harissa, often with merguez. Mechouia salad combines grilled peppers and tomatoes with tuna and egg, and fricassé is a small fried sandwich with tuna and harissa. For something sweet, makroudh is a date-filled semolina cake.

Harissa has been on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2022. The cooking of the old Tunis families is described as milder than elsewhere. For fresh fish, go to La Goulette, where you choose the fish and it is grilled or fried to order. Three well-known addresses are Dar El Jeld, for refined Tunisian cuisine in a medina mansion, Café M'Rabet in Souk Trok, and the Café de Paris on Avenue Bourguiba. Alcohol is mostly served in hotels and licensed restaurants.

The souks sell chechias, the red felt caps, along with perfume and essential oils, leather, brass, wooden boxes inlaid with nacre and scarves. Bargaining is expected, and first prices are often two to three times the final one.

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Tunis airport

A single, quick gateway from Europe

From the airport, take a metered taxi and insist on the meter, bearing in mind that night fares are higher, or use the public bus to the Tunis Marine terminus. There is no luggage storage at the airport. Ferries arrive at the port of La Goulette, about 15 minutes from the centre.

In the city, the TGM suburban train from Tunis Marine to La Goulette, Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and La Marsa is the key line for visitors; check locally how it is running before you rely on it. The light metro has five tram lines with hubs at Place de Barcelone and Place de la République, and yellow taxis are metered. Shared taxis, called louages, leave from Bab Saadoun for the north and west, Bab Alioua for the south and Cap Bon, and Moncef Bey for central and southern Tunisia.

When to go

When to visit Tunis?

The climate is Mediterranean and warmer than on the European shore. Winter is the rainy season, yet nights rarely drop below 10 °C and frost is exceptional. Summer is hot and dry, with heatwaves above 40 °C. Spring and early autumn are the best periods, and March to early April and late October to November are the quiet, pleasant windows on the coast. July and August are the least comfortable months for walking the medina and the shadeless ruins of Carthage. In autumn the sea is still warm enough for swimming.

Day trips and planning

Bizerte, Ichkeul and how long to stay

Bizerte is a port city on the north coast, with several trains a day from Tunis taking around two hours, as well as shared taxis. It has an old port lined with cafés, a kasbah that is a walled warren of houses with a mosque, the Spanish Fort on the hill north of town, a small oceanographic museum and a beach north of the kasbah. Nearby Ichkeul National Park is a freshwater lake with marshes, where migrating ducks, geese and flamingos gather in the cool season.

Other day trips named from Tunis are Uthina, a Roman city with an amphitheatre, cisterns and an aqueduct, as well as Dougga, Kerkouane, Kairouan and El Jem.

One day covers the medina, with the Zitouna, the souks, a rooftop and a mansion, plus Avenue Bourguiba. Two days let you add the Bardo in the morning, then Carthage and sunset at Sidi Bou Said. With three or four days you have beach time at La Marsa or Gammarth and one day trip. Watch for unsolicited "guides" on Avenue Bourguiba and at the medina gates, who steer visitors to shops.

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FAQ

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