Best Things to Do in Tunisia: Roman Ruins, Medinas and the Sahara

The Medina of Tunis and the Bardo: Start at the Beating Heart

Begin in the capital, where the Medina of Tunis tumbles across seven kilometres of alleyways behind Bab el Bhar, the old French gate at the head of Avenue Habib Bourguiba. This is a UNESCO-listed labyrinth of some 700 monuments, and the natural entry point is the Zitouna Mosque, founded in the 8th century and still the spiritual anchor of the city. Around it radiate the souks, each devoted to a single trade: Souk El Attarine for perfume, Souk des Étoffes for fabric, and the dwindling Souk des Chechias, where craftsmen still press red felt into the traditional chechia hats. Half a day on foot is enough to get pleasantly lost, and a licensed local guide pays for itself within an hour — the medina swallows maps and spits out tourists.

Carthage and Sidi Bou Said: Rome's Greatest Rival, Twenty Minutes Away

A short train ride from central Tunis drops you in Carthage, the Phoenician trading empire that nearly broke Rome and was destroyed for its ambition in 146 BC, then rebuilt as a Roman showpiece. The essential stops are the Antonine Baths, a colossal seaside complex that was once the largest in the Roman world, the hilltop Byrsa with its Punic and Roman layers, and the Carthage National Museum, whose mosaics and tombstones tell the story in sequence. The Roman theatre hosts the Carthage International Festival in July and August, when open-air concerts fill the tiered seating — a genuinely spectacular way to see the ruins after dark.

Nearby Sidi Bou Said is the postcard everyone recognises: whitewashed walls, cobalt-blue doors, and bougainvillea spilling over wrought-iron grilles. Come early morning or late afternoon when the light is soft and the day-trippers have thinned out. Climb to the terrace cafés for mint tea and a view across the Gulf of Tunis, and wander into the Ennejma Ezzahra palace and Dar El Annabi, a beautifully preserved traditional house open to visitors. Both sites are easy to combine in one unhurried day.

Kairouan and El Jem: Sacred Architecture and a Roman Colossus

Two hours south of Tunis, Kairouan is the fourth holiest city in Islam and the finest surviving example of an early Islamic capital in the Maghreb. Its Great Mosque of Uqba, founded in 670 AD, is a fortress-like masterpiece with a massive square minaret, hundreds of ancient columns pillaged from Roman sites, and a vast flagstone courtyard. Non-Muslims enter the courtyard but not the prayer hall — dress modestly, cover shoulders and knees. Also worth seeking out are the Mosque of the Three Doors with its carved facade, the Aghlabid Basins, and the Zaouia of Sidi Sahab. The medina is famous for hand-knotted Kairouan carpets; if you buy, expect serious negotiation and a proper carpet show.

Dougga and the Roman North: The Ruins Most Travellers Miss

If you see one Roman site in Tunisia, make it Dougga. Perched on a hillside of olive groves about two hours west of Tunis, this UNESCO-listed town is arguably the best-preserved small Roman city in North Africa, and you will often have its Capitol, theatre, temples and bathhouses almost to yourself. The Libyo-Punic mausoleum on the edge of the site predates the Romans by two centuries. Spring is ideal, when wildflowers thread through the stones, but there is almost no shade — carry water and start early.

The north holds more quiet marvels. Bulla Regia is famous for villas built partly underground to escape the summer heat, their floor mosaics still vivid in the cool. Sbeitla's three temples rise in a row against the sky, Chemtou was the source of prized Numidian marble, and Ichkeul National Park, near Bizerte, becomes a haven for hundreds of thousands of migrating waterfowl between November and February. A rental car makes these sites realistic; otherwise, shared louages and a hired taxi for the day are the practical workaround.

The Sahel Coast: Sousse, Monastir, Hammamet and Djerba

Tunisia's eastern seaboard is where beaches and history sit a short walk apart. In Sousse, the 8th-century Ribat — the oldest fortress of its kind in North Africa — rises straight from the medina walls, and the Archaeological Museum below it holds one of the country's finest mosaic collections, including a famous depiction of the seasons. The Grande Mosquée, a short stroll away, is another reminder that this was a frontier port long before it was a resort. Monastir, half an hour south, has its own Ribat with sea views and the marble Bourguiba Mausoleum.

Further north, Hammamet combines a compact kasbah with a long, sheltered beach and the purpose-built marina at Yasmine Hammamet. Offshore, Djerba is a world apart: flat, palm-scattered and unhurried, with the market town of Houmt Souk, the ancient El Ghriba synagogue, and the pottery village of Guellala. Late spring and early autumn give the best swimming without the July and August crowds.

The coastal shoulder seasons are the sweet spot: sea temperatures are still comfortable, prices drop noticeably outside July and August, and the ruins are far more pleasant to wander. Sousse works well as a base for El Jem and Kairouan, while Hammamet and Djerba suit slower beach days.

Into the Sahara: Tozeur, the Salt Flats and the Desert Ksour

The deep south is where Tunisia stops looking Mediterranean and starts looking like another planet. Do

Douz is the classic gateway: a small town on the edge of the Grand Erg Oriental where camel treks range from an afternoon to a full week, and the December Festival of the Sahara fills the sand with riders in traditional dress. From here, four-wheel-drive routes push out to Ksar Ghilane, an oasis with a warm spring surrounded by dunes, and south to Tataouine, Chenini, Douiret and Ksar Ouled Soltane — fortified granaries clinging to ridges that film-makers have borrowed more than once.

Plan the desert between October and April, when days are warm and nights cold enough to want a jacket. Distances are long, roads are good but empty, and a local driver-guide is worth the money for the off-road stretches. Carry cash: ATMs thin out fast beyond Tozeur and Douz.