The Tunisia Companion An independent guide to the coast, the ruins, the medinas and the desert.
The Tunisia Companion
Sidi Bou Saïd Is Small, and Best Early
The Coast · The guide starts here

Sidi Bou Saïd Is Small, and Best Early

The blue and white is a preservation rule, not an accident. Come before the coaches and it is a hill village above the gulf; come after and it is a queue with a view.

By The Tunisia Companion·The Coast·4 min read

A country most people know as a beach, which is also Roman, Punic, Ottoman, and mostly desert.

No listings, no bookings, nothing that expires. Seventeen guides to where things are, what survives of them, and how far apart they really sit.

Newest first

The guide, as it stands

Five to start with. The rest of the roster is one tap below, or laid out by section.

Where the Desert Actually Starts
The Sahara

Where the Desert Actually Starts

Past the salt, past the oases, and later than most itineraries assume. Erg, reg and hammada — and why the chott is none of them.

By The Tunisia Companion·The Sahara·7 min read

In the back pocket

Organisations we travel Tunisia beside.

Nothing on this site is a booking.

The signature

Layers of history

Six occupations, read as strata — deepest first. Which sites belong to which, and what each layer left behind. Most sites belong to more than one.

Deepest layerMost recent

  1. 01

    Punic

    What Rome mostly built over — except at Kerkouane.

    Carthage Kerkouane

    What to look forAshlar walls, cothon harbours, tophet enclosures.

  2. 02

    Roman

    The province was rich, and it shows in the stone.

    El Jem Dougga Sbeitla

    What to look forAmphitheatres, capitolia, paved forums, mosaic floors.

  3. 03

    Arab

    Ribats, great mosques and the medina plan.

    Kairouan Sousse Monastir

    What to look forMinarets, ribat towers, souks ringed by trade.

  4. 04

    Ottoman

    Tilework, courtyards and an Andalusian import.

    Tunis palaces Testour

    What to look forGlazed tile, marble columns, octagonal minarets.

  5. 05

    French

    A grid laid beside the medina rather than through it.

    The ville nouvelle Bizerte

    What to look forBoulevards, arcades, shuttered apartment blocks.

  6. 06

    Independent

    The building boom that made the beach the country's image.

    Coastal modernism Djerba

    What to look forLow white hotels, concrete arcades, resort strips.

Names in blue link through to a guide. Testour and the coastal building boom are described inside other guides rather than carrying their own.

Everything, where it actually is

The map

Seventeen guides pinned at true coordinates, clickable through. The index beside it is the same set, grouped the way the country divides — so it works with or without the map.

Tunis — open the guide Tunis Carthage — open the guide Carthage Sidi Bou Saïd — open the guide Sidi Bou Saïd Bizerte — open the guide Bizerte Cap Bon (Kelibia) — open the guide Cap Bon Kerkouane — open the guide Kerkouane Dougga — open the guide Dougga Kairouan — open the guide Kairouan Sousse — open the guide Sousse El Jem — open the guide El Jem Sbeitla — open the guide Sbeitla Chott el Djerid — open the guide Chott el Djerid Tozeur — open the guide Tozeur Matmata — open the guide Matmata Djerba — open the guide Djerba
  • The Coast
  • Ancient Sites
  • Medinas & Cities
  • The Sahara
Pins are coloured by section. Governorate outlines and coastline from Natural Earth, public domain.

01The north and the gulf

Tunis and its bay: the capital, the ancient hill and the harbour cities.

02Cap Bon

The peninsula that closes the gulf — citrus, low cliffs, and the one untouched Punic town.

03The Sahel and the interior

Inland and down the coast: the amphitheatre, the ribats, and two Roman towns in farmland.

04The south and the desert

Past the salt: the oases, the pit houses, the dune edge — and the island that sits apart.

Food & Table has no pin: mint tea and the bread stall are everywhere.

Approximate driving times

How far is it really

Not promises. Roads, weather and the hour of the day all argue with these.

  • Tunis Sidi Bou Saïd

    ½ hour

    The lagoon light rail beats the road and drops you below the village.

  • Tunis Dougga

    2 hours

    No railway near it. Give it the whole day, or don't go.

  • Tunis El Jem

    2½ hours

    On the main southern line; the train is the sensible option.

  • Tunis Kairouan

    2 hours

    Inland and hotter than the coast by several degrees.

  • Tozeur Matmata

    4 hours

    Longer than the map suggests. The road bends around the chott.

  • Tunis Djerba

    7 hours

    Fly, or accept that the drive is the day.

When to be where

The season band

When the coast, the interior and the desert are each actually pleasant. They are rarely pleasant at the same time.

Good monthsNot the season

The coastMay–June, September–October

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D

July and August are hot and full; the sea is warmest in September.

The medinas and inland townsMarch–May, October–November

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D

Walkable. Midsummer inland is punishing after mid-morning.

The Sahara and the oasesNovember–March

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D

Cold at night, sometimes near freezing. Summer is genuinely dangerous.

The northern hillsApril–June

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D

Green for a short window, then not.

Already met on the road

The regulars

Organisations whose names travel the same roads, souks and shorelines we do.