Tunisia

Entry is simple — visa-free for 90 days for the main Western passports, with an onward ticket and accommodation sometimes requested at immigration. The thing that catches people out is the money: the Tunisian dinar is a closed, non-convertible currency. You can’t buy it abroad and can’t legally take it out, so you change euros, dollars or sterling on arrival (airport, bank, ATM) and spend it all before you leave.

Keep your official exchange receipts — they’re needed to reconvert leftover dinars on departure (an ATM receipt won’t do), and reconversion is capped.

Change money in small batches and keep the receipts: you can’t take dinars out, reconversion on exit is limited (and needs those official receipts, not ATM slips), so aim to run down your cash before the airport. Draw what you’ll need on the coast before heading into the Sahara, where ATMs are scarce.

The capital, Tunis, has a UNESCO-listed medina and sits beside the ruins of ancient Carthage — a scattered seaside archaeological zone (Antonine Baths, Byrsa Hill, the Punic ports) covered by a single ticket. Just along the coast, Sidi Bou Said is the blue-and-white clifftop village that fills every Tunisia brochure.

The must-see museum is the Bardo, holding one of the world’s great collections of Roman mosaics; it reopened in September 2023 after a long (largely political) closure, and security at it and other sites has been heavily reinforced since the 2015 attack.

Do Carthage and Sidi Bou Said together on the TGM light rail from Tunis — Carthage’s sites are spread across a seaside suburb (one combined ticket), and the blue village is the next stop. The Bardo is a separate half-day in Tunis; check it’s open on the day, as its hours have shifted since reopening.

Tunisia was a wealthy corner of Rome, and the ruins show it — often empty of other visitors. El Djem’s amphitheatre is the showstopper, Colosseum-scale and remarkably intact; Dougga is a near-complete Roman town spread over a hillside; and Bulla Regia is the curiosity, its villas built half-underground against the heat, their mosaic floors still in place.

For anyone who loves classical sites, these three justify the trip on their own — and you’ll rarely queue.

Pair El Djem with the coast (it’s on the Tunis–Sousse–Sfax railway), but Dougga and Bulla Regia need a car or a tour inland from Tunis — they’re not on the train. Go early for El Djem to have the amphitheatre to yourself and beat the midday heat on the exposed stone.

The Tunisian Sahara is unusually accessible. Douz is the “gateway to the Sahara” for camel treks; Ksar Ghilane a remote dune-oasis camp; and the western oases of Tozeur and Nefta the base for crossing the great Chott el Djerid salt flat. Scattered through it are the Star Wars sites — the troglodyte homes of Matmata (the Lars homestead), the purpose-built Mos Espa set at Ong Jmel, and the Chott’s twin-suns horizon.

It’s a desert you can sample in a couple of days by guided 4x4, flying into Tozeur to skip the long drive.

• The Star Wars pilgrimageSkipgoing it alone on desert tracksGoa guided 4x4 from Tozeur to Mos Espa, Matmata and the Chott
• A dune-and-camel nightSkipa quick photo stopGoa desert camp at Ksar Ghilane or out of Douz
• Saving the long drive southSkipthe 8-hour roadGoa domestic flight to Tozeur or Djerba

Do the south by guided 4x4, not a self-drive — the desert tracks, the Chott causeway and the scattered film sets are hard to navigate alone, and the heat is unforgiving. Base in Tozeur (fly in to save the 8-hour road), and give the dunes an overnight camp rather than a rushed day loop.

Tunisia’s Mediterranean coast is its package-holiday heart: Hammamet on Cap Bon, and the Sahel resorts of Sousse and Monastir, each pairing beaches with a historic (UNESCO) medina and an airport. It’s the easy, cheap sun-and-sand side of the country.

Further south lies the island of Djerba — beaches, the whitewashed town of Houmt Souk, and a deep Jewish heritage centred on the ancient El Ghriba synagogue, a pilgrimage site; the island’s traditional settlement pattern earned a UNESCO listing in 2023.

The coast is for a beach-and-culture mix — base in Sousse or Hammamet for easy medina-plus-sand days, or Djerba for the island version with its Jewish heritage. These resort areas sit well outside every security “Do Not Travel” zone (next section), so the common safety worry doesn’t apply to them.

Aim for spring (March–May) or autumn (September–November), comfortable countrywide; summer is beach season on the coast but brutal in the desert, and winter is mild on the coast with cold desert nights. Watch for the hot chergui wind, which can spike southern temperatures and haze the views.

On safety: Tunisia is rated US Level 2 — the same as much of southern Europe — and the resort-and-sights corridor is entirely outside the “Do Not Travel” zones, which cover only the Algeria/Libya border strips and a few interior mountains. A state of emergency grants extra powers, so steer clear of demonstrations.

Keep the security map in proportion: the coast and the main sites are fine, and the real “Do Not Travel” areas are remote border strips you’d never cross on a normal trip. Re-check the advisory close to travel (the state of emergency runs through end-2026), avoid any protests, and the day-to-day risks are ordinary — petty theft and taxi overcharging.

In the north, Tunisia moves on louages (shared taxis that leave when full — the fast, cheap intercity backbone) and the aging but cheap SNCFT trains (the Tunis–Sousse–Sfax line). The TGM light rail makes the Carthage and Sidi Bou Said day-trip effortless.

For the Sahara, take a guided 4x4 rather than driving yourself, or fly into Tozeur or Djerba to skip the long haul south. You drive on the right, and should expect frequent police checkpoints — carry your passport.

Expect police/security checkpoints, especially heading south — have your passport and (if driving) rental papers handy and cooperate; it’s routine. Flying to Tozeur or Djerba turns an eight-hour drive into an hour and is well worth it for a short Sahara add-on.

Tunisia is cheap by European standards — food, transport and hotels are all low-cost — though the closed dinar means changing money on arrival (see entry). It’s a majority-Muslim country where French is widely spoken alongside Arabic, so a little French goes a long way, and dress is modest at religious sites. During Ramadan, daytime eating and café hours shrink and the pace slows.

The table is a highlight — couscous, the crisp egg-and-tuna brik, fiery harissa, grilled coastal fish and sweet mint tea — and haggling is expected in the souks, where agreeing a price up front saves friction.

Carry small change for site fees and the camera-permit surcharges many monuments add, and treat souk prices as a starting point — a friendly back-and-forth is expected, not rude. During Ramadan, plan around reduced daytime dining, and dress modestly (covered shoulders and knees) at mosques and shrines.