When our cruise from South Africa to Italy was cancelled, we needed a backup plan to get to Italy by May 1. I looked at the map of Italy, zoomed out, and saw a piece of land in North Africa jutting out. Sicily’s neighbor… Tunisia! 

A few travelers in my circle had recently visited Tunisia and were pleasantly surprised. So we fired up Google Flights and found a Qatar Airways flight that got us to Tunis, and then a ferry from Tunis to Palermo, Italy. This hit our requirements so we booked it. 

North Africa can be interesting for booking award flights because zone-based airlines will either put it in an Africa zone, a Europe zone, or a MENA (Middle East / North Africa) zone. This can create opportunities to save miles and have a nice stopover in Tunisia, Morocco, or Algeria.

Why Tunisia? History, culture, food, people. All the same reasons we visit other places. This reel showcases the highlights from our week. We had a great week here and are planning to return! The April weather was cooler than anticipated, and we are excited to head back when the sea and air are warm. The traffic was a little crazy and there are so many cats!

Here we go…

We arrived at the airport midday. As soon as I went through Tunisian passport control, I realized that I left my cardigan sweater on the plane. Hoping to contact the gate agent or the cleaning crew, I was directed to the “retained objects” office, where an employee with a heavy French accent and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth told me to wait 30 minutes, and the sweater would be brought to the counter. It never showed up. So we gave up and proceeded to exit.

Tunisia is very strict on currency import/export. Foreign currency worth more than than 5000 TND (Tunisian dinars, around $1500 USD) should be declared. Ignore this rule at your peril. There is a separate customs counter for currency, and you will need 9 TND to obtain the “stamp” from customs. Head to the ATM or currency exchange first, obtain some TND, then stand in line to declare your foreign currency. You will receive a stamped form that can then be used to leave the country with that currency.

While credit cards are accepted in most establishments, you will encounter enough cash-only spots that it will be hard to be in Tunisia without withdrawing some TND. Uber was not available in Tunis. Bolt was, although only cash payments are accepted by the drivers!

But don’t end up with more TND that you are going to spend: the country is a closed-currency system, and entering or leaving the country with dinars is forbidden. In practice, we think it unlikely that the Tunisian workers who travel to foreign countries come and go with empty wallets. But you are not Tunisian, so either spend your TND in the country or exchange it on the way out, to avoid issues at the border.

Eventually we left the airport with our dinars and walked into the sunshine where a friendly driver in a Bolt rideshare took us to our rental apartment in La Marsa.

La Marsa

We rented an apartment from Airbnb in a suburb of Tunis which is located along the beautiful coastline. There were several things walkable from our apartment. 

After getting settled we walked around the neighborhood and along the corniche, the sidewalk overlooking the beach area. We were both pretty tired after a long travel day, so we stopped at a cute Italian spot for wood-fired pizza and seafood spaghetti, and then went to bed early. We’ll have time for true Tunisian food later, but to be fair, their cuisine is influenced by both Italian and French cooking.

Sidi Bou Said

The next morning we slept in and then walked to arguably the prettiest suburb of Tunis, Sidi Bou Said. We meandered through the streets and just before arriving to the famed maze of white and blue houses, we stumbled into a highly rated non-touristy restaurant, Chez Weld Moufida, for our foray into Tunisian cuisine.

We ate octopus couscous and madfouna (a thick stew made with cow hooves and lots of chopped chard). The most surprising thing was the heaping bowl of baguettes placed on the table, which we found was consistent in Tunisia. The dishes were flavorful especially with the added harissa and garlic. 

After that we walked through Sidi Bou Said and took the long way down to the waterfront, where there is a beach and marina. We walked around the point and followed the road back up the cliffs to the main part of town. It was a climb back to the top but the seaside views made it worth it!

We toured the Ennejma Ezzahra Palace, a large home completed in 1922 and built by Baron Rodolphe d’Erlanger, the man responsible for the white-and-blue paint scheme in the city.

We also toured the nearby Museum Dar el-Annabi, a large family home. Entry to both homes are inexpensive and they each show a slice of Tunisian family life 100 years ago (at least for affluent families).

The streets were extremely photogenic and around each corner was a cute cat and an interesting door. We tried our first bombolone: a freshly-fried ring donut covered in sugar, sold for about 30 cents USD.

To return, we took the TGM train to La Marsa, as it was only a few stops, and cost around 15 cents USD per person. This old commuter service shows its age, but the worst part was trying to exit a busy train while dozens of passengers are simultaneously trying to enter! Everyone blocks each other and I hate it!

The next day we went back to Sidi Bou Said for a private hammam experience inside the La Menara Hotel. It was the most exquisite and nourishing spa experience I’ve ever had. 

Luxury doesn’t always need a big price tag. For about $125 USD we received a private Turkish bath experience for two, including body scrub and full body massage. And it was just me and Corey for more than three hours! 

After the spa we walked through the cute streets of Sidi Bou Said and stopped for pizza lunch. We had a 10-cheese pizza, with a whole burrata on top! 

That evening we grabbed a taxi to the City of Culture complex in the center of Tunis. There we saw see Elizabeth Sombart, a French pianist, play Chopin’s Nocturnes. The recital was only an hour but a beautiful concert.

From there we walked the CBD looking for a light dinner. After about 10 minutes of walking down dirty, gritty dark streets we found a small sandwich shop open. The guy was friendly and we each tried a makloub, a flatbread sandwich rolled-and-grilled like a burrito. Corey opted for chicken and I chose veggie only, with fries added to the sandwich.

Tunis

Getting into the groove of city touring the next day we headed to the Bardo Museum, which is a little outside of downtown Tunis. We had been using Bolt for most of our trips, but this time we hailed a cab on the street. We had read that metered cabs would be less expensive than Bolt, but on this trip, the meter was higher than what Bolt charged. Possibly we were long-hauled, but it was hard to tell on the map. We stuck to Bolt for the rest of our trips.

The Bardo Museum holds an extensive collection of mosaics and artifacts found in nearby Carthage and other Tunisian archeological sites. We decided to visit Bardo before walking around the ruins of Carthage hoping to be armed with more information about the ancient city. (We ended up turning to YouTube and that was a fun rabbit hole! Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Ottomans… who hasn’t ruled Carthage?)

The museum also showcased items from a nearby shipwreck. Experts think this may have been a commercial shipment to either Rome or Pompeii. We will be touring those cities soon and we really enjoy see how these ancient lands connected many centuries ago.

The building itself is a 15th Century palace, so walking through the rooms and admiring the intricate design was also part of the fun.

After the museum, we hopped in a cab to meander through the medina, the ancient chaotic maze of the downtown core of the city. Folks often say that Tunis is like the little cousin of Morocco. Apparently the medina experience is similar, but possibly it is better in Tunis, as we have read that Moroccan shopkeepers are quite aggressive.

But for our experience, it was Sunday afternoon and 99% of the place was closed. The streets were narrow but the gates were down covering the shops, and only a few cats and some noisy motorbikes were found. It was a different perspective than what we were expecting. We walked through the narrow streets anyway and eventually made our way to the Bab el Bhar, the Sea Gate. Originally where the medina met the port area, this space was filled in and now this gate represents the transition to the modern city.

We strolled down the wide boulevard Avenue Habib Bourguiba and admired the European-style architecture. It is a modern part of the city with street art, flower shops, and many sidewalk cafes. We rested by the clocktower and fountain and enjoyed people-watching. After a bit we weaved through the cars in a busy roundabout and headed to the TGM station to head back. It was unclear the reason, but we were told that there was no train to La Marsa but service was being provided by bus. Corey was up for it but I took it as a sign to take a taxi. It’s about a 30-minute ride from Tunis to Marsa, and it cost less than $10 USD to take a cab.

Carthage

Micro History Lesson: Carthage is an ancient city that was first settled by a group of Phoenicians from the area now known as Lebanon. It was mostly destroyed and rebuilt by the Romans, then conquered by the Vandals, the Byzantines, and Arabs, and eventually destroyed for good. Now Carthage is an outlying neighborhood of Tunis. Some of the archeological sites just sit in ruins and others have been reconstructed. There is still uncovering taking place!

Our path to Carthage started from our apartment in La Marsa, and it was a nice 40-minute warm-up walk to get to the ancient city. Some sites require the purchase of a ticket, but that ticket allows for entry to all of the Carthage sites. We decided to walk around to the various sites, and by the end of the day we had walked around 10 miles on foot. If this is too much walking for you, taxis are readily available to serve as transportation for the day. Alternatively, you could take a taxi to the top of Byrsa Hill, see those sites, then walk downhill to the Roman Theater and Roman Villas areas, then continue down to the Baths of Antonius and Archeological Park. That cuts the walking to around 1.5 miles (plus walking around the sites), and you get the highlights. But we spent the whole day putting in the miles. You’ve seen what we eat. Walking helps us feel good about the amazing dishes we consume.

Our first stop was the Cisterns of La Malga and Zaghouan Aqueduct, a grand Roman public works project that does not require a ticket and is basically open for exploration. This means no signage or information about what you see. From there we walked to the Roman Amphitheater. Think gladiator arena, not the semi-circular Roman Theater. Ticket required, and also no signage.

We climbed Byrsa Hill where we went into the St. Louis Cathedral (aka the Acropolium), the Roman Forum and Citadel ruins, and the outside of the Carthage Museum (currently closed for renovations). This hill provides good views of Tunis, and you can imagine how the city extended down the hill to the Punic Port.

Down the other side of the hill toward the water is the Roman Theater (mostly a reconstruction but a good place to rest feet) and Roman Villas areas.

Then on the waterfront is the Baths of Antonius and the neighboring Archeological Park of Carthage. To us, the immense bath complex was the most impressive site of the day. We have toured several ruins in Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Spain and have never seen a bath complex like the one in Carthage. There is one column set up in the middle to show the height of the former structure. But it is challenging to visualize Olympic-sized swimming pools when there’s no water and the construction is in ruins. YouTube videos have been informative to pair with visits like this, so we can see videos of the ruins contrasted with animated reconstructions.

From there, a walk south along the waterfront led to the Magon Quarter, a small neighborhood that consisted of crafts workshops and the residences for the workers. Further down is the Punic Port, which is still in use for small vessels, but is not really worth the walk since there is not much to see there at ground level.

The Salammbo Tophet was the hardest site for us to find. The site is shown on Google Maps but without an entrance. Head to the west side via Rue Hannibal. Google shows a road on the east side that no longer exists: it has been dug up for archeological purposes!

This was an interesting site because the surviving history of the Carthaginians was written by those who conquered them. So we know the site was used for religious purposes as well as a graveyard for children. What is uncertain is whether the site was used for human sacrifice, or if this was a slander promulgated by the Romans. The site itself is small and laid out haphazardly. There is very little signage, but there were a few locals looking to perform tour guide services.

Carthage was a very long and tiring day, but to us, was worth the effort and the small cost for the consolidated ticket.

Gammarth

Beach day! Gammarth is a town just north of La Marsa known for its beaches. Again on foot, we walked through more of La Marsa and focused on avenues we had not explored yet. Eventually we made it to the far north end of the Marsa beach and continued northwest on the sand. The sand turned into stones and eventually we were walking on the riprap at the bottom of a seawall. We managed to scramble on concrete blocks and avoid shallow waves crashing on the shore. Between two residences we found a mostly-collapsed staircase that we scrambled up to reach the road and continue our coastal hike.

We made it around the point where we tried to keep toward the water, but a security guard prevented us from continuing toward the area of the Gammarth marina, stating that it was private. So we kept walking north down the road when something strange happened. Police, security personnel, and a blockade were set up on the road. Plainclothes officers stepped in front of us, asked us to stay on the sidewalk and also politely asked to look inside our backpack. They were friendly but not in the business of telling us what was going on. A few minutes later a motorcade rolled by and then entered a large fancy gated property just across the street from us. Clearly a head of state or dignitary was visiting. We noticed a few foreign flags hung around the area, including an Algerian flag flying outside the property. Once the two-dozen or so cars had all entered we were free to continue down the road. So that was interesting!

The scenery was drab at this point but we continued down another mile and stopped at the Four Seasons Hotel for a drink. Even in a country with affordable prices, the menus at Four Seasons remain spendy. We had seen a lot less on this hike than anticipated and we were hungry so we enjoyed some beverages and a volcano-styled dessert pizza on the terrace while basking in the sun.

It was one of those days that was warm in the sun but cold in the shade, and with the afternoon getting late we took a Bolt taxi back to La Marsa to have a real dinner. There may have been more of Gammarth Beach north of the Four Seasons that was worth seeing, but along the stretch we explored, we did not see any accessible beach options.

In contrast to the high-priced Four Seasons, let me introduce you to Tunisian lablabi! You are handed a bowl with a loaf of bread. You tear the bread into chunks and hand the bowl back to the kitchen. They will it with broth, chickpeas, harissa, and some other options. Then a raw egg is cracked to cook in the hot stew as it is stirred together. It was a hearty bowl of deliciousness for around $2 USD, and worth every penny!

More of Tunis

We went back to the medina one last time to experience the chaos during opening hours. Again we started at the west side at the Kasbah, intending to walk through west-to-east. This time we walked a different path, with some particular alleys and souks (markets) to see. After some exploration where we got a little lost, we decided to try to go to Panorama Cafe, a rooftop cafe with a view over the large Zitouna Mosque. That is when we got very lost. Walking in circles, we tried to avoid looking at our phones, but it was hopeless. Apparently this is common, as several local touts approached us to guide us to “the panorama.” We shrugged them off and kept looking around, pretending to be interested in the gold jewelry for sale, until we ended up next to a local who seemed like he was just getting a cup of coffee and passing through.

He led us to a large touristic store, at which time Corey and I both had alarm bells going off. A salesperson walked us through the store and up a maze of stairs to the rooftop. There was a terrace, but the views of the mosque were blocked by other buildings. There did not seem to be a cafe. We spent about seven seconds there and zipped back down to try to escape. We figured we would be pressured to shop after taking in the rooftop views, and when we reached the ground floor, we were surrounded by store employees telling us that we missed the “carpet demonstration” on the top floor. We said we were not interested but that we would look around at the ceramics. One guy kept pestering me to head back upstairs. It was annoying so I used it as an excuse to leave, saying that I was happy to shop but if someone is going to bother me, I would shop somewhere else! I stormed out with Corey in tow, and we regrouped.

A Google review of “Cafe Panorama” gave us the details. Don’t expect your GPS to work in the narrow alleys of the medina. Get to the general area and then look for a shop with the sign “Panorama Medina a la Maison D’Orient.” The staircase is to the left when you enter. On the second floor is also a carpet display, and then above that is a terrace with a panoramic view, and this one does offer coffee and tea for sale. The elderly shopkeeper on the ground floor was kind and directed us upstairs. It was actually our second time meeting him as earlier he had tried to tell us that we were looking for the viewpoint above his shop, but we were wary about climbing an unmarked staircase in a random store!

Anyway, the view was nice and we sat on the terrace sipping almond and mint tea. It was a chilly day and we were practically the only people on the terrace. The price for tea was crazy for Tunisia but reasonable for a tourist spot: around $6 USD for the two drinks. There was no menu so make sure to ask for pricing before agreeing to order.

Seeing the medina from an elevated viewpoint was nice as everything feels so crowded at ground level. Above what you can see in the narrow alleys are larger buildings with many rooms and floors, and an abundance of outdoor terrace space.

On our return to the ground level, we browsed the store but did not find any suitable souvenirs. I had my eye on a cute belly-dancing outfit for a particular niece but they did not have the right color and size. We thanked the shopkeeper for his time and left, without getting to the haggling stage that I really hate to engage in.

We retraced our steps to the east, this time taking a detour in downtown to Rue Lenine, where multiple sources online (including Lonely Planet) said we would find a few blocks of street art. This was no longer true, and it appears that everything has been painted over in the last few years. There were a couple pieces left on a construction wall, but certainly nothing that warranted a detour to the area. On our way to the train, we did see some street art in the area just east of the clocktower, especially under the elevated highway. At this point we decided to go home.

At the train station, we were again told that we should use the bus. This time it seemed like more of a recommendation than a mandate. But without adequate French skills, it was hard to tell! Since the bus was only 35 cents USD per person we decided to take a crack at it. It was very crowded, steamy, and not very interesting, but it was cheap! And as the bus was on its way, we also saw a short two-car train leave the station. Could we have taken that instead? Perhaps, but we also knew that due to maintenance, the train was running on one track for much of the run. So maybe the train is in service but the ticket seller knew that we would get home faster with the bus alternative.

Final Morning

On our last morning, Corey was surprised by a knock on the door around 7:30 AM. He looked out the peephole and saw a woman enter the apartment across the hall. Seemed like she just had the wrong door. Around 10 AM, as we were packing, we heard what we thought were maintenance workers banging in the lobby. Then Corey saw a piece of thick plastic slide between the door and the frame! He looked out the peephole to see two guys at the door, and they were trying to break in!

Corey held the door closed with his foot, hoping that the deadbolt would continue to stay latched, as they kept trying to force the door open and undo the latch. I brought him our hiking pole that doubles as a melee weapon. It was a tense few minutes as I texted our Airbnb host, who found out that his mother had given permission for the maintenance folks to enter the apartment. The story is that the woman knocking earlier was the cleaner, and since we did not answer the door, they assumed we had checked-out and left the keys in the apartment. But check-out time was at 2 PM! The workers got a text, ceased attempting to breach the door, and then apologized to us in broken English. It was one of the oddest experiences of our sabbatical. Fortunately we were not being robbed and no one was injured! After catching our breath we got lunch and continued to pack.

Summary

Tunisia exceeded my expectations and we had a wonderful time. The people are warm and seems that each person tried to ensure we had the best experience whether it was ordering food or sightseeing. 

Sometimes these conversations happened in French. We don’t speak French! But we tried. Why French? Tunisia was a French protectorate (a de facto colony) from 1881 through 1956. Arabic is the primary language throughout the country. But in Tunis, most people spoke French, and some we encountered could speak English, Italian, or occasionally Spanish. 

Tunisian cuisine has been influenced over time by the many empires that ruled from its lands. We had so many wonderful meals full of flavor. Including the national dish of couscous. Just a block away from our Airbnb was a highly rated amazing restaurant specializing in couscous with five different flavors to choose from.

Crossing the street was almost as scary as crossing streets in Vietnam. So many cars and you just have to step out and they will (likely) stop. This got easier to finesse as the week went on.

There are so many cats everywhere! It was fun to see car cat, garbage cat, alley cat, plant kitty, and market kittens.

We even rescued a kitty from a tree! Well, we tried. On our walk to Sidi Bou Said we noticed a cat staring up into an olive tree. When we looked up we saw this tiny guy peeking out from the leaves. I was too short to grab him and he was too skittish to leap onto my body. Eventually some teen boys walked by and gently pushed him off the branch and onto the ground. The two cats ran off together.

Last but not least: safety. To be sure, Tunisia has experienced several terrorist attacks in the last 10 years, with three notable ones occurring in 2015. And there are the usual scams and petty theft to consider. But even walking around at night, we felt safe with our usual precautions. The only time we were afraid was when the misguided maintenance workers were trying to break into our Airbnb! It is highly likely that we will return to Tunisia later this year and stay in a different area with nicer beaches.