Tunis

Introduction

tunis medina

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Tunis is a city of great contrasts, from the bustling centre to the peaceful, upmarket suburb of Sidi Bou Said, and from clusters of smart, modern buildings to ancient Carthage.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• The Bardo Museum - holding fascinating collections of Roman artefacts, including some huge reconstructed mosaics.
• Sidi Bou Said, a pretty, peaceful suburb built up onto a hill overlooking the sea with attractive whitewashed buildings.
• Carthage, where the ruins of the ancient city of Carthage can be found.
• The Medina, including several important mosques.

Events and Festivals

Weather

Tunis has mediterranean climate with warm dry summers and mild winters. Rain mostly falls between November and March. Although most days during summer are pleasantly warm, the occasional southern winds blowing directly from the Sahara can make temperatures rise to around 45 degrees Celsius, but these days are rare. Mostly it is around 30 degrees or a bit more. Winters are around 15 to 20 degrees on average.

Getting There

By Plane

International
Tunis-Carthage International Airport (TUN) near the capital Tunis is in fact the second busiest airport in the country, after Monastir International Airport. Tunisair is the national airline of Tunisia. International destinations include those to and from Algiers, Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Bahrain, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, Casablanca, Copenhagen, Damascus, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Istanbul, Jeddah, Kuwait, Lisbon, London, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Stockholm and Zürich, among many others. Several French cities are served as well. About 20 other airlines serve the airport as well, mainly from Europe and Northern Africa.

Domestic
Sevenair operates several daily flights between Tunis and the island of Djerba and several weekly flights from the capital to Tozeur, Sfax and Gafsa.

By Train

SNCFT operates the train network in Tunisia and the main route is north-south between Tunis and Gabès, stopping in places like Sousse and Sfax.

By Car

By Bus

SNTRI operates an extensive network of bus connections between Tunis and many cities in the country.

By Boat

Ferries to mainland Europe:

• GNV has ferries from Genoa, Palermo and Civitavecchia in Italy to Tunis.
• Grimaldi Lines offers the same routes, as well as from Salerno and Malta.
• Cotunav has crossings from both Genoa and Marseille to Tunis.
• SNCM has services from Marseille to Tunis as well.

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

La Poste Tunisienne is the national postal service of Tunisia. Services are generally very reliable and relatively fast as well, up to international standards. It usually takes less than a week to European countries and no more than two weeks to the USA or Australia. Opening times of post offices vary, but the larger ones in cities usually are open from 8:00am to 6:00pm Mondays to Saturdays and a few hours on Sunday morning (usually 9:00-11:00am). Note that in July and August, there are long lunch breaks (kind of like the Spanish siestas), closing between 1:00-5:00pm. Smaller officies in towns also keep slightly shorther hours, closing for lunch year round and only open during the morning on Fridays and Saturdays. Als note that during Ramadan, opening times might be different as well. Stamps can also be bought outside these times at small shops and kiosks selling postcards. For sending larger packages, you might also choose international companies like DHL, TNT, FedEx or UPS, which are about the same price but have better standards.