Tunis travel guide
Tunis is the moden capital of Tunisia, a city of tree-lined boulevards, modern buildings and bustling pavements cafes, with a distinctly European flavour. A different side to its character is evident in its medieval Arab medina (old town), exotic maze of narrow, angled streets lined with tiny shops, grand mosques and impressive palaces.
Easy excursions from Tunis include the ancient city of Carthage, the pretty village of Sidi Bou Saïd and, in the region known as the Tell (from the Arabic word for "mountain"), the Roman sites of Thuburbo Majus and Dougga.
What to see in Tunis
Rue Jemaa ez Zitouna
The medina of Tunis is probably the easiest to navigate in all of North Africa. At all the main gates you'll find a large map with the streets clearly named, and there are small orange signposts pointing the way to the principal sights.
Rue Jemaa ez Zitouna is the medina's main street, and is lined with craft shops and souvenir stalls. Fragrant incense and exotic perfumes compete with the mouth-watering smell of roasting mutton and the aroma of freshly ground coffee. The tap-tap-tap of silversmiths' hammers and the scuff of sandled feet on paving stones almost drown out the muezzin's call to prayer. The street disappears into a dark tunnel to emerge at the steps below the door to the Zitouna Mosque.
Zitouna Mosque
Medina (old town)
The focus of daily life in the medina for over one thousand years, the Zitouna mosque (Mosque of the Olive Tree) was founded in 732 on the site of a temple to Athena. Enlarged and restored many times, the outer wall used stone taken from the ruins of Carthage.
Visitors are allowed to climb the stairs to an arcade facing the central courtyard. The prayer hall is to the left, through a horseshoe arch crowned with a white dome. The square minaret is a 19th-century addition.
Souks
Souk el Attarine (Perfumers' Souk): situated along the north wall of the mosque. Only a few genuine scent-makers remain, for their expensive creations have been displaced by cheaper modern toiletries. You can choose a ready-made scent or have one blended to suit you.
Souk des étoffes (Drapers): one of the quietest souks, cascades of cloth, kaftans and blankets muffle the haggling of the shopkeepers.
Souk des Tapis (Carpet Maker): a concentration of rug and carpet sellers.
Souk des Orfèvres: a warren of tiny streets and alleys crowded with goldsmiths' and silversmiths' shops. Shop windows glitter with gold, coral, pearls and precious stones.
Souk de la Laine (Wool Market): still contains some traditional tailors and weavers working on hand looms, but the more affluent goldsmiths have begun to encroach into the area.
Souk des Femmes (Women's Souk): where women come to buy the white or cream fabric they use to make veils.
Souk el Berka: the original site of the Tunis slave market, closed down in 1841.
Souk des Chéchias: one of the most attractive spots. Each outlet is a shop-cum-workshop with a wooden counter for sales and a group of intent craftsmen at work on chechias, the tasselled felt hats once worn throughout North Africa and the Middle East.
Mosque and Tomb of Hammouda Pasha
This was built in 1655 and has a pink marble facade. When Turkish governors came to Tunis on the orders of the Ottoman sultan, they brought with them a slightly different form of Islam from that commonly adhered to in Tunisia. The Tunisians lived according to the Malikite rite, while the Turkish conquerors observed the Hanifite.
Aware of this difference, Tunisia's Hammouda Pasha el Mouradi decided to give his mosque a Turkish-style octagonal minaret with a gallery, rather than the square type common to the Maghreb.
Bardo National Museum
Located in a 19th-century Beyical Palace in the western suburbs, Bardo National Museum is home to many of Tunisia's greatest archaeological treasures and includes relics from every period of the country's rich history, from Carthaginian times to the Islamic period.
The museum's main attractions is its superb collection of Roman mosaics on the first and second floors. They range in age from the 2nd century BC to the 7th century AD and come from all over Tunisia, with fine examples from Sousse, Dougga and El Jem.
The palace the museum occupies was intended to represent the arts and crafts of all the Tunisian provinces, and is a curious blend of traditional Moorish architecture, with slender columns and arcaded courtyards, and European classicism, with gilded colonnades and marble staircases.
Read our guide to exploring the souks of Marrakech for the first-time
