Things to Do in Tunis

Wandering the Medina of Tunis

The medina runs the whole show. A labyrinth of covered souks, where light filters through wooden slats and each alley specializes in something different. You'll stumble across the perfume souk where vendors mix essential oils from glass bottles, the chechia souk selling the red felt caps Tunisian men have worn for centuries, and quiet courtyards behind unmarked doors that turn out to be 16th-century madrasas. Worth noting that the deeper sections feel residential rather than touristy. Kids play football here. Women hang laundry from wrought-iron balconies.

Bardo Museum

Housed in a 19th-century Beylical palace, the Bardo holds what's likely the world's most impressive Roman mosaic collection, hauled in from across Tunisia over the past century. Rooms develop one after another with intact floors depicting Neptune, Virgil writing the Aeneid, hunting scenes with leopards and ostriches in tile so detailed you can see individual eyelashes. The palace itself is worth visiting. Painted ceilings and tiled courtyards hint at how the Beys once lived.

Day trip to Carthage and Sidi Bou Said

The TGM commuter train rattles out of central Tunis along the lake. It drops you among the ruins of what was once Rome's greatest rival. The Antonine Baths sit right on the Mediterranean, their broken columns rising from a clifftop with the sea hissing below. Twenty minutes further up the line, Sidi Bou Said hangs over the coast in whitewashed walls and cobalt-blue shutters. The village feels staged. Still earns the cliché.

Zitouna Mosque

The Great Mosque of Tunis dates back to the 9th century. It anchors the entire medina. Its courtyard is paved with marble salvaged from Carthage, and its prayer hall rests on columns Romans quarried fifteen centuries ago. Non-Muslims can't enter the prayer hall. The courtyard stays open to visitors. The rooftop terraces of nearby souk shops give you the photograph you came for. The acoustic effect when the muezzin calls prayer is something you feel in your chest.

Café des Nattes evening hours in Sidi Bou Said

This 18th-century café perches at the top of the village's main street. Blue-and-white tiles and woven palm mats. You sit cross-legged drinking pine-nut tea while the sky turns the kind of orange that doesn't translate to photographs. The crowd is a mix of Tunisois families, French expats, and travelers who've figured out that sunset here is one of the better ones in the Mediterranean. Touristy, sure. Touristy for good reason.

The Medina: boutique riads in restored 17th-century houses. Atmospheric. Expect narrow stairs and no elevators.

Avenue Habib Bourguiba and around. Faded grand hotels, mid-range chains. Walkable to both the medina and the train station.

Lac 1 and Lac 2: a modern business district with international chains. Convenient if you have early flights. Soulless otherwise.

La Marsa: a beachy seaside suburb. 30 minutes out on the TGM. Where wealthy Tunisois live and eat.

Sidi Bou Said: a blue-and-white postcard village. Splurge stay material. The commute back from medina explorations is long.

Carthage Salambo: quiet residential streets near the ruins. Good middle ground. Sits between beach and city access.