TOP 32 best attractions in Tunisia

The Repub­lic of Tunisia is a beau­ti­ful coun­try on the African con­ti­nent. It is famous for the ruins of Carthage, ancient palaces, wide beach­es and warm sea.

What to do in Tunisia

Tunisia is a pop­u­lar tourist des­ti­na­tion in North Africa. Peo­ple are attract­ed by the calm envi­ron­ment, devel­oped infra­struc­ture, sun­ny weath­er and afford­able prices.

For cen­turies, Tunisia belonged to dif­fer­ent civ­i­liza­tions. Phoeni­cians, Romans, Byzan­tines, Arabs, Turks ruled here. These peo­ples left mon­u­ments that have become part of the world her­itage. Every year, 8 mil­lion peo­ple come to the coun­try to admire the cen­tral quar­ters of Mus­lim cities, the ruins of Carthage, the El Jem amphithe­ater and archae­o­log­i­cal sites.

The resorts of Tunisia are wide­ly known. The gen­tle Mediter­ranean Sea, gold­en sand and gen­tly slop­ing coast are suit­able for fam­i­ly hol­i­days. There are good hotels and enter­tain­ment on the island of Djer­ba and in the cities of Sousse, Mona­s­tir, Ham­mamet. It offers tourists water attrac­tions, bars, sight­see­ing tours by sea. Trav­el­ers go fish­ing, scu­ba div­ing, water ski­ing.

Tunisia is famous for its min­er­al springs. Heal­ing water improves the func­tion­ing of the stom­ach, calms the nerves, and has a ben­e­fi­cial effect on the mus­cu­loskele­tal sys­tem. The best sana­to­ri­ums await guests in Tabar­ka, Kor­bus, Ham­mamet.

In addi­tion to tra­di­tion­al baths, tha­las­sother­a­py is offered to clients. Well­ness treat­ments include hydro­mas­sage, mud ther­a­py, algae wrap, aro­mather­a­py.

In sum­mer, peo­ple flock to the inter­na­tion­al fes­ti­val of Carthage. The event high­lights Mediter­ranean cul­ture and con­tem­po­rary art. For a whole month, art exhi­bi­tions are held in Carthage, famous musi­cians and dancers per­form.

Tunisian cui­sine was formed under the influ­ence of dif­fer­ent cul­tures, there­fore it is dis­tin­guished by orig­i­nal­i­ty. When vis­it­ing local restau­rants, you should try hot red pep­per appe­tiz­ers, chick­en and pota­to stew, cous­cous with squid and baked fish.

archaeological sites

Carthage

The Phoeni­cians mas­tered the north of Africa in the 12th cen­tu­ry BC, form­ing a pow­er­ful state that sub­ju­gat­ed neigh­bor­ing coun­tries. The main city of the empire was Carthage. Years of wars exhaust­ed the Phoeni­cians and, in the end, they were defeat­ed by a strong Roman army, lev­el­ing the ancient cap­i­tal to the ground.

The Romans soon regret­ted hav­ing destroyed Carthage. Julius Cae­sar ordered the city to be rebuilt and made the cen­ter of an African province. Today it is a sub­urb of the cap­i­tal of Tunisia. Archae­o­log­i­cal exca­va­tions are under­way in the his­tor­i­cal part. Sci­en­tists have dis­cov­ered Roman tem­ples, ancient cis­terns for stor­ing water, stat­ues of gods and street frag­ments.

Amphitheater in El Jem

The city of El-Jem was built on the site of the ruins of the ancient set­tle­ment of Tiz­dr, which played a huge role in the cul­tur­al life of Ancient Rome. An amphithe­ater with a capac­i­ty of 30 thou­sand peo­ple has been pre­served on its ter­ri­to­ry. The wide are­na was used for char­i­ot races, glad­i­a­tor fights and was con­sid­ered the third largest in the empire.

Under the rule of the Arabs, the con­struc­tion began to be dis­as­sem­bled into stones, but still many parts have been pre­served to this day. The remain­ing frag­ments are pro­tect­ed by UNESCO and are a pop­u­lar attrac­tion.

Kerkuan

On the Mediter­ranean coast there is an archae­o­log­i­cal park of Kerkuan. It con­tains the ruins of a city built by the Phoeni­cians. The exhibits found there made it pos­si­ble to learn about the cul­tur­al fea­tures of the ancient civ­i­liza­tion.

Dur­ing exca­va­tions, sci­en­tists came across stone altars filled with bones, walls of res­i­den­tial build­ings, divine tem­ples. A large necrop­o­lis with unique sar­copha­gi and rit­u­al objects was found not far from the city. The exhibits are stored in the archae­o­log­i­cal muse­um of the city of Nabeul.

Pupput

In the vicin­i­ty of Ham­mamet, frag­ments of the Roman city of Pup­put, destroyed to the ground after the Arab con­quest, have been pre­served. Ancient struc­tures were dis­cov­ered by chance, clear­ing the area for the con­struc­tion of hous­es. Dur­ing the exca­va­tions, a res­i­den­tial quar­ter was dis­cov­ered, in which there was a water sup­ply sys­tem with an aque­duct and cis­terns, a Roman necrop­o­lis.

Stone bur­ial cham­bers are dec­o­rat­ed with col­or­ful mosaics and stat­ues. Pot­tery, dec­o­ra­tive items and jew­el­ry were tak­en from the graves.

Dougga

In the north of Tunisia, exca­va­tions of the city of Doug­ga are under­way. The pic­turesque ruins cov­er an area of ​​65 hectares. The cen­tral object is the Roman amphithe­ater, which is used today for the annu­al music fes­ti­val. In addi­tion to the amphithe­ater, tourists can see the tem­ples of Juno, Min­er­va, Jupiter, the sanc­tu­ary of Sat­urn and the tri­umphal arch of Sep­ti­m­ius Severus.

The mau­soleum of Ate­ban is of great his­tor­i­cal val­ue — the build­ing belongs to the Phoeni­cian era and dates back to 200 BC.

Interesting places

Medina of Tunisia

The his­tor­i­cal cen­ter of the cap­i­tal — Med­i­na, was once sur­round­ed by high walls. Now only the ancient gates of Bab Sidi Kasem and Bab el Bhar remained from them. Inside the Med­i­na, there are nar­row Arab streets lined with sou­venir shops, cof­fee hous­es, and work­shops.

In the labyrinth of alleys, mag­nif­i­cent his­tor­i­cal mon­u­ments are hid­den: the Al-Zay­tu­na Mosque, the Dar Las­ram and Dar Al Jazeera palaces, and the madrasah.

Medina Soussa

The medieval archi­tec­tur­al com­plex in the cen­ter of Sousse is a World Her­itage Site. The med­i­na, which has the shape of an elon­gat­ed rec­tan­gle, is for­ti­fied on the west­ern side by the Al-Khalef tow­er, and on the north­ern side by a sen­tinel watch fortress.

The entire area is sur­round­ed by bat­tle­ments. Inside it are old build­ings with a bright ori­en­tal fla­vor. Walk­ing through the Med­i­na, you can see the Grand Mosque, hous­es of wor­ship, madras­sas, the mau­soleum of Sidi-Burawi, the archi­tec­tur­al ensem­ble of al-Kob­ba, an indoor mar­ket.

Habib Bourguiba Avenue

The cen­tral met­ro­pol­i­tan street is named after the nation­al leader and the first pres­i­dent of the repub­lic, Habib Bour­gui­ba. Trees have been plant­ed along the wide avenue. High-rise build­ings line the road on both sides. They open fash­ion bou­tiques, cafes, shop­ping cen­ters, restau­rants.

The long avenue goes to Inde­pen­dence Square. There are the French embassy, ​​the Cathe­dral of St. Vin­cent de Paul, the munic­i­pal the­ater. In the mid­dle of the square rise an obelisk-clock and a foun­tain.

La Marsa

Not far from the cap­i­tal, there is a small resort town of La Marsa, built up with beau­ti­ful French-style hous­es with wrought iron bars and bal­conies. Archi­tec­tur­al mon­u­ments are con­cen­trat­ed in the his­tor­i­cal cen­ter: the Yessaa­da Palace and the Al-Ahma­di Mosque.

The sea­side town receives mil­lions of tourists every year. Peo­ple are attract­ed by his­tor­i­cal sights, a cob­bled embank­ment, numer­ous cafes and restau­rants of nation­al cui­sine.

Sidi Bou Said

A city in north­ern Tunisia is named after the famous reli­gious fig­ure Abu Said al-Baji. In the 13th cen­tu­ry, a Mus­lim leader found­ed a sanc­tu­ary near the set­tle­ment, and after his death he was buried there. Today the city is not only a place of pil­grim­age for believ­ers, but also a pop­u­lar tourist resort.

Notable buildings

Dar Othman

The palace in the Med­i­na of Tunisia was built in the 16th cen­tu­ry by order of the local ruler. Its facade is dec­o­rat­ed with a spa­cious arched veran­da and Andalu­sian columns. The floor is lined with mul­ti-col­ored stone tiles, the walls are dec­o­rat­ed with stuc­co and orig­i­nal orna­ments.

A large gar­den is plant­ed around the house. It has antique stone bench­es. The res­i­dence is con­sid­ered a nation­al mon­u­ment, and the inte­ri­or is occu­pied by an orga­ni­za­tion respon­si­ble for the preser­va­tion of the Tunisian Med­i­na.

Fortress of Gazi Mustafa

In Djer­ba, there is the city of Houmt Souk with a mag­nif­i­cent prom­e­nade, which is dec­o­rat­ed with a 9th-cen­tu­ry fortress erect­ed by the Arabs to pro­tect against pirates. The citadel with­stood long sieges, was dam­aged sev­er­al times due to the onslaught of the ene­my, but was always restored. Today, the fortress has been restored and is con­sid­ered the main attrac­tion of the city. Tourists are shown the court­yard, the mosque, the col­lec­tion of can­nons, the amphithe­ater and the gar­ri­son rooms.

Mausoleum of Khabib Bourguiba

Habib Bour­guiba’s home­town is easy to find on a rocky penin­su­la in the cen­tral part of the coun­try. Here is the mau­soleum of the Pres­i­dent, erect­ed in the best tra­di­tions of Ara­bic archi­tec­ture. The white build­ing, crowned with a huge dome, is dec­o­rat­ed with two minarets. The out­er walls are fin­ished with mar­ble.

The area around is lined with stone fig­ured tiles. Inside the build­ing is the tomb of Habib Bour­gui­ba and mem­bers of his fam­i­ly. Near­by is a small muse­um dis­play­ing per­son­al belong­ings of the Pres­i­dent.

Ribat of Monastir

One of the old­est Arab defen­sive struc­tures in the coun­try has been pre­served in Mona­s­tir. Rib­at, found­ed in 796, was reg­u­lar­ly com­plet­ed, strength­ened and proved its impreg­nabil­i­ty more than once. The main fortress is sur­round­ed by high walls, round mul­ti-lev­el tow­ers stand at each cor­ner. The gates are dec­o­rat­ed with horse­shoe arch­es and flo­ral orna­ments.

Inside the citadel is a spi­ral stair­case lead­ing to the roof. In ancient times, sol­diers climbed it to watch the sur­round­ings and give sig­nals to neigh­bor­ing rib­ats. The ter­ri­to­ry is equipped with two mosques and a small gar­den that saves from the heat.

Dar El Bey

The med­i­na of Tunisia is dec­o­rat­ed with a three-sto­ry white mar­ble palace of the 17th cen­tu­ry, built in the Moor­ish style. The dec­o­ra­tion of the facade is dom­i­nat­ed by twist­ed columns, arch­es, grace­ful win­dows, flo­ral pat­terns. The rooms are paint­ed by Tunisian and Moroc­can artists. The ceil­ings are stuc­co and gild­ing. The floors are paved with mar­ble tiles.

A large foun­tain was installed near the palace, flower beds and places for recre­ation were equipped. The gov­ern­ment of the coun­try sits in the inte­ri­or.

Mosques and temples

Al Zaituna Mosque

In the heart of the Tunisian Med­i­na stands a mosque dat­ing back to 698. For its con­struc­tion, bricks and columns from Roman Carthage were used. The inner rec­tan­gu­lar court­yard is framed by arch­es. A square minaret 43 meters high ris­es from the north­west side. The cen­ter of the mosque is dec­o­rat­ed with a twelve-meter dome.

Mosque of Uqba

One of the largest mosques in Tunisia, Uqba, is locat­ed in Kairouan. The grandiose con­struc­tion began in 670 and con­tin­ued for sev­er­al cen­turies. The archi­tec­tur­al com­plex of yel­low sand­stone cov­ers an area of ​​9000 m². The vast court­yard is paved with mar­ble. In the inner hall there are numer­ous columns and arch­es.

There are always pil­grims and tourists in Uqba. Peo­ple come to pray and see an ele­gant high minaret, carved wood­en gates, suras from the Koran inscribed on the walls.

Yousef Dey Mosque

The mosque, found­ed by Yusef Dey in 1631, is a prime exam­ple of Ottoman archi­tec­ture. The ceil­ing in the prayer hall is sup­port­ed by mar­ble columns, the walls are dec­o­rat­ed with carved orna­ments. The semi-cir­cu­lar niche indi­cates the direc­tion that Mus­lims should fol­low when pray­ing. Next to it is a min­bar cov­ered with mar­ble pan­els.

The mosque has an octag­o­nal minaret end­ing in a bal­cony with a wood­en roof. Here is also the mau­soleum of Yusef Dey him­self, as well as mem­bers of his fam­i­ly.

El Ghriba

On the island of Djer­ba in the vil­lage of Riyadh there is a syn­a­gogue with a two thou­sand year his­to­ry. The build­ing, erect­ed in the Moor­ish style, does not have catchy sign­boards and iden­ti­fi­ca­tion marks.

The inte­ri­ors are dec­o­rat­ed with blue tiles with col­ored orna­ments. The prayer hall is dec­o­rat­ed with stained glass, crys­tal chan­de­liers, thin columns, and arched spans. Cab­i­nets filled with rare sacred books rise along the walls. The pearl among them is one of the old­est copies of the Torah on earth.

Cathedral of Saint Vincent de Paul

The con­struc­tion of the Catholic Church of St. Vin­cent de Paul began in 1881 and last­ed more than 10 years. The archi­tec­tur­al ensem­ble in the Romano-Byzan­tine style is a real jew­el of the cap­i­tal. The cen­tral facade is dec­o­rat­ed with relief pat­terns, gild­ed paint­ings, stone stat­ues. On the sides rise two bell tow­ers with oval domes and cross­es.

The inte­ri­or is dom­i­nat­ed by fres­coes with bib­li­cal scenes, bright stained-glass win­dows, and sculp­tures of saints. The old­est organ in North Africa has been installed in a place of hon­or.

Museums

National Museum of Bardo

A large muse­um has been opened in the sub­urbs of the cap­i­tal, Le Bar­do, cov­er­ing the his­to­ry of Tunisia from antiq­ui­ty to the present day. The col­lec­tion in an old man­sion con­tains rare archae­o­log­i­cal exhibits: house­hold items of ancient peo­ple, weapons, stone fig­urines.

The expo­si­tion of the Roman peri­od presents mar­ble sculp­tures of emper­ors, gods, myth­i­cal ani­mals, col­or­ful mosaics, wall paint­ings. The Islam­ic sec­tion dis­plays the Blue Qur’an of Kairouan, ceram­ics and paint­ings.

National Museum of Carthage

A his­tor­i­cal muse­um was found­ed on Bir­sa Hill in 1875 by Car­di­nal Charles Mar­tial Lav­igery. The exhi­bi­tion is the result of exca­va­tions car­ried out on the ter­ri­to­ry of Carthage. The expo­si­tion pro­vides infor­ma­tion about the Phoeni­cian civ­i­liza­tion and dis­plays unique exhibits.

The col­lec­tion includes ancient amulets, pot­tery, stone sar­copha­gi, death masks, lime­stone ste­les, and jew­el­ry. Roman stat­ues, mul­ti-col­ored mosaics, large amphoras are kept in a spe­cial hall.

History Museum of Hammamet

In the Med­i­na of Ham­mamet, an inter­est­ing muse­um has opened its doors, plung­ing into the past of North Africa. The pri­vate exhi­bi­tion occu­pies three floors and con­sists of his­tor­i­cal scenes that accu­rate­ly reflect dif­fer­ent aspects of peo­ple’s lives.

Vis­i­tors can see how they spun wool, mold­ed pots, fished, and the inhab­i­tants of Ham­mamet defend­ed them­selves from the ene­my hun­dreds of years ago. After the tour, guests are invit­ed to relax on the roof of the muse­um, admire the sea bay and city blocks.

Museum of Folk Traditions

Djer­ba has a won­der­ful ethno­graph­ic muse­um that tells about the cus­toms of the islanders. The expo­si­tion can be viewed in a white man­sion, rem­i­nis­cent of an old Arab cas­tle. In the spa­cious halls there are beau­ti­ful dish­es, musi­cal instru­ments, nation­al clothes, car­pets. A sep­a­rate exhi­bi­tion tells about wed­ding cer­e­monies and how to prop­er­ly pre­pare for the cel­e­bra­tion.

Magic Museum in Sousse

A huge shop­ping cen­ter was built in the Med­i­na of Sousse. It hous­es a 3D muse­um for lovers of beau­ti­ful pho­tos. The exten­sive gallery is divid­ed into zones: nat­ur­al attrac­tions, archi­tec­tur­al mon­u­ments, works of art, fan­ta­sy.

Near each pic­ture, the places from which the pic­ture will turn out to be as suc­cess­ful as pos­si­ble are indi­cat­ed. The guests of the mag­ic muse­um are accom­pa­nied by a guide. It helps to down­load the shoot­ing appli­ca­tion, set up 3D and take cool pho­tos.

Nature

Sahara Desert

The Sahara desert stretch­es through Tunisia, occu­py­ing 30% of all of Africa. The area is cov­ered with the finest sand, form­ing dunes of var­i­ous shapes and sizes. Rocky plateaus, solon­chaks, rare oases are scat­tered among the dunes.

Trav­el com­pa­nies offer 1–2 day excur­sions accom­pa­nied by expe­ri­enced guides. On the pro­gram: camel rides, jeep rides, sight­see­ing. For those who wish, a five-minute hang-glid­ing flight with an instruc­tor is pro­vid­ed.

Djerba Lagoon

The largest island in North Africa — Djer­ba — is locat­ed in the Gulf of Gabes. It attracts tourists with mod­ern hotels, wide beach­es and beau­ti­ful nature. Near the sea ris­es the light­house of Ras Tager­mes, giv­ing sig­nals to yachts and ships enter­ing the har­bor.

A shal­low lagoon stretch­es along the north­east­ern shore, which is cho­sen by pink flamin­gos. In win­ter and sum­mer, hun­dreds of birds can be seen impor­tant­ly walk­ing on the water in search of food. The Djer­ba lagoon is sur­round­ed by date palms and olive trees.

Ishkel National Park

In the north of the coun­try there is a bios­phere reserve includ­ed in the World Her­itage List. The ter­ri­to­ry con­sists of Lake Ishkel, pic­turesque swamps, forests and high cliffs. The park is a win­ter­ing place for birds: flamin­gos, geese, swans, mar­ble teals, sul­tans. Fox­es, African cats, wild boars, water buf­faloes live in lake­side forests.

There are hik­ing trails in the park for tourists. There is a small muse­um next to the obser­va­tion deck that tells about the local ecosys­tem.

El Jerid

In the cen­ter of Tunisia lies the salt lake El Jerid. In sum­mer it often dries up, but in win­ter dur­ing the rainy sea­son it over­flows up to 5–7 thou­sand km². Rare plants grow around the lake that can tol­er­ate soil salin­i­ty and heat.

Near­by there are oases with fresh water, where date palms are grown. A bulk high­way leads to the lake, along which small shops are equipped.

Entertainment

Phrygia Zoo

Between Ham­mamet and Sousse, a pri­vate zoo with an area of ​​​​36 hectares has been opened. Rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the fau­na of the African con­ti­nent live on the ter­ri­to­ry. Giraffes, camels, antelopes, ponies, and ele­phants graze in spa­cious pens. Tigers, lions, hye­nas, mon­goos­es and leop­ards frol­ic in the enclo­sures.

Dol­phins and fur seals splash in the indoor pools. And on arti­fi­cial reser­voirs live storks, flamin­gos and swans. The zoo has cafes, play­grounds, and there are rooms for vis­i­tors to relax.

Djerba Explorer Park

In the east of the island of Djer­ba, an amuse­ment park has been opened that can inter­est chil­dren and adults. The area is divid­ed into 3 the­mat­ic zones. Tourists are offered to vis­it a croc­o­dile farm, take part in feed­ing preda­tors, explore a tra­di­tion­al African vil­lage, and vis­it the Muse­um of Folk Crafts and Tra­di­tions. In addi­tion, the park has sou­venir shops, restau­rants of nation­al cui­sine, cafes and even hotels.

Oceanarium in Carthage

Near the ancient Carthage in 1924, an ocean muse­um was opened, intro­duc­ing all guests to the flo­ra and fau­na of the Mediter­ranean. Aquar­i­ums with marine life are installed in 11 halls. Tourists can see jel­ly­fish, corals, exot­ic fish, crabs, and then go to a cafe and gift shop sell­ing shells, ear­rings, bracelets, pearl rings.