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Sightseeing Overview
Tunis is a relatively small and easy city to explore. The medina and new town are easily tacked on foot. The avenue Bourguiba is a good place to start, entering the medina at the Bab el-Bahr, to explore the winding alleys and white-washed streets for elegant mosques, busy souks, grand palaces and intriguing mausoleums. Make time to stop at one of the many traditional cafés to watch the world go by.

An inexpensive taxi ride takes you to the Bardo Museum in the suburbs, with the most beautiful collection of Roman mosaics in Africa. The small train leaving from Tunis Maritime stops at Carthage, a visit which can take up most of the day, the picturesque village of Sidi Bou Said best visited in the late afternoon or evening, and the white sand beaches at la Marsa.

Tourist Information
Office de Tourisme de Tunis
1 avenue Mohammed V
Tel: (071) 341 077.
Website: www.tourismtunisia.com

This is the city’s main tourist office. It is located in the new town near the train station Tunis Maritime. The staff is helpful but there are few useful handouts, except for a free city map, and an excellent map of the medina with a suggested walking tour and Carthage. They offer information on public transport and travel in the rest of the country. 

There is another tourist office with slightly more brochures and handouts, at the railway station (place de Barcelone).

Passes
There is currently no sightseeing pass for Tunis.

Key Attractions:

Musée du Bardo
Built in the 13th-century, this splendid palace is now not only an outstanding example of Arab-Muslim architecture, but it also houses Tunisia’s national museum, with the largest and finest collection of Roman mosaics in the world from the 2nd century BC to the 7th century AD.

Route de Bizerte, Quartier Le Bardo
Tel: (071) 513 842.

Avenue Habib Bourguiba
The city’s main thoroughfare is the elegant and tree-lined avenue Habib Bourguiba, which runs from the TGM train station to the main entrance to the medina. Lined with banks, shops, restaurants and café-terraces where Tunisians converge in the late afternoon, it also boasts the grand art nouveau Municipal Theater and the 19th-century Cathédrale de St Vincent de Paul.

Medina
A UNESCO World Heritage site, the medieval town of Tunis remained the commercial heart of the city until the French Protectorate in 1881. The narrow alleys are home to several souks devoted to a single trade, but the streets are quieter away from the shops, hiding stunning mosques, mausoleums and Koranic schools.

Zeytouna Mosque
The medina grew around Tunis’ largest mosque, the mosque of the Olive Tree, covering over 5,000sq meters (53,820sq ft) and the only one open to non-Muslims. It was built in 732AD, often using stones from nearby Roman Carthage, but it flourished from the 13th century onwards as an important Islamic university.

Rue Jemaa ez-Zeytouna, Medina

Museum of Popular Arts
The impressive late 18th-century palace of Dar Ben Abdallah, has a rich collection of furniture, textiles and crafts, giving a fascinating glimpse into what 19th-century life was like in this medina.

Impasse Ben Abdallah, off Rue Sidi Kacem, Medina
Tel: (071) 256 195.

Further Distractions:

Tourbet el-Bey
Splendid 18th-century mausoleum, the largest in Tunis, where more than 160 Husaynid princes, ministers and their families are buried. The sumptuous interior is decorated with tiles, marble and carved plasterwork. The motif of the eight-pointed star represents the doors of paradise.

Rue Tourbet el-Bey, Medina

Belvedere Park
Laid out by the French, this once exclusive park with a lake, a small zoo, an elegant 18th-century pavilion and a cafe-terrace is now a popular place for Tunisians to escape the summer heat and noise of the city.

Avenue Taieb Mehiri, New Town

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