Tunis and Sidi Bou Said

Tunis joins a historic medina full of markets to modern Mediterranean districts. Its medina, on the UNESCO list since 1979, is centred on the Zaytuna Mosque, one of the oldest mosques and universities of the Maghreb, ringed by souks of perfume, chechia caps and brass.

In the Bardo district, the Bardo National Museum fills a palace of the beys and holds one of the largest collections of Roman mosaics in the world. About 20 km north-east of the city, the village of Sidi Bou Said clings to its hill above the Gulf of Tunis, white houses with blue doors and windows; it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2026.

In Sidi Bou Said you drink pine-nut tea in cafés above the sea and visit Ennejma Ezzahra, the palace built by Baron d'Erlanger that is now a centre for Arab and Mediterranean music. To the north, Gammarth has its beaches and fine hotels; to the south lie the ruins of Carthage.