Places worth the drive
Day trips across Tunisia, with a driver who waits for you.
UNESCOCarthage (Antonine Baths & Byrsa Hill)
Punic and Roman capital on the Gulf of Tunis
≈ 4 h on sitePrice on request
Sidi Bou Saïd
Blue-and-white clifftop village above the Gulf of Tunis
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Ennejma Ezzahra Palace
Baron d'Erlanger's palace, now a centre for Arab music
≈ 1 h on sitePrice on request
Bardo National Museum
One of the world's great collections of Roman mosaics
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOMedina of Tunis
Covered souks and centuries-old mosques around the Zitouna
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
La Marsa & Gammarth beaches
Tunis's seaside suburbs: sandy bays, corniche cafés and fish
≈ 4 h on sitePrice on request
Oudhna (Uthina)
Roman veterans' colony with amphitheatre, capitol and baths
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Zaghouan Temple of Waters
Roman spring sanctuary at the head of Carthage's aqueduct
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Thuburbo Majus
Roman town with a hilltop capitol among wheat fields
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOKerkouane
The only Punic town left untouched by Roman rebuilding
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Kelibia Fortress
Hilltop fortress over a fishing port and clear-water beaches
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
El Haouaria Caves (Ghar El Kebir)
Ancient sea-cliff quarries that supplied the stone of Carthage
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Nabeul
Tunisia's pottery town, with a lively Friday market
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Hammamet Medina & Kasbah
Walled old town and fortress right on the beach
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Yasmine Hammamet
Purpose-built resort with a marina, beaches and a replica medina
≈ 4 h on sitePrice on request
Korbous
Hot springs spilling into the sea below Cap Bon's cliffs
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Utica (Utique)
One of the oldest Phoenician ports, now stranded inland
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Bizerte Old Port
Fishing boats and pastel houses between a kasbah and a fort
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOIchkeul National Park
Lake, marshes and mountain hosting vast winter bird flocks
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Tabarka
Genoese fort, rock needles and coral coast near Algeria
≈ 4 h on sitePrice on request
Ghar El Melh
Ottoman-era harbour town on a lagoon, with quiet beaches
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Aïn Draham & the Kroumirie forests
Mountain town among cork-oak forests, cool even in summer
≈ 4 h on sitePrice on request
Bulla Regia
Roman villas built underground to escape the summer heat
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCODougga
Tunisia's best-preserved Roman town, on a hillside of olives
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Chemtou (Simitthus)
Rome's yellow-marble quarries and an excellent small museum
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Testour
Andalusian town with a minaret clock that runs backwards
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Le Kef
Hilltop city crowned by an Ottoman kasbah
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOSousse Medina & Ribat
Aghlabid fortress-monastery and mosque inside intact city walls
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Port El Kantaoui
Whitewashed marina resort with golf, beaches and boat trips
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Ribat of Monastir
The oldest ribat of the Maghreb, right on the seafront
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Bourguiba Mausoleum
Gilded-dome tomb of Tunisia's first president
≈ 1 h on sitePrice on request
Mahdia
First Fatimid capital on a peninsula, with fine beaches
≈ 4 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOEl Jem Amphitheatre & Museum
A colossal Roman amphitheatre rising above a small town
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Medina of Sfax
A working medina inside complete 9th-century walls
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Kerkennah Islands
Flat, palm-dotted islands of traditional fishermen off Sfax
≈ 6 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOGreat Mosque of Kairouan
North Africa's oldest great mosque and model for many others
≈ 1 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOAghlabid Basins
Ninth-century reservoirs that supplied Kairouan with water
≈ 1 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOMedina of Kairouan
Holy city of carpets, makroudh pastries and whitewashed lanes
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Sbeitla (Sufetula)
Three Roman temples side by side on a walled forum
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Ksar Ouled Soltane
The finest fortified granary of the Tataouine ksour
≈ 1 h on sitePrice on request
Ksar Hadada
Village granary that became a Star Wars set
≈ 1 h on sitePrice on request
Chenini
Berber village carved into a ridge below its hilltop granary
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Douiret
A deserted Berber hill village with a ksar on its summit
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Matmata
Underground courtyard homes and Luke Skywalker's childhood house
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Zarzis
Olive groves, fishing port and long quiet beaches
≈ 4 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOHoumt Souk
Djerba's market town of souks, fondouks and a seafront fort
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
UNESCOEl Ghriba Synagogue
Africa's oldest synagogue by tradition, and a pilgrimage site
≈ 1 h on sitePrice on request
Djerbahood (Erriadh)
An open-air street-art gallery in a traditional Djerban village
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Guellala
Djerba's pottery village and its island heritage museum
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Douz
The gateway to the Sahara, with camel rides into the dunes
≈ 4 h on sitePrice on request
Ksar Ghilane
Hot-spring oasis amid the dunes, beside a Roman desert fort
≈ 5 h on sitePrice on request
Chott el Jerid
A vast salt lake crossed by a causeway, famous for mirages
≈ 1 h on sitePrice on request
Tozeur Medina (Ouled El Hadef)
Patterned brick lanes beside a great date-palm oasis
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Dar Cheraït Museum
Private museum of Tunisian traditions in a palatial house
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Nefta
Sufi oasis town around the palm-filled Corbeille ravine
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Chebika
Mountain oasis with a spring, a gorge and an abandoned village
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Tamerza
The largest mountain oasis, with waterfalls and a ghost village
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Midès Canyon
A deep canyon on the Algerian border, seen in The English Patient
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request
Ong Jemel & Mos Espa (Star Wars set)
Camel-neck rock and the desert town of Tatooine
≈ 3 h on sitePrice on request
Gafsa Roman Pools & Kasbah
Ancient Capsa's spring-fed Roman pools and Hafsid kasbah
≈ 2 h on sitePrice on request