Tunisia Travel Guide: My Honest Trip Notes for First Timers
I flew into Tunis not really knowing what to expect. Everyone told me it would be a patchwork of Roman ruins, desert camps and beaches, and that is true, but nobody warned me that the real story is how close all of it sits together. In ten days I moved from a living medina to a ruined Roman city to the edge of the Sahara, and I covered less ground than I would on a weekend drive at home.
Getting around Tunisia
The train is the workhorse. The Tunis to Sousse line is cheap, reliable enough and runs along the coast, so you can bounce between the big eastern cities without hiring a car. For the interior and the south you want the shared louages, the minibuses that leave when they are full. They are fast, the fares are a couple of dinars, and the drivers know the roads with a confidence that takes some getting used to. I immediately stopped worrying about whether I would find a ride and started worrying about whether I would keep my breakfast.
If you want more control, renting a car works well and the main highways are in decent shape. Just keep cash for the petrol stations and study the roundabouts carefully before you dive in.
Where to spend your time
Start in Tunis. The medina is genuinely alive, not staged for tourists, and the coffee shops along the old streets are where you will waste the best hours. Give it a day, then take the train north to Sidi Bou Said, the blue and white hilltop village that looks staged for postcards even though it is not. On a calm weekday morning with the terrace cafes half empty, it is one of the most pleasant spots I have sat still in North Africa.
From there, head inland to the ruins. Carthage is the famous one and it is fine, scattered and a little overrun, but the El Jem amphitheater is the stop that made my jaw drop. You walk into a colosseum in near perfect condition in the middle of a quiet market town, and for a few minutes you have it almost to yourself.
The south is a different country. Douz is the gateway to the Sahara and people will offer you camel treks and quad tours the second you stop walking. The Chott el Djerid salt lake between Douz and Tozeur does something weird to your depth perception. And the Matmata cave dwellings, made famous by a certain film franchise, are worth an afternoon of wandering.
Food and money
Eat where locals eat and you eat well for almost nothing. Couscous with lamb, brik pastries, harissa on everything, and the shakshuka at breakfast are the pillars. A proper meal in a working class spot costs a few dinars, and even a nice restaurant with a view rarely breaks the bank. Bring cash for the small places because cards are accepted far less often than the signs outside suggest.
Honest realities
Some things are true that you should just accept. The selling is persistent, especially in the medinas, and a firm no with eye contact works better than ignoring people. Men will sometimes walk with you and talk as if you are friends; a polite but clear wave stops most of it. The ATMs can be finicky with foreign cards, so carry a backup stash of notes.
Drinking the tap water is not a great idea. Stick to bottled. And learn a handful of French greetings before you arrive. Arabic will earn you genuine delight, but French is the language that actually greases the practical wheels.
When to plan it
I went in late spring and the coast was warm without being punishing, which I would do again. Summers along the beaches are hot and packed with European package tourists. Winters are mild on the coast but genuinely cold inland, and the desert can drop hard at night. For the sweet spot of comfortable days and thin crowds, spring and autumn are the clear winners.
My advice if you are planning your own trip: do not overpack the itinerary. The distances are short, but the days are surprisingly full, and the best moments came when I stopped rushing between highlights and sat longer in the places I liked. Tunisia rewards the traveler who moves slowly.
A few practical planning details
Sort your money before you land. You will want cash because smaller businesses and street stalls rarely take cards, and finding an ATM that accepts foreign cards can be a small treasure hunt in the towns. I packed a mix of notes and a backup card and never regretted it.
A basic phrase list buys a lot of goodwill. French is the practical language, so greetings and numbers in French carried me further day to day, while a few Arabic pleasantries earned real warmth. And download your maps before you leave Wi Fi because signal drops fast away from the coast.
One more honest note: pace yourself. Tunisia packs an enormous amount into a small country, but moving between the coast, the medinas and the desert still eats your days. I planned the south as one connected stretch rather than scattering it, and that single choice made the trip feel calm instead of frantic. Give the place time and it gives back.
