Shutterstock / Valery Bareta

Tunisia

It may be but a slim wedge of North Africa’s vast horizontal expanse, but Tunisia has enough history and diverse natural beauty to pack a country many times its size. With a balmy, sand-fringed Mediterranean coast, scented with jasmine and sea breezes, and where the fish on your plate is always fresh, Tunisia is prime territory for a straightforward sun-sand-and-sea holiday. But beyond the beaches, it’s a thrilling, underrated destination where distinct cultures and incredible extremes of landscape – forested coastlines, Saharan sand seas in the south – can be explored in just a few days.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Dougga

Tunisia

Arguably the most magnificent Roman site in Africa, Dougga’s ancient remains – a Unesco World Heritage site since 1997 – are startlingly complete, giving…
Sufetula

Tunisia

One of North Africa's best-preserved ancient Roman cities, Sufetula is awash with temples, monumental arches and bath complexes that speak of an ancient…
Uthina

Tunisia

On the cultivated amber slopes of Mt Mekrima, the fascinating but little-visited ruins of ancient Uthina are the remains of one of the Roman Empire's…
Medina

Tunis

This sprawling maze of ancient streets and alleyways is one of the most impressive medieval medinas in North Africa and one of Tunisia's great treasures…
El Jem Amphitheatre

Tunisia

This Unesco World Heritage–listed colosseum was the second-largest in the Roman world (after Rome's); it was 149m long by 124m wide, with three tiers of…
Medina

Tunisia

Kairouan’s medina feels like it ebbs and flows to a different rhythm to modern Tunisia. Long protected by its monumental walls and babs (gates), most of…
Medina

Tunisia

There's hardly a souvenir shop in sight within the monumental medieval walls of Sfax's Unesco-listed medina. The narrow thoroughfares are crowded with…
Sousse Archaeological Museum

Sousse

Located inside the 11th-century kasbah, this museum showcases an extraordinary collection of 2nd- and 3rd-century Roman mosaics, one of the best in the…