Matmata
Matmata is a Berber village in southern Tunisia, known for its troglodyte dwellings: underground homes dug around a deep circular pit that serves as a courtyard, to escape the heat of the plateau. The area was a Star Wars location. Our journeys take lunch in a troglodyte restaurant and visit a dwelling.
- Time on our journeys
- A stop for lunch and a visit to a dwelling
- On our journeys
- Four of our six private journeys
Visiting Matmata
Matmata is famous for its troglodyte dwellings, underground cave homes. To escape the extreme heat of the arid plateau, the people dug a large circular pit into the ground, which serves as a courtyard, and then burrowed into the walls of the pit to hollow out rooms. The region's crater-like topography is dotted with these dwellings.
Some of the houses are open for visits, and some take guests who want a night of cave living. Matmata is predominantly inhabited by Berbers, an indigenous people of North Africa, and the village is set in a landscape of rocky hills and arid plains. The setting was used as a film location for Star Wars.
On our programmes lunch is in a troglodyte restaurant, which also served as a bar in Star Wars, with a visit to a troglodyte home. The eight, ten, eleven and twelve day journeys all come through Matmata. On the ten and eleven day journeys the road first passes through the mountainous area around the Berber village of Tamezret, and on the eleven and twelve day journeys the day goes on to the ksour and Djerba. The Students Fun Tour also lunches here, and visits a troglodyte hotel that was used as a home in Star Wars.
What to see
- Troglodyte dwellings, built around a circular pit
- Lunch in a troglodyte restaurant
- The Berber villages nearby
- A night in a troglodyte hotel, where offered
Journeys that include Matmata
Five of our seven journeys visit Matmata. The day by day, the hotels and the price are on each journey's own page.
- The Splendors of Tunisia8 days, 7 nights. Reached on day 6.$2,190 a person, double occupancy
- Tunisia's Marvels10 days, 9 nights. Reached on day 8.$2,550 a person, double occupancy
- The Wonders of Tunisia11 days, 10 nights. Reached on day 8.$3,150 a person, double occupancy
- Tunisia's Mediterranean Treasures12 days, 11 nights. Reached on day 9.$3,690 a person, double occupancy
- Students Fun Tour7 days, 6 nights. Reached on day 4.Group programme
Along the way in the Deep South and the Ksour
Troglodyte dwellings, fortified granaries, and the dunes beyond the end of the tarmac.
- Ksar GhilaneOne night
MatmataYou are here. A stop for lunch and a visit to a dwelling.
- TamezretA short visit
- Ksar MetameurA short visit
- Ksar HaddadaA short visit
- TataouineOne night
- CheniniHalf a day
- DouiretA short visit
Start with Matmata.
Tell us it belongs on your route and we shape the rest around your dates. We reply within one business day, US Eastern time. After a twenty minute call, a day by day proposal follows within 48 hours, with the hotels named and a firm price per person.
Starting takes two minutes. We ask for your rough dates, who is travelling and where to reply, and nothing about payment or passports.
Straight to our team in Tunisia.
Your dates, your pace and the budget, in twenty minutes.
The planning guide is free, and it asks for an email address and nothing else. It covers safety in plain terms, when to go, what it costs, getting there from the United States and one sample itinerary.
We reply within one business day, US Eastern time.