Day 1
Arrival in Tunis
You are met at the airport and taken to your hotel, with touring available the same day if you would like it. A welcome dinner follows, at a fine restaurant in La Goulette or Carthage.
Night in Tunis, at Dar Said (or similar).
Private Tunisia tour: 8 days, 7 nights from Carthage to the Sahara
$2,190
A person, double occupancy.
The shortest of our private programmes to reach the oases: two nights in Tozeur, the mountain oases of Chebika and Tamerza, the salt flats of Chott el Jerid, and a camel ride at Douz if you want one.
The journey in brief
- Length
- 8 days, 7 nights
- Price
- $2,190 a person, double occupancy
- Single room supplement
- $525 a person
- You sleep in
- Tunis (2 nights), Kairouan (1 night), Tozeur (2 nights), Sousse (1 night) and Tunis (1 night)
- Meals
- All meals, including a welcome dinner at a fine restaurant
- Not included
- Tips and drinks
- Best months
- March to May, September to November
Along the way
Kairouan
Day 3
Tozeur
Day 4
Tamerza
Day 5
El Djem
Day 6
Day by day
Day 2
Carthage, Sidi Bou Said, the Bardo and the medina
The Roman ruins of Carthage in the morning, then the village of Sidi Bou Said, whose blue and white architecture came with its Andalusian settlers. The Bardo Museum follows, and then a walking tour of the medina of Tunis.
Night in Tunis, at Dar Said (or similar).
Day 3
Dougga and Kairouan
Rural roads to Dougga, the city of temples, thought to date back to the fourth century BC. On to Kairouan, where the Great Mosque dates from the seventh century.
Night in Kairouan, at La Kasbah (or similar).
Day 4
Kairouan, Sbeitla and Tozeur
Southwest to Sbeitla, known by its Punic name Sufetula. In Roman times this region exported olive oil to Italy. There is plenty of time at the site before continuing to Tozeur, arriving late in the day.
Night in Tozeur, at Tameghza Palace (or similar).
Day 5
The oasis region and the Star Wars sets
West towards the Algerian border and Chott el Gharsa, where the yardangs rise out of the desert. This is where the duel between Qui-Gon and Darth Maul was filmed, and the Mos Espa set stands nearby. Then the mountain oases of Chebika and Tamerza, where waterfalls and palm groves sit against bare hills. Back to Tozeur when you choose, for the oasis and the old town.
Night in Tozeur, at Tameghza Palace (or similar).
Day 6
Chott el Jerid, Douz, Matmata and El Djem
East across the salt flats to Douz, a small oasis town at the edge of the Sahara, with time at the market and a camel ride if you want one. Then Matmata, where the crater like topography is dotted with troglodyte dwellings, and lunch in a troglodyte restaurant. In the afternoon, the colosseum at El Djem.
Night in Sousse, at Movenpick Sousse (or similar).
Day 7
Sousse, Hammamet and back to Tunis
The marina at Port El Kantaoui, then the medina of Sousse and its souks, then Hammamet and free time by the beaches before arriving at your hotel in Tunis.
Night in Tunis, at Dar Said (or similar).
Day 8
Departure
Transfer to the airport for your flight home.
Start from this journey on the map and change what you like. The estimate moves as you build.
Where you sleep
The hotels our programme sheet names for this journey. Where the sheet says or similar, so do we, and a similar property may stand in.
Tunis, 3 nights
Days 1 to 2 and 7Dar Said (or similar)
Guest house
Kairouan, 1 night
Day 3La Kasbah (or similar)
Five star
Tozeur, 2 nights
Days 4 to 5Tameghza Palace (or similar)
Five star
Sousse, 1 night
Day 6Movenpick Sousse (or similar)
Five star
What the price covers
Included
- Airport transfers
- Hotels
- Baggage handling
- Transportation as indicated
- English speaking guide
- Entrance fees to all sites
- A 4x4 excursion
- All meals, including a welcome dinner at a fine restaurant
- All taxes
Not included
- Tips
- Drinks
When to go
We suggest March to May and September to November for this journey. We leave out any month in which the average daytime high reaches 95F (35C) at a place on this route that the table covers, and we leave out December to February.
- Tozeur, where you spend two nights: an average daytime high of 98.1F (36.7C) in June, 103.1F (39.5C) in July and 102.7F (39.3C) in August.
- Douz: an average daytime high of 97.3F (36.3C) in June and 102.6F (39.2C) in July and August.
- Dougga: an average daytime high of 96.8F (36.0C) in July and 97.2F (36.2C) in August.
- Kairouan and El Djem, where you spend one night: an average daytime high of 99.9F (37.7C) in July and 99.5F (37.5C) in August.
- Sbeitla: an average daytime high of 96.6F (35.9C) in July and 95.2F (35.1C) in August.
- Matmata: an average daytime high of 97.2F (36.2C) in August.
- Tunis stays under the line all year. August is the warmest month the Institut lists for it: 93.4F (34.1C) at Tunis.
- September is the warm edge of that window, and the Institut puts it just under the line: Tozeur averages 94.3F (34.6C) and Douz averages 94.8F (34.9C).
- We leave out December to February. Tunis is at its wettest in December, with 75.2mm (3.0 in) of rain, and in January, with 63.1mm (2.5 in), and those three months are the coolest of the year at Tunis and at Tozeur.
- Nights in the desert are cool in winter. The January average low is 43.9F (6.6C) at Tozeur and 40.3F (4.6C) at Kebili, the Institut's station for Douz.
Source: Institut National de la Météorologie, Tunisia's national weather service. The figures are its long term monthly averages, and no station sits at a site. The choice of months is our advice, and none of our programme sheets states a season. Each figure is from the Institut's station nearest the place: Tunis-Carthage for Tunis, Beja for Dougga, Kasserine for Sbeitla and Kebili for Douz.
The other private journeys
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