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A rippled sand dune in the Grand Erg near Ksar Ghilane under a deep blue sky

Private Tunisia tour: 10 days, 9 nights, Carthage to a night in the Sahara

$2,550

A person, double occupancy. Private tour for six adults.

The country in nine nights: the capital, the mountains meeting the sea at Tabarka, Kairouan, the oases, one night at the desert camp past the end of the paved road, and the coast at Sousse.


The journey in brief

Length
10 days, 9 nights
Price
$2,550 a person, double occupancy
Single room supplement
$675 a person
Party
Private tour for six adults.
You sleep in
Tunis (2 nights), Tabarka (1 night), Kairouan (1 night), Tozeur (2 nights), Ksar Ghilane (1 night) and Sousse (2 nights)
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

  • A rocky stretch of coast on the Tabarka shore, with a calm sea and a distant headland and hillside town under soft cloud

    Tabarka

    Day 3

  • The prayer hall of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, with marble columns, brass chandeliers and woven carpets

    Kairouan

    Day 4

  • A date palm and green reeds beside a shallow pool in the sandstone gorge at Chebika

    Chebika

    Day 6

  • The mud brick and whitewashed houses of Tamezret climbing a hillside under a clear sky, with the mosque minaret on the skyline

    Tamezret

    Day 8


Day by day

Day 1

Arrival in Tunis, and Sidi Bou Said

Met at the airport and taken to your hotel. As soon as you have refreshed yourself, Sidi Bou Said, whose sixteenth century architecture came with its Andalusian settlers. A welcome dinner follows in La Goulette or Carthage.

Night in Tunis, at Dar Said (or similar).

Day 2

Carthage, the Bardo and the medina

The Roman ruins of Carthage in the morning, then the Bardo Museum, then into the heart of old Tunis for the seventh century medina.

Night in Tunis, at Dar Said (or similar).

Day 3

The Bardo and the northwest

The Bardo Museum and its Roman mosaics, then northwest on rural roads towards Ain Draham and Tabarka, where the mountains come down to the Mediterranean.

Night in Tabarka, at La Cigale Tabarka or Dar Smail (or similar).

Day 4

Bulla Regia, Dougga and Kairouan

Bulla Regia first, with its underground architecture and well preserved mosaics. After lunch, Dougga, Tunisia's largest and most impressive Roman site. Then on to Kairouan.

Night in Kairouan, at La Kasbah (or similar).

Day 5

Kairouan, Sbeitla and Tozeur

The Great Mosque and the medina at Kairouan, then southwest to Sbeitla, and on to Tozeur, arriving late in the day.

Night in Tozeur, at Tameghza Palace, The Mora Sahara Tozeur or Dar Habibi (or similar).

Day 6

The oasis region and the film sets

West towards the Algerian border and the village of Chott el Gharsa, then the mountain oases of Chebika and Tamerza. Back to Tozeur when you choose, to see the old town and the oasis.

Night in Tozeur, at Tameghza Palace, The Mora Sahara Tozeur or Dar Habibi (or similar).

Day 7

Chott el Jerid, Douz and a night in the desert

East across the chott to Douz, with time at the market, then south until the paved road ends and the desert tracks begin, arriving at the encampment in the afternoon. Late in the day is the time to take a camel trek if you would like one.

Night in Ksar Ghilane, at Pansy Camp (or similar).

Day 8

Matmata, El Djem and Sousse

Back roads through the mountains around the Berber village of Tamezret and into Matmata, where you can go down into the dwellings and have lunch in a troglodyte restaurant that served as a bar in Star Wars. Then up the olive coast to El Djem.

Night in Sousse, at Movenpick Sousse (or similar).

Day 9

Sousse and Monastir

The marina at Port El Kantaoui, the medina of Sousse and its souks, then Monastir and the mausoleum of Habib Bourguiba, and a walk by the sea.

Night in Sousse, at Movenpick Sousse (or similar).

Day 10

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, 2 nights
    Days 1 to 2

    Dar Said (or similar)

    Guest house

  • Tabarka, 1 night
    Day 3

    La Cigale Tabarka (or similar)

    Five star

    Our sheet also names Dar Smail for this stop.

  • Kairouan, 1 night
    Day 4

    La Kasbah (or similar)

    Five star

  • Tozeur, 2 nights
    Days 5 to 6

    Tameghza Palace (or similar)

    Five star

    Our sheet also names The Mora Sahara Tozeur and Dar Habibi for this stop.

  • Ksar Ghilane, 1 night
    Day 7

    Pansy Camp (or similar)

    Desert camp

  • Sousse, 2 nights
    Days 8 to 9

    Movenpick 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.
  • Bulla Regia: an average daytime high of 98.2F (36.8C) in July and 98.1F (36.7C) in 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 and Monastir stay under the line all year. August is the warmest month the Institut lists for them: 93.4F (34.1C) at Tunis and 91.0F (32.8C) at Monastir.
  • 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.
  • Tabarka, where you spend one night, is the wettest station in the Institut's table: 960.2mm (37.8 in) a year, against 471.6mm (18.6 in) at Tunis.

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, Jendouba for Bulla Regia, Beja for Dougga, Kasserine for Sbeitla and Kebili for Douz.


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