a short extension trip to experience Tunisia’s main landmarks- for those travelers passing by Tunis for a conference or meetings and want to spend a few extra days discovering the main sites of Tunisia

This trip will take you from Ancient Carthage to the Medina to one of three key sites representing Tunisian’s history and culture. You will discover:

• Short extension trip to your business journey or your trip in a neighboring country of the Mediterranean
• Choose from 3 options- archeology, culture, arts & traditions
• Modular itinerary- we can accelerate the pace and cover more sites if you have appetite for that and/or extend this trip

TOUR ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrival (D)

Personalized welcome by PromoTunisia staff at Tunis Carthage Airport. Transfer and check in your hotel in the Medina

Visit the Medina of Tunis, the largest in North Africa (larger than Fez or Cairo), where we will stroll through the various souks and main monuments including palaces being restored and traditional homes which illustrate the way of life and customs of the nineteenth century Tunis.

Dinner in high style at a converted Ottoman Palace in the Medina, the most authentic restaurant in Tunis, Dar el Jeld. Dinner will include a selection of mouthwatering delicacies, accompanied by harp player and authentic Moorish music

Overnight at a small luxurious boutique hotel inside the Medina

Day 2:  Bardo Museum/Carthage/Sidi Bou Said (B, L, D)

The day will start with a visit of the National Museum of the Bardo, one of the best archaeological museums of the Mediterranean world, especially known for its beautiful collection of mosaics, the World’s largest, and located in an old palace that belonged to the Beys, the rulers of Tunisia.

Lunch at la Goulette Pier, fish and Mediterranean specialties.

In the afternoon, we will continue to the UNESCO World Heritage Site City of Carthage, the oldest Phoenician settlement on the coast of North Africa, and its surviving monuments: the Antonin Baths, the Tophet (burial ground) at Salambo, the Odeon, the Punic military and commercial harbors.

Continue to Sidi Bou Said, a village with immaculate white and blue houses that has managed to preserve its charm and peacefulness. Stroll through Sidi Bou’s narrow streets bordered by whitewashed houses with blue shutters and doors. Check out the various art galleries, try a bambalouni (a light and crispy Tunisian style doughnut) with some mint

tea in one of the cafes of Sidi Bou Said and enjoy the superb view of the gulf of Tunis from one of Sidi Bou’s traditional cafés.

Dinner and overnight at your boutique hotel

Day 3:  Archaeological Option,  Dougga (B,L)

Visit Dougga, one of the best-preserved Roman cities in Africa. Listed in 1997 in the UNESCO World Heritage List, the town of Dougga, built on an elevated site overlooking a fertile plain, was inhabited from early on. Dougga was originally a Punic town, which allied with Rome against Carthage and as a result was granted some degree of independence. Dougga became an influential agricultural center, controlling important trade routes to the coast (Carthage).

Dougga also had important marble quarries and fresh water supplies, which made it prosperous. We will visit the Capitolium; temples including those of Pietas Augusta, Fortuna, and Liber Pater; various exemplars of refined domestic architecture like the elegant House of the Trifolium; and the Libyo-Punic tower mausoleum. Lunch in Thugga.

Return to Tunis. Dinner at leisure

Day 3: Cultural Option,  Kairouan (B, L)

Visit Kairouan, the holy city of Tunisia with its impressive Islamic monuments some, dating to AD 670. Visit the ninth-century great mosque of Oqba ibn Nafi, an important reference point in Islam and Islamic architecture. As you very well know, Kairouan is the fourth holiest site in the Muslim religion (after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem).

It is said that 7 pilgrimages to Kairouan equate one pilgrimage to Mecca. Visit the Sidi Sahbi (one of the Prophet’s companion) mausoleum.

Lunch at La Kasbah 5* which lies at the heart of the holy city of Kairouan. This hotel, with a luxurious inside and a sober exterior, merges harmoniously into the Arab-Islamic architecture of the city of Kairouan. In the Medina, you will find a large number of artifacts from domestic and professional life: traditional cooking implements, wooden sofas, mills, men’s and women’s costumes, wedding costumes, kitchen utensils in wood, copper, pottery and Arabic calligraphy.

Return to Tunis. Dinner at leisure

Day 3: Arts & traditions Option,  Yasmine Hammamet (B,L)

Continue to the coastal city of Hammamet noted for its orange and lemon groves as well as its historic landmarks. Here you will find the walled town, a 13th-century fortress, a 15th-century Casbah and Dar Sebastian, a beautiful home with luscious gardens turned into an International Cultural Center.

Continue to Nabeul, the pottery capital of Tunisia renowned in all of North Africa. Learn about traditional pottery making and stroll in the winding streets of Nabeul. Stroll by the narrow streets of the old city, overlooking the Mediterranean and featuring some of the best handicrafts made in Tunisia.

Return to Tunis. Dinner at leisure

Day 4: Depart from Tunis Carthage airport (B)

After breakfast, depart to Tunis Carthage airport.