Our classical journey throughout Tunisia for travelers with a solid travel “career” who are curious, demanding and seeking a moderately paced journey.

This is PromoTunisia’s signature trip focusing on local arts & traditions, culture and people, history and heritage, nature and biodiversity, You will :

• Visit the archeological treasures of Northern Tunisia
• Experience the vibrant medinas of Central Tunisia, their arts, traditions & gastronomy
• Discover the fabulous Sahara desert, its silence, vastness and mountain oases

TOUR ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrival (D)

Personalized welcome by PromoTunisia staff at Tunis Carthage Airport. Transfer and check in your hotel in the seaside suburbs of Tunis. The remainder of the afternoon is free for rest and relaxation from your flight. Meet your Tour Director tonight. Dinner and overnight

Day 2: Bardo Museum/ Medina of Tunis (B, L, D)

Morning visit to the Bardo museum, considered one of the richest museums in the world. Housed in one of the former Husseinite palaces, it encloses all the treasures of Tunisian history: from pre-historic times to the Punic civilization, the Roman era, Christian’s times, Muslim civilization and up to the twentieth century and features the world’s largest collection of mosaics. Lunch at a Medina restaurant serving genuine, authentic Tunisia food (Escheick, Chez Slah) 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. In the evening, dinner at a seaside restaurant serving fresh Mediterranean specialties

Day 3:  Carthage/ Sidi Bou Said (B, L)

Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site City of Carthage, the oldest Phoenician settlement on the coast of North Africa, and its glorious monuments: the Anthonin thermes, the Tophet at Salambo, the Amphiteatre, the Punic ports and the Acropolium. Continue to the WWII American cemetery of Carthage (General Patton’s Kasserine Pass battle).

Lunch at a boutique restaurant serving genuine Tunisian seafood specialties (La Victoire El Kram or Cafe Vert La Goulette- stemming from the Jewish heritage of Tunisia). In the afternoon, continue to Sidi Bou Said, a 17th century 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, 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 café. Some of the town’s traditional cafes provide a marvelous view of the Gulf of Tunis, a perfect spot for painters and poets (it is called the Montmartre of Tunis).

Dinner and overnight at leisure at your hotel or in downtown la Marsa

Day 4: Testour/Dougga/Kairouan (B, L, D)

Depart from Tunis. Visit the ancient city of 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 the capital of Punic and Roman states. Lunch in Thugga.

Continue to Kairouan, the holy city of Tunisia with its impressive Islamic monuments some dating to 670AD. Walk at your leisure in the souks, taste the traditional local pastry stuffed with dates called makroudh and learn about the traditional savoir-faire of women making rugs.

Check in and dinner at your boutique hotel

Day 5: Kairouan/el Djem (B, L, D)

Morning visit to the ninth century great mosque of Oqba ibn Nafi, an important reference point in Islam and Islamic architecture. Continue to el Djem’s spectacular amphitheater that dates from 238 A.D, and is the second largest in the World only to Rome’s. Lunch at a small genuine restaurant le Bonheur.

Visit the newly opened small museum and the excavations extending behind the amphitheater where beautiful mosaics have been found. Return to Kairouan, free afternoon in the beautiful Medina of Kairouan. Dinner and overnight at a family owned restaurant in downtown Kairouan

Day 6: Journey to the Sahara/Tozeur (B, L, D)

After breakfast, continue to Tozeur, an oasis town rising from the sands of the Sahara desert where we will arrive in the afternoon. Visit Tozeur and discover the exquisite craftsmanship of Southern’s artisans, their traditions and cultural heritage. Discover the Belvedere of Tozeur, with its 300,000 palm trees and over 400 hot and cold springs.

Check in and dinner at your hotel. After dinner at the hotel, visit to the Dar Cheraiet museum, an architectural jewel born of 1001 nights dreams. The museum, partially outdoor features luxurious decorations and gardens with the most representative scenes of North African life.

Day 7: Mountain Oases (B, L, D)

Depart to Metlaoui. Visit the Selja gorges if the Red Lizard Train is available, the train belonging to the Bey of Tunisia, ancient Ottoman ruler of Tunisia, part of the colonial heritage of Southern Tunisia. With six wagons, including one used by the Bey, the train takes you to discover the famous and otherwise inaccessible Selja gorges.

Continue by 4X4 to the oasis of Tamerza. Lunch in Tamerza. Explore the Mountain Oases of Mides and Chebika, which are perched in granite mountains above the Sahara and provide scenery for filmmakers in search of Biblical landscapes. Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Tozeur

Day 8: Douz/Matmata/Djerba (B, L, D)

After breakfast, cross the dry salt lake of Chott el Djerid where fantastic forests and cities seem to appear on the horizon, only to be discovered as mirages. Arrive in Douz “gateway to the Sahara.” This quiet, oasis village is home to the Festival of the Sahara and features a daily camel market. Lunch in Douz.

Depart to the Berber village of Matmata and its famous troglodytes, homes built underground to protect the Berbers from summer heat. Berber Ksours are among the most exciting places to explore in Tunisia. One of these fabulous Berber villages with its pitted lunar landscapes was the set of the Spielberg’s movie Raiders of the Lost Arc and Lucas “Star Wars”.

Continue to the Island of Djerba, land of the Lotus-eaters in Homer’s Odyssey. Check in and dinner at your hotel.

Day 9: Island of Djerba (B, L, D)

Visit the Ghriba synagogue, built in the 6th century BC (fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians), one of the holiest Jewish places that hosts annual pilgrimage of Jews from all over the world and holds one of the most ancient Torah’s in the world. Lunch at leisure (recommended Haroun Djerba).

Continue to Houmt Souk, the island’s capital, for a chance to experience local markets, crafts and foods, the museum of arts and popular traditions in Sidi Zitouni and the village of Guellala for its potteries. Farewell Dinner

Day 10: Fly to Tunis and Europe/US

Transfer to the airport of Djerba. Fly to Tunis early morning (45mn flight). Connect directly to a flight to Europe and the US