Tunisia Things to Do

  El Jem
by BarryBraund
 
  • El Jem
      El Jem
    by BarryBraund
  • My taxi driver
      My taxi driver
    by BarryBraund
  • Sahara Explorer
      Sahara Explorer
    by kris-t
  • Amphitheatre
      Amphitheatre
    by kris-t
  •   Things to Do
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Mahdia - Skifa el-Kahla

by Willettsworld

The entrance to the old town of Mahdia is through the town gate, the Skifa el Kahla (Black Gate) or Bab Zouila. The gatehouse with its 44m (144ft) long entrance passage was formerly incorporated in the 11m (36ft) thick wall, 175m (190yds) long, which crossed the peninsula. The present gate is not the original Fatimid structure but was rebuilt in 1554 after the destruction of Mahdia by the Spaniards, using stone from the Fatimid fortress. It's possible to climb to the roof of the gate if you ask inside the museum which is located next door.

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Mahdia

by Willettsworld

Mahdia lies in a sheltered situation on a small rocky peninsula, 1.5km (1 mile) long and barely 500m (550yds) across, which is linked with the mainland only by a narrow isthmus. It's located 68km (42 miles) southeast of Sousse and 20km (12 miles) northeast of El Jem. I came here one afternoon after visiting nearby Monastir.Its name comes from Mahdi ('the well directed') in Arabic, nickname of Obaid Allah, the chief of the Fatimids. It was founded as a fortified port in 916 AD which was incorporated into massive walls, 10m thick, that once surrounded the whole peninsula, the remains of which can still be seen today. It was abandoned in 947 AD and was settled by inhabitants of nearby villages. It the 15th century, Spanish troops of Charles Quint seized Mahdia and it was then plundered, in the 17th century by the knights of Malta who set fire to the town. Mahdia is very small with only a...

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El Jem - Archeological Museum

by Willettsworld

Outside the town centre on the road to Sfax, is this Archeological Museum which exhibits a large collection of mosaics, oil lamps, terracotta bowls and plates and marble statues. Among the mosaics are two lions tearing a wild boar to pieces and a tiger attacking two wild asses (both second century). In the grounds behind the museum building are the excavations of a few Roman Villas plus the reconstructed House of Africa which gives a good three dimensional idea of what a plush Roman Villa would have looked like based on floor mosaics, some of which still remain.Open: 8.30am-12pm & 2-5.30pm. Closed Mondays. Admission is included in the Colosseum ticket.

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El Jem - Colosseum

by Willettsworld

The Amphitheatre, in the center of El Jem, is known as the African Colosseum - and with some reason, for it is the third largest amphitheatre in the Roman world, coming after the Colosseum in Rome and the amphitheatre at Pozzuoli, near Naples. Oval in form, the amphitheatre is 149m/486ft long by 122m/400ft across. It is also of impressive height (40m/130ft) - a height which would be still further increased by the canvas sails (vela) which protected the audience from the sun. It provided seating for over 30,000 (according to some estimates 60,000) spectators of the sporting events, bloody gladiatorial contests and slaughters of criminals by wild animals which were staged in the arena. It was thus too big for a town the size of Thysdrus (the Roman name for El Jem), and was evidently intended as a demonstration of the city's power and prosperity. It is believed to have been built between AD...

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Monastir - Mausoleum of Habib Bourguiba

by Willettsworld

Tunisia's first president Habib Bourguiba was born in Monastir and this mausoleum was built in 1963 so that he could be buried here after his death (which happened in 2000). It is reached via a long paved walked flanked by trees on either side and two octagonal pavilions at its entrance. The mausoleum features gold and green cupolas and two slender 25m (82ft) high minarets that are built from Italian marble. Inside lies his tomb which can also be viewed from a balcony. Other family tombs are also housed within the mausoleum. Admission into the mausoleum is free.

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Monastir - Ribat

by Willettsworld

Just off the harbour is Monastir's famous Ribat, built by Harthama ben Ayan in 796 AD, which ranks with the Ribat in Sousse as one of the oldest Arab fortresses in North Africa; but while the Ribat in Monastir was further strengthened the one in Sousse soon lost its military importance to the later Kasbah. As a result the similarities between the two buildings are not at first sight evident.Basically the Ribat is similar in plan to the one in Sousse. Originally it was only 32.80m (108ft) square and lacked the semicircular towers half way along the sides of the Ribat of Sousse. On the southeast side is the three-storey Nador tower, from the top of which there are fine views of the harbour, the large cemetery containing the Bourguiba Mausoleum, the Great Mosque and the roofs of the Medina.An imposing gateway on the west side of the Ribat leads into the inner courtyard, surrounded on three...

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Monastir

by Willettsworld

I first came to Monastir with my parents back in 1989 for a weeks holiday and came again as part of a 10 day winter tour around northern Tunisia as a day trip from Sousse. I didn't remember much of the town except for the two octagonal pavillions at the entrance to the Mausoleum of Habib Bourguiba which was closed to visitors back then as Tunisia's first president, who was born in Monastir, died in 2000.Like most of Tunisia, Monastir's history goes back a fair bit. The Phoenicians established a trading station named Rous Penna on this strategic site, and under the Romans this became the town of Ruspina. During the civil war with Pompeii (49-46 B.C.) Caesar made this his headquarters in North Africa and surrounded it with a triple ring of walls. When the Arabs established a chain of fortified monasteries along the North African coast in the 8th century they recognised the strategic value...

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Sousse - Museum Dar Essid

by Willettsworld

This small residential museum is a must see in Sousse. It's located along the northernmost street that runs along the wall of the Medina. The museum displays what a typical well-to-do 19th century family home would have looked like completed with furniture and ornaments. The house was built in 928 AD which makes it one of the oldest within the Medina. Admission: TD3 plus TD1 for camera charge.

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Sousse - Kasbah

by Willettsworld

The Kasbah was built in 859 AD on the site of an earlier Byzantine fortress. Its 30m/100ft high Khalef el Fata tower, named after its builder, is one of the oldest towers in the whole of North Africa. Its topmost platform is 50m/165ft above that of the Ribat. Accordingly the Kasbah took over the military role of the Ribat, and the Khalef el Fata tower is still used as a lighthouse, today. Part of the Kasbah is occupied by the municipal prison whilst the other part houses the Archeological Museum which seemed to be closed during the few days I was there over the New Year period.

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Sousse - Grand Mosque

by Willettsworld

Just inside the northern end of the Medina stands the fortress-like Great Mosque, built in 851 AD, a few years after the re-foundation of the town by the Aghlabids, on the model of the Sidi Oqba Mosque in Kairouan. The mosque originally had two defensive towers which in earlier centuries guarded the harbour. The battlemented walls of the courtyard, which is surrounded on three sides by a colonnade of tall horseshoe arches borne on massive piers, are decorated with an elaborate Kufic frieze. The arcade in front of the thirteen-aisled prayer hall was added in 1675. The prayer hall originally consisted only of three barrel-vaulted bays, but by the 10th century it was found to be too small and was extended by the addition of three rather higher groin-vaulted bays on the side with the qibla wall. Open: 8am-1pm Sat-Thur. Closed Fridays. Admission: TD2 from a little kiosk in the square outside...

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Fun things to do in Tunisia

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Things to Do: Cities in Tunisia
  1. Hammamet Things to Do
  2. Sousse Things to Do
  3. Tunis Things to Do
  4. Monastir Things to Do
  5. Ile de Jerba Things to Do
  6. Mahdia Things to Do
  7. Sidi Bou Said Things to Do
  8. Carthage Things to Do
  9. Kairouan Things to Do
  10. Tozeur Things to Do
  11. El Jem Things to Do
  12. Sfax Things to Do
  13. Matmata Things to Do
  14. Nabeul Things to Do
  15. Douz Things to Do
  16. El Kef Things to Do
  17. Bizerte Things to Do
  18. Tabarka Things to Do
  19. Midoun Things to Do
  20. Chott El Jerid Things to Do
  21. Houmt Souk Things to Do
  22. Gabes Things to Do
  23. Gafsa Things to Do
  24. Zaghouan Things to Do
  25. Dougga Things to Do
  26. Tamerza Things to Do
  27. Qasr Ghilan Things to Do
  28. Sbeitla Things to Do
  29. Al Metlaoui Things to Do
  30. Tataouine Things to Do
  31. Bulla Regia Things to Do
  32. Maktar Things to Do
  33. Nefta Things to Do
  34. Kebili Things to Do
  35. Henchir Hamrouni Chebika Things to Do
  36. Medenine Things to Do
  37. Le Bardo Things to Do
  38. Shanini Things to Do
  39. Ile Chergui Things to Do
  40. Utica Things to Do
  41. El Faouar Things to Do

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Questions and Answers

Vix79 profile photo

Q:  Easiest way to get from port el kantaoui to hammamet Please and approximate cost, would just be for 1 day thanks 

leics profile photo

A: Easiest way is probably to ask your hotel about organising a car + driver, or talk to local taxi drivers and get quotes. Otherwise, the official Tunisian railway... 

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