Tunis for The Curious Wanderers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend
Whitewashed hills, a medina of domes, and Carthage under the pines.
No theme, just the city at its best. The sights that earn their reputation, a workshop or a market, one strange place nobody told you about, and dinner where the food is the point.
Friday: Medina first
- Souk el Attarine
The perfume souk, domed alleys and hidden doorways; wander without a plan for an hour.
- Dar Ben Abdallah Museum
A palace museum in the medina, with painted ceilings and a roof terrace for the call to prayer.
- Dar Belhadj
A courtyard dinner in a medina house, with traditional cuisine and mint tea to finish.
Saturday: Hats and ruins
- Souk des Chéchias
The chéchia, the red felt cap, is still made in workshops in this souk; watch the felting and ask to try one on.
- Café M'Rabet
A tiled café for lunch in the souks, with tea and cakes.
- Antonine Baths
The Roman baths at Carthage, still dramatic in afternoon light.
Sunday: Mosaics and the strange tophet
- Bardo National Museum
A palace of mosaics: gods, hunters and a poet between two Muses; allow a whole morning.
- Tophet of Salammbô
The Punic sanctuary of Salammbô, a small, strange place of stone markers beside the old harbours.
- Café des Nattes
Tea with pine nuts at the famous café in the village.
Monday: The last odd corner
- Dar El Annabi
A small house museum in Sidi Bou Said, set up as an eighteenth-century family home with mannequins and tiles.
- Café Sidi Chabaane
A last lunch on the terraced steps of the village.