Tunis for The Time Travellers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend
Whitewashed hills, a medina of domes, and Carthage under the pines.
History and architecture, read in the right order. Medieval on Saturday, modernism on Sunday, a guide who knows the gossip, and a drink where the plotters drank.
Friday: Carthage at dusk
- Tophet of Salammbô
The Punic burial precinct where child sacrifices were once claimed; sober, quiet and sited beside the old harbours.
- Punic Ports of Carthage
Two circular lagoons that were once the Phoenician warship and merchant harbours; walk the islet in the late light.
- Café des Nattes
A sit-down supper of brik and mint tea at the old café before the last train back.
Saturday: Rome in Africa
- Antonine Baths
The largest Roman baths built in Africa, beside the sea; read the plan, then the arches rise into focus.
- Roman Theatre of Carthage
A second-century theatre still used for the summer festival; sit on the stone cavea and look for the stage tunnel.
- Roman Villas of Carthage
Mosaic floors in houses on the hillside of Roman Carthage, including the Aviary and Venus rooms.
- Dar El Jeld
A medina town house for a long dinner of traditional dishes after a day among the ruins.
Sunday: Mosaics and domes
- Bardo National Museum
The greatest mosaic collection in the Mediterranean, in a former beylical palace; allow three hours and go straight to the Virgil mosaic.
- Café M'Rabet
A lunch of brik and salad in the courtyard of a tiled café at the heart of the souks.
- Zitouna Mosque
The oldest mosque in Tunis, with a courtyard of reused Roman columns; non-Muslims enter the courtyard only.
Monday: Beys and the Kasbah
- Dar Ben Abdallah Museum
Palace of Ottoman merchants with a courtyard of marble columns and rooms laid out as in the eighteenth century.
- Place du Gouvernement
The square beneath the Kasbah where the Prime Minister's office sits; Hafsid and Ottoman walls rise on every side.