Tunisia's Green North — 4 days
Four days in a Tunisia of water and woodland: bird-filled lakes, cork oaks, coral coves and mountain villages, nowhere near the desert everyone expects.
Private excursion
Bizerte and Ichkeul
Bizerte's old harbour and its painted boats, the windswept northernmost tip of the African continent, and the birds of Lake Ichkeul: a day of water and green country, at your own pace.
On request
At a glance
Duration
A full day, around 9 to 10 hours depending on your pick-up point.
Who it suits
Nature and birdwatching enthusiasts, families, photographers, and travellers who have already done Carthage and want the northern Tunisia of water and hills.
Price
On request
An hour north of Tunis is enough to change countries. Bizerte keeps a tiny old harbour, a kasbah of narrow lanes and a fish market that smells of the sea at dawn. Further on, at the end of a rough track, Cap Angela marks the northernmost point of Africa. The day ends at Lake Ichkeul, among marshes, water buffalo and migrating birds.
Pick-up
Greater Tunis: Tunis-Carthage airport, your hotel, a guesthouse in Gammarth or Sidi Bou Said, or a private address. Hammamet, Nabeul or the northern suburbs, with an earlier start and the route adjusted to the pick-up point.
How the day unfolds
The order of the stops shifts with your start time, the traffic and how long you want to spend at each place.
Bizerte
An hour north of Tunis, across the plain and past the lagoons, and you are on the edge of the canal. Bizerte's old port is barely bigger than a pocket handkerchief: a square basin lined with ochre houses, blue-painted fishing boats, and two forts facing each other at its mouth. You climb into the kasbah through narrow lanes with washing strung between windows, look in at the fish market while it is still in full swing, then follow the corniche west to the cliffs of Cap Blanc, sea on one side and hills on the other.
Cap Angela
East through Ras Jebel and the farming villages, then a stony track dropping towards the sea, with the last stretch on foot. At the end, a plain monument marks the northernmost point of the African continent: from here there is nothing but water until Sicily and Sardinia. There is no museum and no gift shop, only low cliffs, empty coves, wind and surf, and the very concrete satisfaction of standing at the top of a continent. A short stop, but one people remember.
Lake Ichkeul
Back inland through Menzel Bourguiba and Mateur to Ichkeul National Park. The lake is brackish, fed by rivers in winter and by the sea in summer, which makes it one of the great migration stops in the western Mediterranean: depending on the season, greylag geese, coots, ducks, flamingos and raptors gather here in their thousands. A path climbs the flank of the hill to the ecomuseum, looking down over lake, marsh and the water buffalo grazing below. You come down as the light goes low across the water, and we drive back to Tunis at the time agreed with you.
What travelling privately changes
- The vehicle belongs to your group alone: you stop on the corniche, for a flock of sheep, beside a marsh, or to buy oranges at a roadside stall.
- Cap Angela appears on no group programme: the last few kilometres are a rough track and the final stretch is on foot. Privately, the northern tip of Africa becomes just another stop in the day.
- The birds at Ichkeul are best watched early or late, when the light drops onto the lake. Nothing forces you to be there at noon because a coach timetable said so.
- Door-to-door pick-up and drop-off, including guesthouses and villages that coaches never serve.
- A driver who knows the corniche road, the track out to the cape and the park approaches, and who reorders the day around the weather and the weekend crowds.
- Naceur Neffeti has worked in transport and travel since 1987, driving coaches before becoming a tourist driver in 2007. He speaks Arabic, French, English, German, Italian and Spanish.
What is included, what is not
Included
- Air-conditioned private vehicle for your group only, for the whole day.
- Professional driver, fluent in French and English, at your disposal from pick-up to drop-off.
- Fuel, tolls, parking and all running costs of the vehicle.
- Every drive on the programme: Bizerte and its corniche, the road out to Cap Angela via Ras Jebel, Ichkeul National Park and the return.
- Pick-up and drop-off at the address of your choice, with no surcharge for detours within Greater Tunis.
- Practical advice on the road: fish market hours, good fish restaurants in Bizerte, viewpoints and places out of the wind.
Not included
- Entry fees for Ichkeul National Park, its ecomuseum and the monuments of Bizerte.
- Lunch, drinks and personal spending.
- A licensed professional guide or a naturalist guide, optional and on request: a separate service from the driving.
- Binoculars, watching gear and any small boat outing on Lake Bizerte you might want arranged.
- Travel insurance and tips.
Practical advice
- Bizerte's fish market lives early: by mid-morning the stalls are thinning and the bustle is over. That is why it is the first stop of the day.
- Bring binoculars for Ichkeul. You watch from a distance, along the tracks on the flank of the hill, and the ecomuseum helps you put names to the shapes. Its hours vary with the season and it can close early out of season.
- The last kilometres to Cap Angela run along a stony track, then on foot to the point itself. Wear closed shoes; after heavy rain the track can turn unreasonable, and we switch to Cap Blanc instead, which is every bit as good.
- It is windy out on the cape, even in summer, and it rarely drops. A windproof layer or a light jacket makes the stop far more pleasant, especially with children.
- The moving bridge over the Bizerte canal swings open for passing boats and holds up the traffic for a few minutes. It is not a setback, it is the local spectacle, and we plan the order of the day around it.
- In winter the park tracks are muddy and the waterbirds plentiful; in spring the hills are green and the air is clear. In the kasbah and at the market alike, simple covered clothing and a word before photographing anyone open a lot of doors.
Your questions
When is the best season for birds at Ichkeul?
From late autumn to early spring, when the wintering birds are in and the lake is high. Numbers shift with the season and the water level, so we never promise a particular species: come early or late in the afternoon, bring binoculars and allow time on the tracks. A naturalist guide can be arranged on request as a separate service.
Can a normal vehicle reach Cap Angela?
The last few kilometres are an earth and stone track, fine in dry weather taken slowly, with the final stretch on foot. After heavy rain we do not push it: we will say so plainly and swap the cape for Cap Blanc and its corniche, just west of Bizerte.
Is there a chance to swim during the day?
Yes, in season. The beaches around Bizerte and over towards Ras Jebel are wide and often quiet on weekdays, but facilities are basic, so keep a towel and swimwear in the vehicle. The water is cooler up here than on the east coast, and the northerly wind makes itself felt.
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