Dougga and Bulla Regia
Two Roman cities in one day: Dougga up in the wind on its hillside, then Bulla Regia, where people went underground to live, with the mosaics still lying where they were laid.
Private excursion
Dougga and Testour
A day in the Medjerda valley: the best-preserved Roman town in North Africa in the morning, a small town founded by Andalusian exiles in the afternoon, and a vehicle nobody shares with you in between.
On request
At a glance
Duration
A full day, roughly 9 to 10 hours depending on where we collect you.
Who it suits
Anyone drawn to archaeology and Andalusian history, families with children who can walk, photographers, and travellers who would rather see two places properly than five in passing.
Price
On request
Two hours out of Tunis and you are in wheat country. Dougga stands on a hillside above the Oued Khalled valley: capitol, theatre, Roman arch and a Libyco-Punic mausoleum among the olive trees. The afternoon belongs to Testour, a town of ruled-straight streets, tiled roofs and a minaret left by exiles from Andalusia.
Pick-up
Greater Tunis: Tunis-Carthage airport, your hotel, a guesthouse in Sidi Bou Said or a private address. Hammamet, Nabeul or Zaghouan, with an earlier start to absorb the extra driving.
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.
Medjez el Bab and the Medjerda plain
We leave Tunis westwards and the city gives way to fields almost at once. The road follows the Medjerda, the country's only permanent river, through wheat, olives and low plain villages. A short pause at Medjez el Bab, the bridge town on the river, where you can walk five minutes by the water or stop at the quiet Commonwealth war cemetery if twentieth-century history interests you. Then the road climbs gently towards Teboursouk and the hills come into view.
Dougga
Ancient Thugga is stacked up a slope above the Oued Khalled valley, and that setting is the whole point: from the theatre seats you look out over farmland exactly as Roman audiences did. The capitol still holds up its columned front; the Square of the Winds has a compass rose carved into the paving; the baths, the so-called Cyclops latrines, the arch of Septimius Severus and the temple of Caelestis are linked by paved lanes. Lower down, the Libyco-Punic mausoleum is a reminder that the town was Numidian long before it was Roman. Allow two to three unhurried hours of walking, more if you photograph.
Testour
Down again towards the river, and the atmosphere changes completely. Testour was refounded in the seventeenth century by Muslims driven out of Spain, and you can still read it in the grid of streets, the round-tiled roofs, the courtyards and the whitewashed fronts. The minaret of the great mosque is one of the strangest in the country: brick and glazed tile, topped by a clock whose hands run backwards, and decorated with six-pointed stars the founders brought from Andalusia. You wander the lanes, take a coffee on the square, walk down for a look at the Medjerda, then start back towards Tunis.
What travelling privately changes
- The vehicle is yours alone, so you can stop for a wheat field, a stork perched on a column or a man selling prickly pears, without putting it to a vote among forty strangers.
- Dougga is large and steep. You decide whether to give it an hour or three, whether to walk down to the mausoleum or simply sit in the theatre and look at the valley.
- The day's timings are agreed with you in the quote: in summer we leave early to walk on stone that is still cool, and keep Testour for the hot hours.
- Door-to-door pick-up and drop-off, including guesthouses and private addresses that coaches never reach.
- A driver who knows the valley road, the climb to Teboursouk and the approach that spares you the roughest walk up to the site entrance.
- 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, with you from pick-up to drop-off.
- Fuel, tolls, parking and all running costs of the vehicle.
- Every drive on the programme: the Medjerda valley, the climb to Dougga, the run down to Testour and the return.
- Pick-up and drop-off at the address of your choice, with no surcharge for detours within Greater Tunis.
- Practical advice along the way: opening hours, where the shade is, and honest places to eat in Teboursouk or Testour.
Not included
- Entry tickets for the Dougga site and any museum, paid on the spot.
- Lunch, drinks and personal purchases.
- An optional licensed professional guide, arranged on request: a separate service from the driving.
- Extensions that lengthen the day, such as a detour to Bulla Regia or Chemtou, to be settled when we quote.
- Travel insurance, personal spending and tips.
Practical advice
- Dougga is walked on worn Roman paving, on a slope, and it turns slippery after rain. Closed shoes beat sandals, and a walking pole helps tired knees.
- The site is huge and shade is scarce: hat, sunglasses, sun cream and a large bottle of water each, especially from June to September. We keep the water cool in the vehicle.
- In Testour the great mosque is a working place of worship: you admire the minaret, the doorway and the roofline from the street, but the prayer hall is not a visit. Cover shoulders and knees throughout the old centre.
- Around midday on Fridays the town empties for prayers and many shops close for an hour or two. We simply reorder the day around it.
- Opening hours at archaeological sites shift with the season and ticket offices close earlier in winter. We check before your day and arrange the visits accordingly.
- In spring the valley is green and full of poppies; in winter it can be muddy and cool up on the ridge. A light jacket takes no space and earns its place on the hill at Dougga.
Your questions
How long do we need at Dougga?
Two to three hours of walking covers it without rushing. The ground rises and falls over uneven paving, so if anyone in the group struggles on foot we concentrate on the upper part, near the capitol and the theatre, where the parking is closest. You keep the best of it without the long loop down to the mausoleum.
Can we go inside the mosque at Testour?
The prayer hall is not open to visitors: it is a working mosque, not a monument. You will see the minaret and the facades from the street, which is the finest part anyway. Covered clothing and a little discretion around prayer times are all it takes to be made welcome in the old centre.
Does this day work in high summer?
Yes, provided we start early. We walk Dougga in the cool of the morning, eat lunch in the shade, then spend the hottest hours in Testour, where the lanes and cafes keep the sun off. The vehicle is air-conditioned, the water stays cool, and the order of the day is settled with you when we quote.
You might also like
Zaghouan and Thuburbo Majus
A Roman temple built against the mountain, the aqueduct that carried its water to Carthage, and a forum you often have to yourself.
Ancient Tunisia — 5 days
Five days among Roman and Numidian sites, in a vehicle kept for your group alone, from Carthage down to El Jem.
Tunisia Heritage Tour — 8 days
Eight unhurried days reading Tunisia layer by layer, from Punic Carthage to the Ottoman medinas, with time to linger wherever a place holds you.
Request a quote
Give us the date, how many of you are travelling and your pick-up address: we reply with a quote drawn up for this day out.
- Your journey
- Travellers
- Your details
Fields not marked optional are needed to prepare a quote.
Every journey is quoted individually: no price is shown before your own quote.