Tataouine, Chenini and the Ksour
A day among the fortified granaries of the south-east, in a vehicle kept for your group alone: Ksar Ouled Soltane, Chenini along its crest, near-silent Douiret and Tataouine itself.
Private tour
Ksour and Berber Villages — 4 days
Four days across Tunisia's south-east in a vehicle kept for your group alone — fortified granaries, the ridges of the Dahar, villages that are still lived in.
On request
At a glance
Duration
4 days and 3 nights, with short driving stages and a good deal of walking once you are in the villages.
Who it suits
Travellers drawn to architecture and raw landscape, photographers, families whose children are happy to walk. The climbs at Chenini and Douiret ask for a steady foot rather than any real fitness.
Price
On request
Tataouine, Chenini, Douiret, Ksar Ouled Soltane, Ghomrassen, Matmata and Toujane, over four unhurried days: architecture built for storing grain and holding a ridge, read across bare limestone country. Your driver knows the mountain roads; you set the pace and decide how long each village deserves.
Departures
From Djerba, Zarzis, Medenine or Tataouine: we collect you at your hotel, guesthouse or a private address, at a time agreed with you in the quote. From Tunis, Hammamet, Sousse or Sfax: a full day's driving is added at each end, and we build it into the programme before anything is confirmed.
The route, day by day
A working plan rather than a fixed track: the order of the days is reworked with you before departure, and on the road wherever that is practical.
Day 1 — Inland to Tataouine via the ksour of Medenine
The drive trades the coastal olive groves for the stony ridges of the Dahar. We stop at Medenine, where stacked ghorfas still line the lanes of the old centre. After settling into Tataouine, we reach Ksar Ouled Soltane late in the day, when low sun lifts the ochre off the tiers of granaries around the courtyard.
Day 2 — Chenini and Douiret, the ridge villages
The morning belongs to Chenini, strung along its crest with granaries above the houses and the white Mosque of the Seven Sleepers standing apart. You go up on foot, slowly. The afternoon is Douiret: quieter, often almost empty, its terraced old village a plain lesson in how every drop of water was caught and kept.
Day 3 — Ghomrassen, Guermessa and across the Dahar
Ghomrassen lies between two cliffs pitted with cave houses, and its ftair — the doughnut eaten on market mornings — is worth the stop. Guermessa, on its twin spur, sees far fewer visitors. The road then climbs north through Beni Kheddache and the ridge-top ksour, a long crossing of bare plateaux towards Matmata.
Day 4 — Matmata, Toujane and down to the coast
Matmata's pit houses are dug down into the ground, some of them still lived in: you walk in along a tunnel cut in the rock and come out in an open courtyard. Then Toujane, hung above its ravine, with dry-stone terraces and looms still working. The run down to Gabes gives the last wide view before we return you to your drop-off point.
What travelling privately changes
- The vehicle is yours alone: no other passengers, no morning tour of other people's hotels.
- The start time for each day is agreed with you in the quote, then adjusted on the road if the heat or your mood says otherwise.
- We stop where stopping is worth it: a pass, a herd crossing the road, a ksar spotted from the tarmac.
- Naceur Neffeti has worked in transport and travel since 1987 and has driven travellers since 2007. He speaks Arabic, French, English, German, Italian and Spanish.
- A licensed guide can be added for a day or for one particular site. That is a separate service from the driving, arranged in advance on request.
What is included, what is not
Included
- A private vehicle and driver for the whole circuit, from the first morning to the last.
- Fuel, tolls and parking.
- Three nights in a hotel or guesthouse, in the category chosen in your quote.
- Cold water on board throughout the drives.
- Collection at your starting point and return to the drop-off point named in the quote.
Not included
- Meals and drinks, apart from any specifically listed in your quote.
- Entry fees for sites, museums and villages that charge admission.
- The services of a licensed guide, offered as an option and booked in advance.
- Personal spending and tips, entirely at your discretion.
- Travel insurance.
Practical advice
- Closed shoes with real grip: the lanes of Chenini and Douiret climb over rock polished smooth by generations of feet.
- In summer the Dahar gets genuinely hot around midday. We move early, save the climbs for the cooler hours and take a proper shaded break.
- Shoulders and knees covered when you approach village mosques and marabout shrines.
- A chèche or hat, sun cream and more water than you think you need — there is not always a shop between villages.
- Market days transform Tataouine and Ghomrassen. Tell us if you would like one built into the programme.
Your questions
How fit do you need to be for Chenini and Douiret?
You need to manage a stony slope for twenty to thirty minutes at your own pace, with breaks. Nothing technical, but the rock is smooth in places and there are no handrails. Anyone who prefers to stay below still gets a fine view from the foot of the village, and the vehicle waits in the shade.
Does this circuit work in summer?
Yes, provided the day is built around the heat: an early start, villages in the morning, a long shaded break in the middle of the day, then out again late afternoon when the light turns. The shape of the hours is agreed with you in the quote rather than imposed on you.
Is a guide included?
No. Your driver drives, gets you to the right places and talks about the road and the region, but he does not commentate the sites. If you would like a licensed guide, for a full day or for one specific visit, say so in your enquiry and we will arrange it as an option.
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Request a quote
Your dates, how many of you are travelling and where you start are enough to begin: we come back with a quote drawn up for this tour.
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