Grand Tunisia Tour: North to Sahara — 10 days
Our most complete route, driven end to end: Mediterranean to dunes, in a vehicle nobody else shares.
Private tour
Tunisia Essentials — 7 days
One week, one private vehicle, and a country that finally joins up end to end.
On request
At a glance
Duration
7 days and 6 nights, from the north to the edge of the desert
Who it suits
First-time visitors, families, couples and small private groups
Price
On request
The loop most first-time visitors should do, in the order that makes sense: the Tunis medina, the Byrsa hill at Carthage, the blue shutters of Sidi Bou Said, the Great Mosque of Kairouan, the amphitheatre at El Jem, two slower days on the Sahel coast, then a run south to where the sand begins. Your group only, in one vehicle.
Departures
Pick-up in Tunis: the airport, your hotel or guesthouse, or the cruise terminal at La Goulette. We can also start from Hammamet, Nabeul or Sousse, with the route reshuffled to suit.
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 — Arrival in Tunis and the medina
We meet you at Tunis-Carthage airport or at your hotel, then walk into the medina: the Zitouna mosque, the chechia and perfume souks, and a rooftop terrace for the view over the tiles. The day is built around your flight time rather than the other way round.
Day 2 — Carthage and Sidi Bou Said
The Antonine baths on the shoreline, the Byrsa hill, and the Punic ports still legible in the ground. The afternoon goes to Sidi Bou Said, whitewashed walls and blue shutters above the water. The Bardo and its mosaics can be added, or swapped in for part of the morning.
Day 3 — Inland to Kairouan
The road turns inland, with an optional stop at the water temple of Zaghouan or the ruins of Thuburbo Majus. In Kairouan: the Great Mosque and its vast courtyard, the Aghlabid basins, the Sidi Sahbi zaouia and the carpet workshops. You can sleep in Kairouan or push on to the coast.
Day 4 — El Jem and the Sahel coast
El Jem's amphitheatre shows itself from miles away, riding above the olive groves: you climb the tiers, then drop into the underground corridors, and the museum next door holds some superb mosaics. You reach Sousse, Monastir or Mahdia by late afternoon, on the water.
Day 5 — A slower day by the sea
A day without a long drive: the beach, the fishing harbour at Mahdia and its Skifa el Kahla gate, the ribat at Monastir or the Sousse medina. The vehicle stays available for short hops, and doing nothing at all is a perfectly good use of the day.
Day 6 — A first taste of the south
South through Sfax and Gabes, the landscape drying out and the olive trees thinning as you go. The troglodyte houses of Matmata open into the ground like craters, and the road carries on to Douz, where the sand properly begins. A long driving day, broken by stops you choose.
Day 7 — Back north to Tunis
Back up the coast, with a last stop chosen around your flight: the olive country near Sfax, the Mahdia medina, or lunch looking at the sea. Drop-off at Tunis-Carthage airport or at your hotel; the departure time for this final day is agreed with you in the quote.
What travelling privately changes
- The vehicle is yours alone: no strangers on board, and no hotel-by-hotel pick-up round before the day starts.
- You decide how long to stay at each site; the timings for each day are agreed with you when the quote is drawn up.
- Door-to-door pick-up and drop-off at the exact address, early flights and late ones included.
- The stops that appear on no programme stay possible: a viewpoint, a village market, a pause in the shade of an olive tree.
- Naceur Neffeti has worked in transport and travel since 1987, first driving coaches, then as a tourist driver since 2007; he speaks Arabic, French, English, German, Italian and Spanish.
What is included, what is not
Included
- An air-conditioned private vehicle for your group alone, for the whole circuit.
- Professional driver, fuel, motorway tolls and parking at the sites.
- An itinerary drawn up with you beforehand, and adjustable as you go.
- Pick-up and drop-off wherever you actually are, airport included.
- Someone reachable by phone in French, English or Arabic throughout the trip.
Not included
- Accommodation and meals, unless the quote says otherwise.
- Entry tickets to sites and museums, plus the photography fee where one applies.
- A licensed guide: a separate, optional service, arranged on request for the sites where you want one.
- Flights, travel insurance and personal spending.
- Optional extras: hammam, camel ride, boat trip.
Practical advice
- From May to September, keep the open-air sites for the morning: there is little shade at Carthage and none at all in the tiers at El Jem.
- Shoulders and knees covered at the Great Mosque of Kairouan and at the zaouias; a light scarf in the bag settles it.
- Closed shoes with grip: medina cobbles and the stairways at El Jem are smooth, uneven and well worn.
- Several museums close one day a week and shift their hours between summer and winter, so we check opening days before the programme is fixed.
- Water, a hat and some cash for the souks: small medina purchases are rarely paid by card.
Your questions
Can the order of the days be changed?
Yes. The itinerary is a starting point, not a fixed track. If you would rather save Carthage for the end, add Dougga, trade the southern leg for another day on the coast, or come back early on a flight day, we rework it before departure and, where it is practical, on the road.
Do we need a guide at the sites?
Not necessarily. Your driver drops you as close to the entrance as vehicles are allowed, explains how the site works in practice and picks you up again on the way out. If you want detailed historical commentary at Carthage, Kairouan or El Jem, a licensed guide is a separate service, arranged on request, site by site.
When is the best time of year to do this?
Spring and autumn are the most comfortable. In July and August we push the open-air sites into the morning and keep museums, shaded medina streets and the sea for the afternoon. In winter the sites are quiet and the daylight short, so the days are planned a little tighter.
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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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