Tunisia
Africa · Tunis · TN
Tunisia is North Africa's most accessible cultural mosaic, a compact country where Roman amphitheaters stand beside turquoise Mediterranean coves and Saharan sand seas shimmer beyond olive groves and date palms. Tunis medina is a maze of zellige-tiled mosques, Ottoman-era palaces, and workshops where artisans hammer copper into intricate teapots. The coastal town of Sidi Bou Said paints itself in the iconic blue and white palette that has inspired painters and poets for centuries, while the island of Djerba preserves a Jewish heritage dating back two millennia. Tunisian cuisine balances harissa's fiery kick with the sweetness of preserved lemons, the earthiness of couscous, and the simplicity of olive oil drizzled over warm bread. From the lunar landscapes of the Matmata cave dwellings to the Roman ruins of Dougga perched on green hillsides, Tunisia packs extraordinary geographic and historical variety into a country small enough to traverse in a single day's drive.
Overview
Tunisia is a country in Africa. Its capital is Tunis and the international dialling code is +216. Languages commonly used in everyday life here include Arabic. Local currency is the Tunisian Dinar (TND). Our guide covers 1 airport, including Tunis Carthage International Airport. We also list 1 city in Tunisia: Tunis.
Tunis Medina and the Grand Souk
The medina of Tunis is a UNESCO-listed labyrinth of over 700 monuments squeezed into a walled quarter that has functioned as a commercial and spiritual center since the seventh century. Entering through Bab el Bhar, visitors step into a world of covered souks organized by trade: the Souk el Attarine for perfumes, the Souk el Chouachine for turbans, and the Souk el Chouaria for leather goods. The Zitouna Mosque, founded in 732, anchors the medina with its courtyard of marble columns and its centuries-old library of Islamic manuscripts. Winding alleys open onto hidden courtyards where copper artisans hammer teapots and ceramicists paint traditional Nabeul patterns onto bowls. At dusk, the call to prayer reverberates off sandstone walls, and cafe terraces along Rue de la Kasbah fill with mint tea and conversation. The medina rewards slow wandering, where the next discovery is always one turn away.
Sidi Bou Said's Blue and White Vista
Sidi Bou Said, perched on a cliff above the Gulf of Tunis, is perhaps the most photographed village in North Africa, its whitewashed buildings and cobalt-blue shutters creating a visual harmony that has attracted artists from August Macke to Simone de Beauvoir. The village takes its name from a thirteenth-century Sufi saint whose mausoleum crowns the clifftop, and the stairway leading to it is lined with boutiques selling blown glass, blue ceramics, and handmade jewelry. At the Café des Nattes, tourists and locals share mint tea served in traditional metal goblets while overlooking a panoramic sweep of Mediterranean blue. The afternoon light here has a quality that painters describe as almost liquid, turning whitewashed walls into canvases of gold and lavender. Sidi Bou Said is tiny enough to explore in an hour, yet its atmosphere lingers in memory long after the visual details blur.
Dougga's Roman Ruins on a Green Hilltop
Dougga, set among rolling wheat fields in northern Tunisia, is the best-preserved Roman city in North Africa and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that rivals Pompeii in scale and atmosphere. The well-intact amphitheater seats 3,500 and still hosts summer performances, while the Capitolium temple's Corinthian columns stand defiant against a backdrop of olive groves. The House of the Trifolium features an extraordinary floor mosaic of geometric patterns and mythological scenes, and the ancient baths reveal sophisticated hydraulic engineering beneath layered stone. Unlike the more visited sites in Italy, Dougga sees relatively few tourists, allowing visitors to wander among colonnaded streets and triumphal arches in near solitude. The surrounding landscape of vineyards and cork oak forests adds a pastoral dimension that reconstructs what daily Roman life in Africa may have felt like, a reminder that the empire's reach extended far beyond its European heartland.
Matmata's Underground Cave Dwellings
The town of Matmata in southern Tunisia is defined by its troglodyte architecture, where Berber families carved homes directly into soft sandstone hills to escape the extreme desert heat. Theresulting underground courtyards, connected by tunnels and topped by ventilation shafts, create cool subterranean spaces that maintain a comfortable temperature year-round. Some of these dwellings have been converted into small hotels, allowing visitors to sleep in rooms carved from rock and lit by shafts of natural light. The surrounding landscape is stark and otherworldly, with eroded ridgelines and dry wadis stretching toward the Chott el Djerid salt flat. Local guides share stories of Berber resistance movements that used these underground homes as hiding places during colonial conflicts. Matmata offers an encounter with vernacular architecture born purely from environmental necessity, a stark contrast to the Roman grandeur of Dougga just a few hundred kilometers north.
Djerba's Island Heritage Trail
Djerba, a low-lying island off Tunisia's southern coast connected to the mainland by a causeway attributed to the Odyssey's Lotus-Eaters, harbors a cultural diversity unusual for the region. The El Ghriba Synagogue, one of the oldest in North Africa, draws Jewish pilgrims annually for a festival celebrating centuries of coexistence between the island's Jewish, Muslim, and Berber communities. Whitewashed fishing villages line the coast, where boat builders still construct traditional loudhun vessels using methods passed through generations. The island's interior is a patchwork of olive groves and pottery workshops, particularly in the village of Guellala, where artisans shape terracotta using centuries-old techniques. Djerba's beaches are quieter than those of the Sahel coast, and its laid-back atmosphere reflects an island rhythm that has persisted despite the mainland's modernization.
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- Capital
- Tunis
- Currency
- Tunisian Dinar (TND)
- Languages
- Arabic
- Calling code
- +216
- Internet TLD
- tn
Entry requirements
Check who can enter →See which passports travel visa-free or need a visa to enter Tunisia.
Airports (1)
All airports →Cities (1)
All cities →Frequently asked questions
What is the capital of Tunisia?
Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, and the country sits in Africa.
What currency is used in Tunisia?
You pay with Tunisian Dinar (TND) in Tunisia. Exchange rates move day to day, so check the current rate before you change money or use your card abroad.
Which languages do people speak in Tunisia?
The languages we list for Tunisia are Arabic. A couple of greetings in the local language go a long way when you travel, even in cities where another language is widely used.
What is the international dialling code for Tunisia?
The dialling code for Tunisia is +216 — keep the plus sign when you save the number.
Which airports serve Tunisia?
Tunis Carthage International Airport (TUN) in Tunis is the airport we cover for Tunisia.
Which cities in Tunisia do you cover?
Our guide lists 1 city for Tunisia: Tunis (capital).