Tunis, Tunisia · Tunisia
Tunis City Guide - Souks, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said
Cedar shavings, jasmine and strong coffee drift out of a covered lane. This Tunis city guide links the walled medina, the Bardo mosaics, the ruins of Carthage and blue and white Sidi Bou Said in a couple of days.
Published October 14, 2026
The smell hits first. Cedar shavings, jasmine and strong coffee drift out of a covered lane while a cart rattles over the stones behind you. This **Tunis city guide** follows a simple thread through a capital that holds a walled medina, a Roman and Punic past and a blue and white village on a cliff, all close enough to link in a couple of days.
The order is easy to remember. Start in the old town, step into the mosaics of the Bardo, then ride the coastal light rail out to the ruins of Carthage and up to Sidi Bou Said for the evening. Most of it works on foot, plus one tram line that hugs the Gulf of Tunis.
What Makes the Tunis Medina Worth Getting Lost In?
The old town is one of the largest and best preserved medinas in the Arab world, and UNESCO lists it as a [World Heritage site](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/36). It is a living neighbourhood, not a museum. People shop, pray, haggle and carry bread home through the same lanes you are wandering.
Most visitors enter the **Tunis medina** through Bab el Bhar, the old sea gate also called Porte de France. On one side lie the straight boulevards of the French-era Ville Nouvelle. On the other, Rue Jamaa ez Zitouna climbs gently towards the Zitouna Mosque, the spiritual heart of the city. Visiting rules for non-Muslims can change, so check at the entrance and dress with shoulders and knees covered.
The souks are sorted by trade, a medieval logic that still works. Souk el Attarine smells of rose water and amber from the perfumers. In Souk des Chechias, men shape and brush the red felt caps that older Tunisians still wear. Further in you find leather, brass trays and carpets stacked to the ceiling.
Go early, before the tour groups. Bargain with a smile and walk away politely if the number feels wrong. The best moments happen in the side lanes, where a studded wooden door opens onto a tiled courtyard café and someone offers you a seat.
Why Visit the Bardo Museum?
The **Bardo Museum** is the reason many travellers add an extra day. It sits in a former palace of the beys, the rulers who governed Tunisia under the Ottomans, and it holds one of the great collections of Roman mosaics anywhere around the Mediterranean.
Walk slowly through the mosaic galleries. Whole floors lifted from Roman villas show fishermen hauling nets, hunters chasing boars, sea gods with crab claws in their hair. You start to notice the small jokes the craftsmen left behind. A cat steals a bird. A diner spills his wine.
Look up as well. The palace ceilings, carved and painted, and the grand staircases are part of the show. Many visitors spend more time staring at the plasterwork than they expected.
The museum lies west of the centre and is easy to reach by the light rail network or a short taxi ride. Opening days and ticket details vary, so check with the [national tourism office](https://www.discovertunisia.com/) before you go. It pairs well with a medina morning, or as a cool escape on a hot afternoon.
What Is Left of Ancient Carthage?
Carthage was founded by Phoenician settlers from Tyre and grew into the great sea power that fought Rome in the Punic Wars. Rome destroyed it, then rebuilt it as the capital of its province of Africa, and the city later passed to the Vandals and the Byzantines. What survives today is a scatter of Punic harbours, Roman baths, villas, a theatre and a hilltop museum spread across a quiet suburb by the sea. The [UNESCO listing](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/37) covers the whole archaeological area. That layered history is why the **Carthage ruins** feel less like one monument and more like a trail through several civilisations.
This matters for planning. There is no single fenced park. You walk between sites along leafy residential streets, and several TGM stations serve the area.
Start on Byrsa Hill, where the Carthage National Museum looks out over the gulf. Head down to the Tophet, a small and moving Punic sanctuary, then on to the round Punic harbours, still visible as two calm basins of water. Finish at the Antonine Baths, a massive Roman bath complex right on the shore. Locals fish off the rocks just beyond the columns.
Bring a hat, water and good shoes. A full morning is the right pace.
How Do You Get to Sidi Bou Said by TGM Tram?
The **TGM tram** is the light rail line that runs from Tunis Marine, at the end of the main boulevard, across the lake causeway and along the coast through Carthage towards La Marsa. To reach Sidi Bou Said, board at Tunis Marine, ride past the Carthage stops and get off at the station named for the village. From there, a short uphill walk leads into the lanes. Tickets are cheap and sold at station windows, and the operator posts frequency and route changes at stations, so allow some flexibility. Plan Carthage for the daytime and Sidi Bou Said for late afternoon, when the light softens. Then take the same line back to the centre.
**Sidi Bou Said** is all whitewashed walls, blue doors studded with black nails and windows wrapped in blue wooden grilles. Bougainvillea spills over the walls. Jasmine sellers tuck sprigs behind their ears.
Climb the steps to Café des Nattes, where people sit on straw mats sipping mint tea. Café des Délices, lower down on the cliff, has wide views over the gulf. Afterwards, follow the lanes down towards the marina. Weekends get busy with families from the capital, so weekday evenings are calmer.
Where to Eat and How to Plan Your Days in Tunis?
Food is one of the best **things to do in Tunis**, and most of it costs little. Try brik, a crisp pastry folded around an egg that you eat with your fingers before the yolk escapes. Lablabi, a chickpea soup with bread, cumin and harissa, is a working breakfast in the medina. Couscous with fish or lamb fills the lunch tables, and grilled fish tastes best near the water in La Goulette or La Marsa.
End meals with Tunisian pastries and mint tea with pine nuts floating on top. Watch how locals sip it slowly.
Spring and autumn bring mild weather and soft light. Summer is hot, so plan the ruins for early mornings. Dress modestly in the medina, carry small change for tea and tips, and keep valuables close in crowded souks. Always ask before photographing people.
Any Tunis city guide worth its salt keeps the pace gentle. For a natural rhythm, spend one day on the medina and the Bardo, then another on Carthage and Sidi Bou Said along the tram line. Two days give you the core, and a third lets you slow down.
Ready to Plan Your Own Tunis Days?
Create your own itinerary with Keptour: add the places that catch your eye, arrange them into days and share the plan with whoever is coming along.
Start with the medina gate and end with a seat facing the gulf. Once you have watched the blue shutters glow over the water at dusk, Tunis tends to pull you back for another trip.