Explore Tunis, neighbourhood by neighbourhood

Tunis rewards a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood approach rather than a single checklist, and this destinations hub organises the six regions that matter, from the capital itself out to the edge of the Sahara. At the centre, Tunis combines the UNESCO-listed medina around the Ez-Zitouna Mosque — its courtyard open to visitors, its prayer hall reserved for worshippers — with the wide colonial-era boulevards of the Ville Nouvelle and the mosaic collections of the Bardo Museum, one of the richest in the Mediterranean.

A short TGM ride away, Carthage and the bay group the Punic and Roman ruins of ancient Carthage with the blue-and-white hill town of Sidi Bou Said, the seafront suburb of La Marsa and the ferry port of La Goulette. Cap Bon, the peninsula east of the capital, holds the resort towns of Hammamet and Nabeul, known for its pottery, along with Kelibia, the Punic town of Kerkouane and the hot springs at Korbous.

Inland, the Roman north-west spreads the ruin-cities of Dougga and Bulla Regia across rolling farmland, alongside the Andalusian town of Testour, the market town of Zaghouan below its own mountain, and quieter Utique on the coast; further north, Bizerte's old port and the wetlands of Ichkeul National Park extend the region toward Tabarka. South along the coast, the Sahel groups the holy city of Kairouan, the UNESCO medina of Sousse, the amphitheatre at El Djem — one of the best-preserved in the Roman world — and the resort towns of Monastir and Mahdia.

Furthest out, the Sahara is reachable from Tunis on a two- to three-day circuit through Douz, Tozeur, the troglodyte village of Matmata, the salt flats of Chott el Jerid and the desert camp at Ksar Ghilane, rather than as a single day out. Together these six regions give a first-time visitor a realistic sense of how far Tunis reaches, and this hub links through to a fuller destination-by-destination breakdown of each one.