Stroll smart shopping streets around and off the broad Avenue Bourguiba in Tunis' colonial Ville Nouvelle. The Medina is the evocative, older central district packed with traditional cafes and crowded souks selling local crafts. Out of town are important ancient sites like Carthage, and pleasant waterfront areas like Sidi Bou Said.
You'll sense the history of Tunis in its architectural divide. The Medina, the historic Arabic city, is a mass of tangled lanes full of mosques, mansions and courtyards. Buy traditional arts and crafts at little shops and crowded souk markets. Tunis' colonial Ville Nouvelle (or French City) is a cosmopolitan grid of modern European-style shopping streets around pleasant Avenue Bourguiba. East of the city, visit the beaches of suburban La Marsa and picturesque Sidi Bou Said, near the site of ancient Carthage.
You'll be fascinated by the Medina, the Arab heart of Tunis, with its Great Mosque, museums, cafes, craft shops and crowded covered markets, or souks. In Tunis' Ville Nouvelle or French City, join the crowds strolling pleasant colonial-era avenues and streets lined with fashion boutiques, patisseries, hotels and French-influenced restaurants. Jump on the metro to visit the important Bardo Museum, with magnificent displays of Roman and Byzantine mosaics. Then head in the other direction to see the 3000-year-old ruins of Phoenician and Roman Carthage.
The Bardo Museum collections are so vast and beautiful that they cannot be seen all at once. Return to this exceptional museum, housed in a stunning former palace in western Tunis, to discover astonishing Phoenician and Roman sculpture and artworks from Tunisia's Christian period. Close by, climb attractive Belvedere Park, a rare green space used for outdoor concerts, that offers panoramic views over the city.
