Tunisia Travel Guide

The best times to travel in northern and central Tunisia are from April to June, and from September to October. At these times, you're almost guaranteed sunny, but not too hot, days, the sea is warm enough to swim (though perhaps not in April and October), and high season prices and crowds have not yet arrived. The countryside is at its prettiest after the winter rains in early spring.However, if your holidays are in July and August, you are assured bril-liantly sunny days, and coastal towns are at their liveliest. The Tunisian tourist authorities also run a number of superb festivals at old Roman sites. The downside is that you'll be sharing the beaches with about two million northern European holidaymakers, prices will be higher and accommodation chock-a-block.For desert trips, temperature is an essential consideration. The best times to travel are from late September to November and March to early May. November is just after the date harvest; prices are cheaper. Douz and Tozeur have desert festivals. In July and August, the soaring temperatures mean that exploring the Sahara is really only possible overnight. Not only is it baking hot, but you'll have to cope with the sandy sirocco - desert wind. The search for air-con and iced-lollies will be all-consuming.In winter, Tunisia is surprisingly cold, and you should pack lots of warm clothes - many places don't have good heating. If you're looking for winter sun in February, it's not guaranteed; it might rain and it'll definitely be too cold for lying on the beach. However, there'll be few other travellers around and prices will be rock bottom.For a detailed summary of the low, mid and high season periods in Tunisia.

Tunisia is an inexpensive country for Western visitors, particularly compared with Europe.Scrimpers could get by on TD20 to TD25 a day, staying in hostels, eating at cheap local restaurants and travelling only every few days. For a more comfortable stay, midrange travellers will need to spend a minimum of TD50 to TD60 daily, enough to get a comfortable room, travel around and eat and drink well. Allow some more cash on top so you can buy souvenirs. At the upper end of the scale, if you're staying in top-end hotels, eating at the best restaurants, buying crafts, and taking safaris or having some spa treatments, TD200 to TD300 per day will keep you in comfort. If you've already paid for a package at a resort, you'll only have to pay for things like meals outside the resort, excursions, souvenirs and the
occasional taxi.

About 200,000 years ago, Stone Age people eked out an existence using primitive stone tools near the southern oasis town of Kélibia. Back then, the Sahara was covered in forest, scrub and savannah grasses, a fact that anyone who's ever been in Douz in mid-August will find almost impos-sible to imagine.Some 8000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, precipitation decreased and the Sahara began to dry out, effectively cutting Tunisia off from the rest of Africa. People began arriving from the east, the most significant of whom were the Capsians. Named after the city of Gafsa (ancient Capsa), near which finely sculpted stone and bone implements from this era have been found, they lived in southern Tunisia until about 4500 BC. Some mosaics from ancient Capsa can be seen in the museum in Gafsa (see p265 ). Waves of migration from southern Europe continued until around 2500 BC. It is from these varied Neolithic peoples that the Berbers (see the boxed text, p233 ) are thought to have descended.

After France's capitulation to Nazi Germany in June 1940, Tunisia's colonial government remained loyal to the collaborationist Vichy regime led by Marshall Philippe Pétain and, among other things, enacted anti-Jewish laws. In November 1942, after British forces defeated Rommel at El Ala-mein (Egypt) and American forces landed in Morocco and Algeria, the Germans sent troops from Sicily to northern Tunisia in an attempt to turn back the Allied armies now advancing on the country from both the east and the west. Conditions for the Allies were difficult - their supply lines were long and the weather was cold and rainy - and they found
themselves in a stalemate until February 1943. The Allies - mainly Americans and British - lost more than 15,000 men (see WWII Military Cemeteries boxed text on p144 ) before capturing Tunis and Bizerte - and more than 250,000 Axis POWs - in May 1943. The Allied victory put an end to Nazi plans to round up the coun-
try's entire Jewish community.

Tunisians are proud of the achievements of their government and of their tolerant, hospitable society, but, then again, they're not really allowed to say what they think. Despite their pride, many people would leave if they could. In Europe they can maybe moonlight as a security guard or pick up work as a hospital porter before moving onto something better.The exodus to Europe is mostly economic and to fulfil ambitions - like anyone choosing to work abroad. Tunisia offers its people an excellent education, but then jobs for graduates are scarce. European society, free from family strictures and tantalisingly close, tempts many graduates and those less-qualified away from treading water.Tunisia is much freer than other Arabic Muslim societies. People have choices; this is obvious when you see a family walking along the street with two daughters dressed entirely differently - one in jeans and a T-shirt, the other in a long robe and veil. However, traditions are
constraints below the surface. Women may dress in Western fashions, but they will still be expected to be virgins when they marry. People may have flooded to the cities but there is a village mentality here that resists the change. Only 150km from Europe, here there's widespread admiration for the achievements of the West as well as condemnation for the perceived in-justices done in the West's name elsewhere in the region. Tunisia shares with the Arab world a history of invasion and colonial meddling. Despite this, the country has a tradition of gracious hospitality that has its roots in the nomadic Bedouin traditions of refuge and hospitality, as well as in the verses of the Quran.

Since independence in 1956, Tunisia's population has more than dou-bled and people have flooded to the cities. Over 60% of the population is urban. Society today divides between the cosmopolitan mores of big cities and rural, small-town traditions.In some ways Tunisia resembles Italy, its near neighbour. The family
is all important, and the individual is always subordinate to its interest. An inner sanctum is protected and supported by a morass of relatives. In Tunisia's recent past this was taken to the extent that an extended family would all live together in one house. Hence the size of upper-class family homes, such as Dar Ben Abdullahin Tunis and Dar el-Annabi in Sidi Bou Saïd Today, with increased migration and emigration, this is less likely, but the pull of home is strong and those who have left will return for frequent visits. The absence of government unemployment benefits also contributes to the enduring strength of family ties: the unemployed survive thanks to familial support and often one working adult has to provide for four or five other adults. Social security does, however, provide old-age and disability pensions, free health care and education.Tunisia is a deeply religious society - religion is part of daily life and pervades all significant ceremonies. When a baby is born to a Muslim family, the first words uttered to it are the call to prayer. A week later this is followed by a ceremony in which the baby's head is shaved and an animal sacrificed. The major event of a boy's childhood is circumcision, which normally takes place sometime between the ages of seven and 12. When a person dies, a burial service is held at the mosque and the body is then buried with the feet facing Mecca. Yet Tunisian life is balanced between the observance of Islam and secular values, and religion is a private affair.

After 14 centuries of intermarriage, the indigenous Berbers and later on-the-scene Arabs are thoroughly entwined. You are most likely to find stronger evidences of Berber traditions in the south, along the northern fringe of the Sahara. Muslims make up 98% of the population, the other 2% being Jews and Christians. Government family-planning programmes have slowed the population growth rate to 1.6%, but Tunisia has a very young population, which places a great strain on social services, particularly with the pressure on jobs.

Tunisia is 98% Muslim, and Islam is the State religion, but the government has spent much of the last five decades cracking down hard on those who wish to mix religion with politics. In addition to the more than 95% of Tunisians who are Sunni Muslim (the orthodox majority in Islam), there are small communities of Kharijites (a minority Muslim sect). Jews and Christians make up the other 2%.

Conditions for women in Tunisia are better than just about anywhere in the Islamic world - to Western eyes, at least. One of the many titles that Habib Bourguiba, Tunisia's first president, awarded to himself during his reign was 'The Liberator of Women'. Many Tunisian women agree. Bourguiba, whose first wife was French, was a staunch supporter of women's rights. His 1956 Personal Status Code banned polygamy and ended divorce by renunciation. It also placed restrictions on the tradition of arranged marriages, setting a minimum marriage age of 17 for girls and giving them the right to refuse a proposed marriage. The code is regularly updated, most recently in 2005, when the President announced that the marrying age would be unified (to 18) and women's custodial right on divorce would be safeguarded. Bourguiba regarded the hejab (the veil worn by Muslim women) as demeaning and called it an 'odious rag'. He banned it from schools aspart of a campaign to phase it out. Many Tunisian women consider not wearing the hejab to be an expression of their liberty and you will see many women without. However, a resurgence of conservative elements has led to it being more prevalent, notably among young women.Since 1956 there have been dramatic improvements in conditions for women across the country, not only in the standards of literacy, but also in terms of health - infant mortality is only 26 per thousand births, compared with 139 in 1966.Yet Tunisia is also filled with men grumbling about how women are favoured and how dangerous it is - for the women, you understand - to give them such freedom. It is this attitude that indicates the real situation that many Tunisian women face. They live dual lives - encouraged to participate by relatively favourable legal and socioeconomic conditions, yet restricted by traditional family values. Away from cosmopolitan city
centres or the beachside resort towns, the public social domain remains that of the man, while women largely remain in the home.

For such a small island, Jerba contains the ingredients of most people's idea of the ideal
holiday vacation: soft sandy beaches, warm Mediterranean waters, a warren of shops selling every imaginable handicraft, a maze of cobblestone streets and a history of ethnic and religious diversity more pronounced than the rest of the country. To the classically inclined, the name Jerba conjures up images of Homer's Land of the Lotus Eaters, an island so seductive that it's impossible to leave. But many visitors voluntarily sequester themselves at the McHotels along beautiful Sidi Mahres beach, and while the appeal of a luxury beach resort speaks for itself, the rest of Jerba shouldn't be missed. The heart of the island is Houmt Souq, its largest town and one of Tunisia's most unique. So polished and charming it's like eye candy for those living in concrete jungles. It's chock-a-block with outdoor cafés, has enough carpets, souvenirs and crafts to satisfy the most demanding
shopaholic and has a handful of ancient funduqs (inns), the town's architectural trademark, set around a central courtyard and converted into hotels. Inland amongst crumbling homesteads you'll find one of the last remaining Jewish
communities in North Africa, with their synagogue at Erriadh, as well as an equally
unusual population of Ibadis (an offshoot of the Kharijite sect found only in Jerba). Jerba's postcard-perfect beaches are as good as advertised, but it's the interior with its distinctive above- and below-ground mosques and the small villages shaded by palm trees that lingers in your memory after you have left.

Arabian, African and Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and European, yet curiously provincial - the laid back capital of Tunis has two distinct hearts. The new city, created by French colonials in the 19th century, is an orderly European grid, with wrought-iron balconies, cafés and pâtisseries bordering the boulevards. The city's main drag, palm-lined ave Habib Bourguiba, is prime territory for promenading, coffee-drinking, gossiping and idly watching the passing human traffic.Founded by the Arabs in the 8th century, the medina, the old city, is the city's historic and symbolic heart. Here you enter a tangled maze of narrow streets, winding and arched, with giant keyhole-shaped doors, scattering cats, alley communities, workshops and glittering souqs selling everything but your mother. Here all the lanes, however twisted, will eventually lead to the great mosque. People watch people go by from within kaleidoscopic-tiled coffeehouses, suckling on hubbly-bubbly pipes and indulging in chat, chequers and chess.Outside the two-part centre lie some even bigger attractions: the ruins of once-magnificent Carthage, set among the great white mansions of Tunis' contemporary upper classes; the astounding, enormous collection of Roman mosaics housed in the Bardo's Ot-
toman palace; and the flower-laden cliff-top village of Sidi Bou Saïd that inspired Paul Klee and August Macke to experiment with colour.However urban Tunis (home to 90% of Tunisia's population) might feel compared with the rest of the country, you are never far from the beach. The suburbs stretch endlessly out along deep-blue seafronts, where in summer everyone walks in search of a breeze.

Once the medina was Tunis. It was founded by the Arabs in the 7th century.
Nowadays, to go from the new town into its closely knit streets, packed with genera-
tions of palaces and monuments, is to enter a different world. The medina at Tunis is a listed Unesco World Heritage site. A maze of tunnels and alleys dotted with
hidden mansions, the medina's architecture is ideal for the climate, as the narrow streets are cool in summer and warm in winter. As space ran out, residents built upwards, constructing vaults and rooms above the streets. This gives the central lanes a subter-ranean feel, with shafts of sunlight filtering through. Apparently the vaults had to be built high enough to accommodate a loaded camel.
In the 19th century, the French devel-oped the Ville Nouvelle, depriving the me-
dina of its role. The city's great families began to leave their ancestral homes for
suburban seaside pads, and the medina declined, housing rural people settling in
the capital. Zaouias (the complexes surrounding a tomb of a saint) and palaces
were converted to cope with the new arrivals. Today, less than 15,000 people live here, and the main trade is in souvenirs.Large parts of the northern section were
demolished in the 1930s and 1940s to clear the slums and improve vehicle ac-
cess. Fortunately, the demolition days are long finished, and several organisations
are devoted to conservation. The medina's most spruced-up area lies near Place du Gouvernement. The arteries around the Zaytouna Mosque are packed with souvenir shops (with lots of lovely things to buy as well as trash). Away from these you will find arched winding streets, backstreet workshops, local markets and children playing football.

There's something undeniably moving about standing on top of a shifting sand dune and surveying the emptiness - what seems to be the end of the earth can be so beautiful. The novelty of finding sand so far from the ocean can spark anxious nightmares about global warming and yet for certain temperaments there's the temptation to simply walk off into the distance to see how far you can go before feeling like you're truly on an alien planet. fantasies aside, don't underestimate the inviting soft dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental, one of the Sahara's most expansive sand seas. It's an inhospitable place for all but the experienced and travel here should be done with the utmost precaution. It's a remarkable and breathtaking setting, as long as you travel with a guide or in a group, and could be the highlight of your trip.The (sand sea) begins 50km south of Douz and extends 500km southwest into neighbouring Algeria. All along the Sahara's northern perimeter are oasis towns huddled amid vast (palm groves), fed by underground water and producing the finest dates in Tunisia. Conveniently, Douz is the best of these oases from which to launch your desert expeditions.The Sahara and its northern hinterland is the home of the Berbers. With the decline of the Roman Empire, tribes began to move in from the south at the end of the 4th century AD, bringing with them the first camels to be seen in Tunisia. The Berbers and their camels are still there and many continue to live a seminomadic existence in the south around Douz.