The capital and its ancient neighbours
Most trips begin in Tunis, with its UNESCO listed medina, French colonial boulevards and the Bardo Museum, home to one of the world's great collections of Roman mosaics. A short ride on the TGM light railway brings you to Carthage and Sidi Bou Said, where Punic and Roman ruins sit below a clifftop village of white walls and blue doors.
The Sahel coast
South of Tunis, the coast known as the Sahel holds the busy resort and walled medina of Sousse, with Monastir, Hammamet and Mahdia close by. From Sousse it is an easy day trip to El Jem, whose Roman amphitheatre is one of the best preserved in the world.
The holy city
Inland from Sousse, Kairouan is the oldest Islamic city in the Maghreb, with a great mosque founded in the seventh century, a quiet medina and the best carpets in the country.
The island
In the far south east, Djerba is a flat, sunny island of beaches, olive groves, whitewashed mosques, the ancient El Ghriba synagogue and the street art village of Erriadh.
The desert
In the south west, Tozeur is an oasis town of patterned brick and palm groves, the base for the mountain oases of Chebika and Tamerza, the salt flat of Chott el Djerid, Star Wars film sets and the dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental near Douz.
How to combine them
A classic loop runs Tunis, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said, then Sousse and El Jem, Kairouan, Tozeur and Douz, ending on Djerba with a flight home. Allow ten days to two weeks for the full circuit. With a week, keep to the north and the coast. Use the free trip planner to shape a route that fits your dates.