Tunisia Experience

Lots of rich and famous people stayed here

Advantages: Interesting visit
Disadvantages: None

...there we visited the International Cultural Centre. This centre is in the house and gardens which is known as Sebastian’s villa. This villa was built in the 1920’s commissioned by a Roman billionaire George Sebastian. This villa hosted many parties its guest list the royal, rich and famous I believe Winston Churchill stayed here and wrote some of his memoirs. Another famous visitor field Marshall Rommell. The villa is about 2 or 3k from the centre ...
...The villa and gardens is on the coast. Easy to find really. We could have walked there from our hotel but with me still recovering from am operation we caught a taxi. Buses seen to run past the centre from Hammamet too. We went through the gates and paid a few Dina for entrance. We paid to have a cup of tea in the house we got tickets for these. We walked along the garden paths. Very early in the season so no flowers really. I could tell the gardeners ...

mumsymary 17.06.2009 · Read full review
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Review of International Cultural Centre, Hammamet

Tourist shopping

Advantages: interesting to look around
Disadvantages: too touristy

...places we visited was the Medina, Medina actually means old town. This Medina is next to the fort on the sea front easy to find The medina is really a market contained within 15centuary walls lots of tiny shops very close together and a few houses too. The blue painted doorways in the white door surrounds are very attractive. These doors are often pictured on Hammamet post cards, The area of the medina is not very large a few narrow streets. It ...
...was only Feb not main holiday season. . The shopkeepers would mostly be standing idle in their doorways chatting to neighbours and trying to tempt us into see their wares. They would say come into my shop see my good Turkish good cheap price. It was expected that you would haggle the price down with them. To be honest I did not want any tourist nik naks , no carpets no jewellery, no Turkish delight , no tee shirts , no sandals, no hand bags To be ...

mumsymary 29.05.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Medina, Hammamet

Senses working overtime

Advantages: A truly amazing place - a feast for all the senses; cheap and very cheerful
Disadvantages: You WILL be harrassed constantly by people trying to sell you poor quality junk!

...where Europe meets Asia, then Tunis is surely the place where Europe meets Africa. There are two distinct sides to this magical, mysterious and yet very cosmopolitan city; there is the old Moorish medina and the elaborate mosques and the New Town with it's French influences and architectural Art Nouveau styles. I visted Tunis for just one day as part of a weeks holiday in Hammamet down on the coast. We had intended to take the train but, having ...
...The louage station in Tunis is on the outskirts of the city centre, next to the ring-road. From here it's just a short hop (across a frighteningly busy road - even when you use the crossings!) into town. We were totally unprepared for what we were met with - the sights, sounds and smells. We made our way through a narrow street market with stalls selling everything. There were fruit and vegetable stalls laden with chilli peppers and pomegranates, ...

fizzytom 09.12.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Tunis (Tunisia)

Uncovering hidden Carthage

Advantages: historic, atmospheric, cheap
Disadvantages: other tourists, taxi-drivers, confusing map

'Here,' our young female private guide said enthusiastically, 'you can see where the temple would have been-' Having absorbed a hurried account of various Punic wars, I'd stopped listening by then, and was content to gaze down the hill at the modern crouched white villas of today's Carthage stretching down to the sea on one side. On the other, a vista that stretched as far as Tunis sandwiched between its salt lake and the sea. The sky was blue, ...
...the other side of the Mediterranean - Africa. Tunisia. And we were on an important hill that for centuries had counted as a critical centre of civilisation. I was determined to see Carthage. 'You want to see the museum,' the helpful lady behind reception at our hotel had said, 'and the ruins.' Wanting to escape being press-ganged into a tour by an over-eager taxi driver my husband and I decided we'd do Carthage on our own. The Carthage ruins are ...

KatherineA 12.10.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Carthaga (Tunisia)

Tourist Trap or Tour organiser Trap

Advantages: Beautiful Views, traditional architecture
Disadvantages: Touristy, packed with people, full of street traders who immediately try to take advantage of tourists

Sidi Bou Said is admittedly a beautiful picturesque townin the North of Tunisia. From this little town one can appreciate outstanding views over the gulf of Tunisia and fully appreciate the beauty of the mediterranean. The town is billed as being an unspoilt traditional tunisian village that due to it's beauty attracts many tourists. What the guide books don't tell you is that literally every organised tour that visits Tunis and Carthage also make ...
...is of course that the twon is rife with Tunisians eager to exploit the naive tourist. And that the undoubtedlt beuatiful town is crowded and littered. One can hardly appreciate the narrow streets of white with blue doors and roofs when surrounded at all times byt at least another fifty tourists. Nevertheless, the views are amazing and it was well worth a visit. It just makes me wonder why a town billed as being traditional should look so manufactured ...

AliciaHunt 30.06.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Sidi Sidi Bou Saïd (Tunisia)