Africa & Middle East > Tunisia > Tunis and the North Coast > Tunis > Articles > Tunis for the Weekend

'Tunis, ah yes…' is often combined with a certain glassy look that I have come to recognise. The person is floundering. They are trying to visualise a map and differentiate this particular spot in North Africa from all the others which I am always visiting and talking about. It is doubly confusing in that so many of them begin with a 'T'. It is all too easy to start to confuse Tunis with Tangier, Tripoli with Tiznit, Tafraoute with Taroudant, or Tatouine with Tetuan not to mention Tebessa, Timgad, Tiddis, Tocra, Tolmeita, Tamerza, Tamezret, Takrouna, Tabarka, Telouet or Tebessa. You want to help but it is no good mentioning that Tunis is the capital of Tunisia. Another T-word as this stage is less than useful.

Instead you have to throw in some images:

"You know, right next to Carthage, where Dido and Aeneas fell in love, Hannibal's home, Cato's complaint, Barbary corsairs and all that." Then you might get some response.

" Tunis, ah yes. Well, I have always longed to see the ruins of Carthage". And so they should. Tunis is one of the great cities of the Mediterranean and if you live in Europe it is just a short flight away.

The airport sits between two lagoons, exactly halfway between central Tunis and the ruins of Carthage. You can travel cheaply by taxi, on a modern system of trams or across the lagoon on the old colonial light railway. The only travel system you don't need on a trip to Tunis is a hire-car. Leave understanding the one-way system, the evening traffic jam and where to park to the locals.

"Where do you think I should stay?" Do you prefer the ceaseless bustle of an inner city or would you like your hotel to have a swimming pool, overlook the sea and be surrounded by a large scented garden and near to all the most glamorous fish restaurants? If the latter appeals, try for a room at the Sidi Bou Said, the Abou Nawas Gammarth or the much cheaper Megara.

"I suppose it's mutton and couscous for breakfast, lunch and tea?" Only if you want it. The coast around Carthage has some of the best fish restaurants in the entire Mediterranean at a third the price of their cousins to the north. Indeed you don't really know the meaning of service until you watch a Tunisian Maître d' command his troop of waiters. You must also have dinner at the Dar el Jeld. I shan't ruin the sense of surprise except to warn you that it's the Tunisian equivalent of dining at Apsley House in London.

"You'll want to give us the addresses of a few good shops." Certainly not. You must get lost like everyone else in the covered bazaar and be picked up by a charming tout who will show you the Bey's bed and the view from the rooftops. There are some lovely cafés dotted about, most of them unchanged since the 17th century. Try the tea with peanuts; sounds disgusting but it can become quite addictive.

"I suppose there are some museums that you will make us go to". You are absolutely right. If you miss out on the world's finest collection of Roman mosaics housed in a 19th century palace of the Beys, the Carthage Museum set up by the White Fathers beside the colonial Cathedral, the Dar ben Abdellah house, the Mauresque D'Erlanger palace or fail to find the tophet of Tanit, I will know that we have nothing in common. You might however want to give Sidi Bou Said a miss during the noon-time invasion of coach tours and the Carthage Theatre is now more a monument to 20th century cement than to Rome. If you go last thing in the evening to the amphitheatre you might leave with a tear or two. You know all about St Perpetua I trust? In that case you should take my Traveller's History of North Africa as well as my Cadogan Guide to Tunisia. For a light read why not try Flaubert's Salammbo, just as violent as any Robocop movie though more suggestive than explicit on the sex.

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