BACKPACKING IN TUNISIA - A GUIDE
28 May 2023 || TUNISIA
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Tunisia, the northernmost country in Africa, was not a destination that immediately popped up on our radar. It turns out that backpacking in Tunisia is not such a popular activity, yet! It’s well-known to some due to the Star Wars saga – many original filming destinations were in Tunisia (and are instantly recognisable!).
Even if you are not a massive Star Wars fan, this country offers up so much for an adventurous independent traveller, whether moving by bus, train or rental car. There are ancient, fortified villages, expansive Roman ruins, sandy Mediterranean beaches and bustling medinas – all without the mass tourism found in countries like Morocco.
This lack in popularity was what initially attracted us to Tunisia. We spent just under a month travelling around the country, checking out the cities, ruins, islands and deserts; it was a pretty epic adventure. This post includes all the logistics we learnt along the way to help you plan your own backpacking trip.
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WHERE IS TUNISIA AND WHY SHOULD YOU VISIT?
Tunisia is a relatively small nation, sandwiched between Algeria and Libya, just across the Mediterranean Sea from Sicily and Sardinia. Near the northern tip of the country is Tunis, the bustling capital and largest city. Tunisia is a very easy country to reach, either by air or sea.
This diverse country has a rich history. Scattered with some of the best preserved Punic and Roman settlements in the world, alongside traditional Islamic heritage in locations like the UNESCO designated Kairouan, Islam’s 4th holiest city. The towns of Tunisia have vibrant medinas, exquisite mosques and buzzing markets scented with shisha and echoing with calls to prayer.
Heading south, approaching the gateway to the rolling dunes of the Sahara Desert, Tunisia becomes more arid. The south, covered with glistening salt flats, canyons, date palm plantations, traditional towns and crumbling villages, is a world away from the fertile, green north. There is also the chilled-out island of Djerba, a popular spot for tourists wanting an affordable getaway.
For such a small country, there really is so much to explore. We spent nearly a month backpacking in Tunisia and didn’t see everything we intended to!
BAckPACKING IN TUNISIA - THINGS TO KNOW
Capital – Tunis
Country Population – 12.26 million people
Currency – Tunisia Dinar
National Tree – Olive
Time in Tunisia – Central Eastern Time (CET)
Power outlets – Type C and E
Daylight saving time – No
Famous for – Star Wars
Number of UNESCO sites – 8
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THE BEST TIME TO VISIT TUNISIA
The best time to visit Tunisia is between April-June and September to November. Temperatures during this time are pleasant and perfect for sightseeing.
Summer months in Tunisia are very warm, in at least the mid-30s (above 90 F), which might be okay for some beachy people, but it’s pretty warm for anyone carrying a backpack! The sparkling coastal resorts areas can be very busy with package tourists during these months.
Tunisian winters can be very cool, especially in the north around Tunis. The city has a Mediterranean climate, so if you are comfortable with Italy during winter, you’ll be fine in Tunis!
We visited for the month of April. Our experience in the north west of Tunisia was a lot of rain and it was very cold in the hills. In the south, temperatures warmed up a little but at no point would I have wanted to lay out in the sun for long! It was, however, perfect weather for walking, hiking and exploring. We had a few grey and cloudy days, but mostly it was sunny and warmed up a lot by the end of the month.
MONEY IN TUNISIA
The currency in Tunisia is the Dinar (TND), broken down into one thousand millimes. Sometimes values are written in millimes, for example: 1.4 dinar might be written as 1,400. If a price seems crazy high, it’s probably because of that!
The Tunisian Dinar is a closed currency, so it is only possible to obtain it within the country. There are strict rules against exporting it too, down to this being checked at departures in the airport.
For our trip, we used cash the majority of the time for accommodation, gas, road tolls and small food stores. Our journey was entirely during Ramadan, so we frequented relatively few restaurants (nothing is open during the day!). This means we ate from a lot of supermarkets and the larger ones (Carrefour, Geant and Monoprix) take credit card.
Occasionally, when reserving accommodation on Airbnb or Booking.com, we paid by card.
We took all cash out from ATMs, although we carried a few spare euros on us just in case. ATMs typically charged around 12 TND (about £3) per transaction and withdrawals were limited to 300 TND. ATMs were easy to find in any main town – just locate them on Google Maps.
Money exchanges in Tunisia are available across the country in main towns and cities if you would prefer to only bring cash for your visit.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN TUNISIA
Tunisia operates on trains, minibuses and hitchhiking. Without a car, these are the three obvious ways for a backpacker in Tunisia to get around the country.
⋅ Trains in Tunisia ⋅
We didn’t get any trains outside of Tunis but have been told by tourists within Tunisia that they are slow and unreliable. The trains have a sizable reach though, traversing the northern half of Tunisia. They go as far south as Gabes on the coast, to Tozeur, inland towards Algeria.
One Tunisian train route worth utilising is the Tunis – Carthage – Sidi Bou Said – La Marsa line. It’s a fun, inexpensive and easy way to travel around the outskirts of Tunis and check out the ruins of Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and beyond.
⋅ Tunisian Louages ⋅
Another public transport option in Tunisia is long-distance shared minibuses, called louages. These are the best and most economical option for backpacking in Tunisia (apart from hitchhiking). In each town, there is typically an area where the minibuses congregate, normally named ‘station de louages’. This is the place to grab one. It’s worth asking your accommodation where the best option is to catch a louage.
Louages in Tunisia are exceptionally affordable, fast and don’t get overpacked. The minibuses have colour codes, some with red stripes, others with yellow stripes, depending on if they are local or travelling further away. You can efficiently navigate across the entire of Tunisia with these little vans!
⋅ Hitchhiking in Tunisia ⋅
Hitchhiking is incredibly widespread and is the best way to get around when budget backpacking in Tunisia. There were people on almost every road trying to hitch a ride. Personally, I am absolutely comfortable hitchhiking in Tunisia and consider it safe, especially judging by the number of people who utilise it as a regular method of transport!
We found nobody in Tunisia in any way threatening or inappropriate and would recommend hitchhiking if you are comfortable with it. It’s polite to offer the driver some money for petrol for your journey though. Generally, we are fans of hitchhiking in most countries if we don’t have a car.
DRIVING IN TUNISIA
Renting a car in Tunisia is recommended if you want to see a lot of the country with a bit of extra freedom. We had a car for nearly four weeks, covering over 3000 kilometres, and absolutely loved it.
Gas (in mid-2023) is reasonably priced at around 2.50 TND per litre, people drive on the right and manual cars are standard. Automatic transmissions are available from rental agencies but often cost far more. Our car was a tiny Kia Picanto, which functioned fine for the roads we drove.
Tunisian drivers are not bad, despite what you may have read elsewhere. From our experience, only taxis were aggressive (they love to use their horns and, if you swear at them, they will swear back). All other drivers were polite.
We spent a lot of time being confused about the speed limits as roads are not well marked in this respect. Often, a reduced speed sign does not get ‘cancelled’, so knowing when and what the increased limits were was occasionally challenging. This was never an issue though; the only two times we were pulled over, the police checked our paperwork and we were politely sent on our way.
There are a lot of police checkpoints though, all over the country. They are not anything to be concerned about; have your license and rental paperwork to hand.
⋅ Four-Wheel Drive Vehicles in Tunisia ⋅
The roads are generally in great condition, with no major issues (like significant potholes). Road signs are in French, Arabic and occasionally in English; we never found it difficult to figure out what was going on! The best and fastest routes are toll (paege) roads, which are inexpensive (for example, we paid 2.1 TND for 80 kilometres).
It is not necessary to have an offroad vehicle in Tunisia. The only places you may want one are in the south, near Tozeur, to visit some of the Star Wars sites, like Ong Jamal, Mos Espa or the Lars Homestead. There are a few interesting ksars near Tataouine that would also benefit having a four-wheel drive vehicle. For our trip, we didn’t think it was worth the (significant) extra money.
Ramadan IN TUNISIA
Ramadan is the month-long celebration in the Muslim faith where participants abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and more during daylight hours. This can often mean interruptions to typical daily routines and changes in opening hours. Our backpacking in Tunisia trip was entirely during Ramadan; this is what we noticed:
♦ Almost no food-related places are open during sunlight hours at all, even in tourist areas. In a few extremely touristy places, like Sidi Bou Said (Tunisia’s answer to Santorini), a few restaurants were open. This was a rarity in the destinations we visited, from our experience. During iftar (the evening meal which breaks the fast), very few places are open that serve anything other than large iftar style menus. This means that if you usually eat minimally or earlier in the evening, it might be problematic. A positive is that you might be invited to a traditional iftar feast!
♦ Supermarkets are open during Ramadan (but had less fresh food) and small bakeries still make cakes, croissants and bread all day long (they shut an hour or two before sundown). During the daytime, even during Ramadan in Tunisia, you’ll have to queue for your fresh baked baguettes!
♦ Delivery food apps do not work until around 21:00 every day.
♦ In resorts, it is possible to get full meals and alcohol during Ramadan, if this is something you want. Outside of resorts, most hotels and guesthouses include a full breakfast. We found that these were not reduced during Ramadan and operated during the usual morning hours. The airport in Tunis also serves food all day.
♦ Outside of food and meals, most of Tunisia seemed to function as usual during Ramadan (we didn’t notice any significantly reduced opening hours). The trains and buses ran as expected and all the historic sites we visited in Tunisia were open. Apparently, during the first day of Eid, it can be difficult to find transport, so keep this in mind if you are choosing to travel then. Apart from purchasing food, everything else operated as usual in Tunisia.
⋅ Our Experience - Should you visit Tunisia during Ramadan? ⋅
Our trip to Tunisia was entirely during Ramadan! This means that technically, we cannot comment on what backpacking in Tunisia is like outside of this time.
If we are being honest, Tunisia was the most difficult Muslim country we have travelled to during Ramadan so far (we have also experienced Oman, Saudi Arabia and Jordan previously during this holiday).
Although it was sometimes tricky, we didn’t have much of an issue with Ramadan in Tunisia. We travel on a budget and, as vegetarians, eat from supermarkets quite often anyway in meat-heavy countries. If eating luxuriously in a wide variety of restaurants twice a day is a necessity for your backpacking trip, maybe avoid Ramadan!
Personally, if you are visiting Tunisia during Ramadan and do not want to fast, we’d recommend getting a rental car. This means you can do a decent supermarket shop and rent apartments where you can cook. Eating in your car where people cannot see you is also far more sensitive to the residents who are fasting.
ITINERARY IDEAS FOR BACKPACKING IN TUNISIA
Beach and Coastal Destinations:
Hammamet, Sousse, Monastir, Bizerte and Djerba
Medinas:
Tunis, Sousse, Sfax, Kairouan
Roman/Punic Ruins:
Dougga, Carthage, Thurburbo Majus, El Jem, Uthina, Utique, Bulla Regia, Sbeitla
Desert dreams:
Tozeur, Tataouine, Chott el Jerid, Douz
Nature:
Tozeur, Ayn Darahim, Zaghouan
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We visited every place above apart from Bulla Regia and Sbeitla, because we ran out of time.
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IS BACKPACKING IN TUNISIA SAFE?
Yes, backpacking in Tunisia is safe, even for solo female travellers. This statement is partly subjective, of course, but it is based on our recent experiences plus government advisories.
Personally, we found the people of Tunisia to be exceptionally helpful, curious and approachable. This was more so than in many other countries we have visited. We experienced no scams, nobody trying to get money out of us and some genuine hospitality which is so scarce in many other destinations.
For complete clarity, anything related to Star Wars is a shitshow and is pure touts, scams, hassle and misery – but not unsafe.
We had previously read that women can experience significant unwanted attention in Tunisia. This was not something I experienced, even alone without Nick. Although my experience in Tunisia was only positive, it’s also only anecdotal, and I’d recommend always being aware of your surroundings.
If you follow government advisories, there are several areas of Tunisia that are not recommended for travel (we use the U.K. FCO website which, I assume, is comparable to other countries?). We did stray into these regions a several times (e.g., towards Algeria) and obviously didn’t have anything bad happen, however that isn’t necessarily representative of the real (or less real!) risk.
Tunisia had some high-profile terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2019. These incidents have definitely frightened tourists away from visiting and residents have expressed much regret and sadness about it. As with any region where there has been attacks at some point, I wouldn’t judge the current situation based on the past. Also, if the excessively paranoid U.K. government says it’s okay to visit, then it is definitely fine!
VISAS FOR BACKPACKING IN TUNISIA
As a U.K. citizen, we did not need a visa for any stay in Tunisia under 90 days. Because we arrived at a ferry port, not the airport, entry requirements were a little stricter. In order to enter, we had to show proof of exit, proof of every hotel night reservation and tell the immigration officer our job titles and purpose of travel. Apparently, arriving at the airport is less strict!
Depending on your nationality, this may not be the case for you. Check your local government website.
