Visit Tunisia

We continue the world tour of the French-speaking world. This week, the Alliance française de San Francisco takes you to Tunisia!

Tunis

Administrative capital of the country, Tunis is a city that is both modern and ancient. Stroll through the medina and admire the many buildings such as the Zitouna mosque or the Bab El Bhar gate. It will also be pleasant to stroll in the souks with their numerous stalls of traditional art, clothing or leather. In the modern city, you will find many cafes, restaurants and stores. The Bardo Museum is the most important museum in Tunisia which traces the history of the country through time thanks to its collections. A real jewel of Tunisian heritage, it will please both young and old! To go out in the evening, the nightlife in Tunis is very developed: many lounge bars, discotheques and open-air clubs will delight the partygoers.

Tozeur

 Tozeur, the largest of the oases and the most beautiful with its superb palm grove! Take the time to wander through the small streets of the Medina with its brick houses with beautiful patterns and typical studded doors. You will surely observe women weaving beautiful carpets. Located at the gates of the desert, Tozeur is a good starting point for a camel ride or a 4x4. It is also in Tozeur that you will find the city that served as a set for Star Wars, the mythical planet of Tatooine. Tozeur is also one of the largest palm groves in the world.

Carthage

Listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, Carthage was once a very important trading city. Built on a hill overlooking the Gulf of Tunis, the site contains vestiges of over 2,000 years of history. Over the years, several civilizations have succeeded each other, each of them leaving their mark on the city's various monuments.  Other highlights, the two Punic ports, the military port and the commercial port, the theater where the international music festival of Carthage takes place every year.

Sousse

The medina of Sousse is the historic heart and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since December 9, 1988. Sousse is a typical example of the cities found in the first centuries of Islam in the Maghreb. Come visit Tunisia and stroll through the small streets lined with stores. 40km from Sousse, you will find the amphitheater of El Jem, considered the largest ruin in the Maghreb.  The amphitheater of El Jem is one of the largest of the Roman Empire (between 27,000 and 30,000 spectators at the time).  It is listed by UNESCO since 1979 as a World Heritage Site. It is one of the best preserved Roman stone ruins in the world, and is unique in Africa. As other amphitheatres in the Roman Empire, it was built for spectator events, and it is one of the biggest amphitheatres in the world. It is exceptionally well conserved. Today, the amphitheater hosts the International Festival of Symphony Music of El Jem and many other cultural events.

A walk in the sahara 

In the south of Tunisia, the oasis of Douz is known to be the "gateway to the Sahara", the starting point of excursions in the desert. Surrounded by sand dunes, the city preserves its nomadic traditions and bewitches by its warm and atypical atmosphere. Take advantage of the setting to offer you an excursion in 4x4, on foot... or in dromedary!

Matmata

Berber village of the south of Tunisia, Matmata will surprise you by its troglodyte houses. Indeed, these unusual houses are dug in the rock, on the hillside, an unusual architecture. Small village of hardly 2000 inhabitants, Matmata will surprise you by its originality: some of these houses are still inhabited.

For star wars fans

Small anecdote: fan of Star Wars? Then, you have surely already seen these houses! Because a scene of the saga was shot there! Tunisia has served as a sandy backdrop for scenes in several "Star Wars" movies. The Shubie Gorge, Chott el Jerid, Matmata, Djerba and other regions of this North African country are real-life substitutes for the planet Tatooine, where Luke Skywalker is first introduced to us in "A New Hope". The name of the fictional planet was borrowed from a real Tunisian city called Tataouine. Guided tours allow visitors to discover the abandoned sets and major landmarks seen in the films, and it is even possible to stay in Lars' house where Skywalker grew up, now called Hotel Sidi Driss.

We hope to have given you the desire to visit Ajaccio!

-Jade